Tennessee

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Most of my coops are like yours, Believer. The Loew's playhouse, right?

My silkie coop is one 4x4. The LF pen is two of those with an 8' shed built between them. I have covered the windows in all three of those with plastic sheeting. The AM coop and banty coop I built from scratch. The AM coop is on my BYC page and the banty coop is a smaller version of the same. The large one is 3'x8' and the smaller 3'x4'. The mesh on both of those is currently covered. Both of the homemade ones are raised off the ground. The other two sit on the ground.

All of that being said, I open coop doors every morning no matter what the temps. The chickens are free to come and go as they please. I have found that they are happy out in the runs unless the temps fall into the single digits. I do take out hot water every morning when it is below freezing and the occasional bowl of oatmeal, but other than that they just kind of deal with life. All four runs get good winter sunlight and the chickens seem to just follow the sun around. Even the little tiny silkie babies out there right now seem pleased as punch to be out in the runs scratching around. When it is rainy or snowy, all of the chickens vanish either back up in the coops or under them. Given that this snow has stuck around though I have noticed chicks and chickens out in the snow doing their thing. It doesn't seem to bother them at all.

I worry more in the summer than I do in the winter. Mine really fatten up and fill out with feathers in the winter. When they get cold they huddle up together and share warmth. In the summer I worry about them falling over with heat exhaustion and spend a lot more time trying to keep them cool than I ever do trying to keep them warm. They have a really high body temperature themselves.

 

[believer01]

Hey Annie! Yeppers - Loew's playhouse! Got it for half price winter of 08. Was going to use it for a garden shed, and worked on painting it between the wet spells of 09. Finally talked hubby into letting me get chickens by convincing him that they didn't have to stink and make a mess....or have an ugly hen house (he is all about appearances). So we took the plans on here for using a playhouse as a coop, and with some help, got it together and up on the cement blocks. Good think, too - we're at the low end of a valley that has never flooded. Did I say never? NEVER say never!!! The storm last May flooded everything cept the house and barn here. We got the girls out just as the waters rose into the coop on Sun and they roosted on the table on the back porch that night. Took days to dry the coop out but the heat of early June sure helped.


Sat afternoon before it got really bad:

 

[believer01]

Now that's just sad....it's only quarter mile to the mailboxes so I bundled up and walked it. Well, I did slide a few times........Wheeeeeeeeee!

Not long after I stopped sliding I fell. Where's the justice in that?

Didn't hurt much - just my foot, and hip and wrist a little bit.

Who is old enough to remember that phrase "weebles wobble but they don't fall down!"

 

[HBuehler]

Unfortunately I'm old enough

or fortunately depending on how you look at it..
Glad you were not "hurt" funny how as we age if it's not broke or gushing blood it's not bad...seen worse... been worse... remember that time...

We had 24" of rain in the May flood the River ran through my shed but my pens are up so our birds just watched in disgust.The mess after it stopped was awful...about a foot of wet stinking chicken mud inside We can't flood since we own a hill but we were stuck at home since I also live right on the Cumberland and have to cross a bridge to get out...and well it was under there somewhere.At least we don't need flood insurance here as our insurance agent told our mortgage company..if they flood we won't be around to worry that's as close to never as never can be..it would be Biblical .Sadly it put all of us builders back to work as we had to rebuild much of Lebanon and all around us.
Spring Oh Spring Where Are You...don't tell me March or April I can't wait that long my toes are cold my nose is red my fingers are numb and it's too cold to throw the kids outside and they are going stir crazy

 

[HBuehler]

If anyone wants to order their Girl Scout cookies here in Middle TN let me know before Sat morning...Megan will begin delivering them the 13th of Feb...since I'm on the road way too much I can deliver East to C'Ville North to Westmoreland area South to M'Boro and West to Mt Juliet areas.She's going to Savannah for their trip this year and if she doesn't sell enough I have to pay..and that means less chickens-Mom doesn't like that one bit

 

[Jenski]

Wow, believer01 - - that was some rain, wasn't it!! Seems like warm May was so long ago. Thank goodness we are on a high, gradual slope. . . and that my coops are all elevated (some more than others). I can't imagine we'll see another flood light that in our lifetimes. (Hope not, anyway.)

It was not nearly as cold as they said it would be this morning - - 22 here, not the 14 on the weather websites. No complaints, though!

Sure wish I had shoveled the 4" of snow off the patio and back yard when it was slushy, though: it is now 4" of solid ice, and verrrrry slippery. It is also not inclined to be easily shoveled away. As I am not the most graceful person in the world on a clear, flat surface, the bumpy ice is just not a good thing over there. (Can I get an "Amen" from ya, CityGirl!!)

I imagine it is very entertaining for the neighbors, though - - if there is anyone (else) crazy enough to be hanging around in 22 F at the crack of dawn.

Hope everyone is staying warm - - and making their critters comfy ('cause that's why we exist, right?).

 

[rearrolled]

Australia

 

[kcsunshine]

Welcome - it's summer down under, isn't it? What kind of temps do you have?

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Quote:
Amen!

Thankfully the new magic muck boots have really deep treads on the bottom or I would have been flat on my back several times. I am klutz extraordinaire! I have found that breaking a new path everyday through the snow is my best bet. It is still crunchy enough to keep me upright. The old paths seem to ice to a sheet overnight. I am really ready for spring now.

Today's excitement was discovering a mouse nest in the silkie coop. I moved the nest crate and mice started flying everywhere! ACK!!!! I hate mice. The half a dozen big mice dove for cover, leaving a nest of 8 or so pinkies. Those were swiftly distributed through the coops for the large fowl. As slightly disgusting as it is, they LOVE to gobble them up. That's 8 less mice I'll have to deal with and approximately 8 bazillion offspring that will never happen. I hate to do it, but it seems it is time to set out poison again. The mice are out of control and the silkies show no desire to hunt them. Little pacifists.

School starts today, so I am off to educate the youth of America. I hope everyone stays warm and on both feet!

 

[Jenski]

CityGirl, can you let your cats into the coop, maybe when the birds are locked out in the pen? When my guy was still alive I could bring him into a room with a mouse, seal up all the doors, and let him go to town. He was lightning fast, and best of all, if I stayed in the room with him he would bring me the undamaged mousie to either dispatch or re-home as I wished. Coolest dirty rotten cat ever.

Well, it's straw time now . . . in winter I bring out some nice wheat or grass straw to keep the birds warm and occupied. They love to jitterbug around in it . . . keeps their little feetsies warm, and they pick out all the seed kernels.

I found that the Lowe's near me actually has the nicest short-cut straw (for less than the co-op). Perfect for banty feather feet, unlike the long strands of a regular bale.


CityGirl, hope you have a good day with your new classes of impressionable youth!