Snow in the coop

[clickchicks]

For context, it snowed 6+ inches here in central Texas for the first time in decades. I'm in a bit of a pickle. My coop has large sections that are just hardware cloth, which is perfect here in the hot summers but was a massive backfire for the snow.

To prep for the winter storm I got some bales of hay and laid it down as thick as I could (tried to get straw but everyone was sold out). I also stapled tarps over 90% of the hardware cloth to brace for the cold, but at the last second had an uneasy feeling and decided to just bring the chickens inside. I only have 3, so they are all hanging out in a dog crate in the garage right now.

This was probably lucky, as I went outside this morning and two of the tarps were blown off and there was snow all over the inside of the coop. The hay is totally covered in snow, which is going to be a nightmare when it starts to thaw. I assume all of it will have to be removed, else it will mold... is that correct? Its just coastal hay.

I'm also worried for the rest of week, when temps go back up into the 20s and 30s. There's no way I can completely dry out coop with the amount of snow in there. Best I can do is shovel all the hay out and try to add more dry bedding. Will that be enough? Are they going to be at risk if I put them back out?

 

[CluckerFamily]

We have had -15 to -30°F for temperatures this week, it doesn’t include windchill. My flock has been in the run and the coop this entire time without heat. Some snow does get into the run but not a lot.
My only concern is how warm the garage is compared to outside. I would be worried about a temperature shock if the garage is heated.

 

[clickchicks]

If I hadn't gone with my gut they would have been snowed on directly. I assume in Wisconsin you've designed your coop to be suitable for winter conditions. Nearly half of my coop is just open hardward cloth, no covering.

Garage isn't heated but is warmer than outside. Outside temp is around 9 degrees, temp in garage is in mid 30s, which is about what it will be here outside later in the week.

 

[CluckerFamily]

Do you have anymore snow coming?
Have you tried shoveling it out of the coop? If you are able to shovel out the hay and snow to put down fresh bedding, I would think that would be okay.

 

[DougVC]

I would get as much snow out as possible and replace the bedding as you suggested. With as open as your coop is, I am guessing it gets wet and probably dries out fairly quickly as well with how open it is. Probably a good idea to put them in the garage in the snow as you did with your coop not really set up for this type of weather, but once you have the coop cleaned out, I would move them back outside assuming you can keep the wind off of them while the cold temps remain. Chickens can tolerate cold, but struggle when they get wet or are in the wind when it is cold.

 

[clickchicks]

Yes, there's chance of snow through Wednesday. Friday temps start climbing and by the weekend (hopefully) it will not drop below freezing again at night.

I will shovel everything out and try to get fresh bedding asap. I want to try the tarps again, but 2/3 failed the first time which has me nervous. I suspect because I left an opening for ventilation and snow/ice somehow got on the underside and weighed it down.

Pic of the coop for reference:

Its built for the 100+ degree summers here, not for the ice and snow sadly

 

[CluckerFamily]

Do you have any spare pieces of wood that you can sandwich the tarp between to put up against the coop? This will help to keep it in place.

 

[clickchicks]

I don't have much but I can probably scrape together a few pieces and try. The side facing the fence is the only tarp that didn't come down, probably because the wind wasn't hitting it directly, so maybe I can leave the ventilation opening on just that side and cover everything else up entirely. I didn't want to do that originally because I figured more ventilation was better.

Under better conditions it does dry very quickly, like DougVC mentioned. But throwing in the multiple days of snow/freezing temps was a curve ball I was not prepared for.

 

[DougVC]

You have a very nice coop by the way. Looks perfect for 99% of the time in Texas.

 

[SnootyHen]

I tarp my run (on all but one side) with plastic sheeting and Flex Tape to hold it and it's made it through about 3 months of midwest winter with only one tear that required a fix. But at this point, I'd probably just shovel out as much snow as you can, rake out the hay that's snowy and then tarp it. Once the snow passes and it starts to warm up, take off the tarp so the wind and sun can help dry it. Sometimes when I get a lot of water, I use a fan to dry it out but you have a lot of nice exposure (for everything but snow) that I bet once the temp rises, it will dry out a lot better. That is, if you can keep the ladies inside that long. Then once it's warmer and dryer, put down fresh bedding. I wouldn't bother with fresh stuff now until the snow threat has past. Nothing worse than getting it all nice and then getting more snow and you're right back where you were.