Small Coop Question + COLD WEATHER IDEAS NEEDED!

[ChelseyQ18]

Our Odd Situation:
We currently live in a townhouse with a small-ish backyard. We can have chickens, it’s just not incredibly ideal for a large, mature flock. We will be moving out of this house and into a house with more land towards the end of the year, but we wanted to get a jumpstart on raising our flock so that we would be much closer to egg production age when we can build them a permanent home. We didn’t want to have to wait until next spring to start from scratch with chicks.

Here’s my question:
Do any of yall have a small space setup that you think works really well? Or, could someone maybe sketch a quick idea if you’ve got one? We won't be at this same house by the time they're old enough to lay eggs.

Also (and probably most importantly),
We live in Wyoming, where we have extremely harsh winters. What are you biggest aids in helping chickens cope and survive in the cold weather? Coop hacks/ideas, winter feeding tricks, etc.

 

[jennyf]

Welcome! How many chickens?

 

[SueT]

You might want to check out your state thread.....

 

[ChelseyQ18]

Welcome! How many chickens?

5 right now, but it will be 6 soon.

 

[ChelseyQ18]

You might want to check out your state thread.....

I scanned over it when I first joined, it didn't look that helpful. WY is home to a total of about 64 people HaHa I will look again though.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Most breeds are actually very well designed for cold weather. ....needing shelter from the elements that will allow their natural insulation to do is job, good ventilation to keep humidity low fir frostbite prevention (this runs counter to many people's urge to "button up" everything tight in an effort to keep things warm) and drinkable water (if using electric to prevent freezing is not an option, providing fresh water 2-3 times a day works as they learn to drink when the water comes) are the startng point. I've raised chickens in some really harsh winters. You might want to talk to @Blooie as she is also in Wyoming

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to BYC!

You may want to browse through these too:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...coop-designs-pictures-of-chicken-coops.47681/

 

[~KH~]

Also (and probably most importantly),
We live in Wyoming, where we have extremely harsh winters. What are you biggest aids in helping chickens cope and survive in the cold weather? Coop hacks/ideas, winter feeding tricks, etc.

I used to live in SE Idaho and one of the biggest helps I found was using a bucket waterer with nipples, and using a bucket heater connected to a thermocube at the outlet. When we got very cold weather, the metal part of the nipples would freeze shut (so I'd still have to check on it and loosen those) but I didn't have to worry about their water freezing and the thermocube only turned on when the temps got below 45 I believe (so it wasn't wasting energy all the time heating the water).