Small Coop in the Nebraska Winters?

[christinethemac]

i have a small coop (the one pictured inside he run). It is 59 x 30. I'll be keeping 4 bantams in it. Was wondering if anyone else uses a smaller coop like this and how you handle winters? Do you keep the coop closed all day when it's freezing out and where do you keep the food inside the coop if so. The coop opens from the top, so I'm guessing hanging the food would not work. I don't know if they would even stay warm enough in this coop. It's a Trixie Natura pre fab coop.

Thanks.

 

[Pats Poultry]

I have a 4'X4' coop and we have 3 mutt chickens. I put them out in the coop the first week of January when they were 8 weeks old and they did great with the cold. I would put them out side for a few hours a day when they were between 2 and 8 weeks old to help acclimate them. I do not keep food and water in the coop as they spend the entire day in their run which is 8x20 even when temps were in the teens with the overnight lows in the single digits with no problems. I need to get a heated waterer as I would change out the water 3 or 4 times a day on the really cold days as I am home most of the day everyday.
I have pine shavings for the floor plus a roost and a poop board for them and I have not had to clean the coop yet. The poop board is a great thing as it keeps all of the poop on the board and not in the coop. Just make sure that there are no drafts in your coop and plenty of ventilation. Works great for me

 

[christinethemac]

Thanks for your reply. I'm mostly worried about when it's below 0 temps and how they will hold up being there's only 4 of them and they are bantams. I was reading that the Frizzles are not winter hardy and also the Japanese Bantams are not. The other 2 are d'uccles. Is your run covered or does it have plastic around sides?

 

[Pats Poultry]

my run is covered and only a small part of it has a wind break