They may say flock, but they're more like family! :)

[chickneggs]

what do you use to keep their water from freezeing

Oh now that it's gotten colder here, I've picked up a heated waterer for them. But since then, I've learned I'm gonna have to buy a different type, because with the winters here the heated waterer will likely freeze over. But the one I have at the moment is working great for this October month! So no complaints yet. And once the larger coop is finished, I'll be able to place their waterer with them in the coop, which will help keep working well. Yay for then!

 

[Joan71]

I hope everything goes smoothly for you. The heated waterer is the most critical part of being prepared for winter, so you are set in that department. By the way, I learned the hard way that chicken wire alone is not a great material for the chicken run. It's not really strong especially after a season exposed to the elements. If I had read more on Back Yard Chickens from the start, I would have known that galvanized welded wire holds up better.

Invest in good quality wire for your chicken pen/run area. Chicken wire as you mentioned is not strong enough or constructed to keep out predators. You want your wire to be strong enough to keep out raccoons, foxes, coyotes, etc. Whatever you have in your area for predators. Check on BYC under coops and runs for the type of wire to use and how to make your run safe from predators. Some use handman cloth (a type of strong cloth wire), or the regular type chicken wire. I got my wire at Tractor Supply. Hope this helps. You are doing great with your new family. We just want to be sure that they are safe in their run.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

We have the same problem fellow Michiganer! I have basically the same coop and need to build a different one. It's a race against time with the snow!

 

[bavarianrose]

I look forward to having a small flock again. I had a black silkie we called Flossie Doolittle. She became our pet and would go in the pond with us. She was quite docile and was much more than just a chicken. The rest of the flock were beautiful chickens but she was special.

 

[chickneggs]

We have the same problem fellow Michiganer! I have basically the same coop and need to build a different one. It's a race against time with the snow!

Lol The snow came tonight! Don't know if it's gonna stick though... But tomorrow or Friday we are gonna get the door and window fitted for the coop and hopefully by this weekend, the chickens can move in! Hope you too are able to get a different coop built! It's a blessing the chickens do better in the cold-really helps to know that they can handle themselves to a point in the cold.

 

[chickneggs]

I look forward to having a small flock again. I had a black silkie we called Flossie Doolittle. She became our pet and would go in the pond with us. She was quite docile and was much more than just a chicken. The rest of the flock were beautiful chickens but she was special.

Sounds like Queenie! She follows me around the yard at times and doesn't mind being held or pet. She loves attention! But her being the head of the flock, I think she doesn't permit the others to get close to me. Tonight as I went out to shut the coop, the lookout chicken (Lol the one who checks out the surroundings after the others have gone in the coop and then heads in last...) actually bent over to let me pet her and even after I was done, she wouldn't stand back up-just wanted to be petted more! But her and the others do NOT do such thing when they are all together. They instead act afraid of me. I think it's just Queenie and her "ground rules". But that is soooo cool about Flossie Doolittle!! Before I had chickens this year, I never knew how companionship they had!

 

[Vickery]

To keep the water in liquid form, we will be wrapping the metal waterer with heat tape and plugging it into the electrical source with one of those temperature sensitive adaptors ($12 on Amazon). It turns on the electricity only when the temps drop below 34 degrees...pretty cool. I'm going to plug the heat source into that as well (it has two outlets!). Our more veterinized chicken friends have done this and it has worked out well for them I think. We live in Northern Nevada...temps are cold but not too bitter most of the time.

 

[rainlips]

I'm finding that even tho my girls can go out into the run durning the day they don't with the cold weather. It's funny cause around noon on most days I peek out my window expecting to see them outside and not a single bird! The first couple times I went to make sure everything was good and it was... They where just hanging inside the coop, I walk in an they look at me like "what? You want us to go out there, it's cold!" Lol
Goofy birds!
As a fellow michaganer I know how cold it can get but like it was said before they do pretty well in the cold! Have a good day!

 

[Cheryl1948]

Nice family We have a 16 X 20 ft. run and we enclosed the entire thing, including the top, with "hardware cloth". Also, we covered the windows with that material. We stapled it and then used screws and washers to secure it. I feel like only a bear could penetrate it, but haven't seen any of those in my neighborhood. Raccoons are very strong and they can rip chicken wire open. If you look on the internet you can get great ideas for chicken runs. I sure want to keep my girls safe and know you do too! Have fun!

 

[dragonlord483]

Use hardware cloth vinal coated works best last longer