Temporary winter wind break ideas

[doublecrossranch]

I am currently using this method and it has failed miserably. The wind is so vicious where I live, it just whips them all around and tears them apart. I plan to switch to something rigid like clear corrugated plastic that I used for their roofing in the run.
Montana winds can be nasty. We are currently in a winter storm and I was so naive to think the clear tarps would work at my place. Maybe if the wind wasn’t so bad, but it sounds like a freight train going through my chicken run the way the wind whips the tarps around.

My husband is from Wyoming so I understand the wind. Lol. You all are getting your a$s handed to you this year already

 

[doublecrossranch]

I’m going to try 6ml plastic this winter. What do I use to seal the seams? Duck tape or don’t worry about it? My run is 12x28. I’m only going to cover 3 sides (north, east, and west). Plus I need to cover the top.

 

[RustyBucketFarmGirl]

I love to use bales of straw. I gather up some that people in the nearby development use to decorate for fall and then discard on the curb. And then i build a one or 2 layers fortress surrounding the sides of the coop. It helps block any direct wind and some drafting. Then in the spring i toss the bales in the run one by one and let them sift through them to find goodies in the spring.

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

My husband is from Wyoming so I understand the wind. Lol. You all are getting your a$s handed to you this year already

I know! Yesterday was 73 and today it’s a foot of snow.

I’m going to try 6ml plastic this winter. What do I use to seal the seams? Duck tape or don’t worry about it? My run is 12x28. I’m only going to cover 3 sides (north, east, and west). Plus I need to cover the top.

I like where you’re going with this, and maybe I should have sealed the seams as well. When I came home from work today, my entire run was full of snow. My girls were huddled inside the coop and I’m pretty sure they did not eat or drink all day because their feeder was buried in snow and I saw no evidence of footprints to the waterer. I have my North and East walls covered with tarp. My west wall butts up to my garage. The entire roof is covered, but I left plenty of open space up top for ventilation. All the wind blew the snow right through my ventilation into the run. I should have taken a picture of it before I shoveled it off to the side. I was so disappointed.

I love to use bales of straw. I gather up some that people in the nearby development use to decorate for fall and then discard on the curb. And then i build a one or 2 layers fortress surrounding the sides of the coop. It helps block any direct wind and some drafting. Then in the spring i toss the bales in the run one by one and let them sift through them to find goodies in the spring.

I broke down and bought three decorative straw bales from Home Depot to put in the run. I was hoping to line the edges of the run with straw bales, but at $10 a pop, I cNt afford it. The bales are tiny.

 

[Alaskan]

The entire roof is covered, but I left plenty of open space up top for ventilation.

I have found the same... high gap at the top = snow inside.

Solid walls on 2 or 3 sides, 4th side fully open for good ventilation, works much better.

 

[K0k0shka]

I've been reading about winter wind breaks, coop/run orientation and wind directions, and I just wanted to point out that it really helps if you look up the predominant wind direction where you live, because that varies. I found a very patronizing-sounding thread where somebody was talking at length about how important orientation is, how south is the best direction for everything, etc. etc. but in reality, not everybody gets their worst winds from the north. This varies greatly within the US, not to mention that this forum has members all over the world, and I imagine things are quite different in Australia, for example. So I looked up the average wind direction in Boston where I live, and it turns out that most of our wind comes from the west, year round, but especially in the winter. And our least windy direction is east, so I'll probably cover 3 sides completely, like Alaskan suggested, and leave one side fully open, but now that I know this, I'll leave the east side open, not the south side.

 

[Folly's place]

Mine works a little differently, I have good roof overhangs on all sides, and have the upper part of the south side open, and the human sized door open on the south side too, unless it's actually a blizzard out there. I also have the upper section of the east side open, and only rarely does any snow or rain blow into the coop there. It does depend on the structure, it's location, wind direction, and wind blocks from other structures.
Plan ahead, try something, and be ready to modify the plan if things don't work so well.
Mary

 

[Alaskan]

All true... I have to keep the north side open, on one coop, and I keep the east side open on another.

Each individual spot will have different prevailing winds.

 

[doublecrossranch]

I got part of the run covered today and stray around the outside of the coop. We are going from mid 70’s to low 30’s tonight.

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

I got part of the run covered today and stray around the outside of the coop. We are going from mid 70’s to low 30’s tonight. View attachment 1930963 View attachment 1930963 View attachment 1930964 View attachment 1930965 View attachment 1930966 View attachment 1930968

Looking good!