Trying to winterize my coop I made a big MISTAKE! Help!

[cornpone]

well folks, believe it or not.....styrofoam is used by many old time chicken breeders ... pieces are pitched in to young chicks to keep them from pecking on one another...they seem to enjoy pecking on it....never knew any damage coming from it...i think they dont eat as much as one might think....i keep some on hand all the time.....i put used roofing tin around the bottom outside of my pens...little chicks can't get out..most of all it keeps the coons-possums- even foxes & 'yotes out..also cuts down on the cold wind....also...don't use cedar shavings for coop litter..its toxic or something ..to chickens,,,

 

[chookchick]

If it is any consolation I seriously doubt that the styrofoam is going to end up in their eggs. Since it is not digestible, it will simply be pushed along the digestive tract and go out in their poo. Eggs are formed inside the reproductive tract, and then dropped into the cloaca. I'd eat one. If it tasted like styrofoam, I guess I would get grossed out then.

 

[luvbiddies]

Thanks everyone, it is comforting to know that I am not the only silly one!!!

 

[hens & chicks]

There is a contractors plastic that comes in a roll. It looks like cellaphane. Costs about 35.00 a roll at Menards or Home Depot. As it is stretched and overlapped, it sticks to itself. Use it to cover the run. Just start in one spot and go around and around until all is covered. Overlap about 3-5" worth and put on several layers of it. This will be the third winter I have used it and it keeps them warm and relatively wind free and I think helps to radiate what sun is there. I leave it on until well into spring/summer. Actually the geese usually end up getting it loose enough so that I have to remove the rest. I have covered chain link and chicken wire with it and at the doorways I just slit it down the middle and work it around the posts at the doorway and overlap it on itself and leave it like that. Does very well. Well worth the effort. It does take two people. I also put a broom handle in the core of the roll to handle easier.

 

[wing it]

why do chickens like styrofoam so much? I was useing some on my house and left a few small pieces in the yard chicks found it and went crazy for it. They still look for it. So far I have seen no bad come of it, there all fine.

 

[patandchickens]

hens & chicks :

There is a contractors plastic that comes in a roll. It looks like cellaphane. Costs about 35.00 a roll at Menards or Home Depot. As it is stretched and overlapped, it sticks to itself. Use it to cover the run. Just start in one spot and go around and around until all is covered. Overlap about 3-5" worth and put on several layers of it. This will be the third winter I have used it and it keeps them warm and relatively wind free and I think helps to radiate what sun is there. I leave it on until well into spring/summer. Actually the geese usually end up getting it loose enough so that I have to remove the rest. I have covered chain link and chicken wire with it and at the doorways I just slit it down the middle and work it around the posts at the doorway and overlap it on itself and leave it like that. Does very well. Well worth the effort. It does take two people. I also put a broom handle in the core of the roll to handle easier.

Yup, I use 6 mil plastic sold as vapor barrier, because the coop is in a *really* windy location and thinner plastic just rips off... but either way, as long as your run structure can handle the increased wind load, plastic is a good and fairly cheap-durable wind barrier.

Another possibility to contemplate is landscape burlap, the kind they sell to wrap your evergreens in to prevent winter windburn. It does not *stop* the wind like plastic/tarp/plywood/haybales will, but OTOH that means it doesn't flap and doesn't stress your run framing nearly so much. I have started using it on some runs on the upwind side of my coop, simply because the wind was ripping tarps off unless they were *seriously* battened on all over and then if they were it was deflecting the wind up to stress a rather old and weebly run roof... and I have been quite amazed at how much that nearly see-through burlap will buffer the wind. I may use almost entirely burlap next year, if it holds up well through the winter.

Good luck, have fun, I don't htink your chickens will die from eating styrofoam it's just kind of counterproductive

,

Pat​

 

[harewizard]

Another option for draft control and protection is to stack hay bales against the run. This is what I did on the north side of our run; stacked 2 high. If the winds get to blowing from the north east, I can move the hay bales around.

Just a thought...

Lisa

 

[chookchick]

Pat, you might want to look into shade cloth. This is sold in 5' widths here in the U.S. (Lowe's and Home Depot). A greenhouse supply company should also carry it. I use this stuff instead of a tarp for loads in my truck, and it lasts forever. Much better than a tarp as it has an infinite number of places to fasten a bungee, and doesn't pull apart like burlap. Since it cuts the wind driving down the freeway, I bet it would cut the wind on a run quite a bit also.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Yup, I use shade cloth a lot in summer, I *love* the stuff, but it is too pricey up here for me to use in the winter, also it catches too much snow/ice and sags permanently out of shape. I don't care if cheapo burlap does that, but I'm not doing that to my good shadecloth!

Pat

 

[WisconsinGardenChick]

Pat,

OT, I wish I could have you on speed dial!! My stomach has been in knots lately worrying about my chickens; it has been so cold. Their coop is usually ten or more degrees warmer than outside, but do you think they will go in??? Nooooooo. It can be 6F outside,18F in their coop, and the little bird brains just stay out!! I'm trying to sit tight and ASSUME that they will go in if they really need to, but it's hard...