what do all you cold climate chicken owners do to the coop for winter

[blueseal]

i was just wondering what everyone else did during the cold winter months. i put hay in the coop for my chickens. first winter in the new coop its a 10x12 gambrel shed looks like a minature barn. i have there roosts 3 or 4ft high off the floor. they have empty ceiling space above them probably 5ft ceiling space will they be alright or should i have a loft built over there heads. i should have had them put the loft in back when i had it built last january. i dont think it would cost much mostly plywood and 2x4s for the frameing. what does everyone think i should do.

 

[Orpstralope]

I like the idea that chickens have their own coats, but I am going to start putting a red infared light in their coop just for a little warmth. (It's getting around 15 here at night)

 

[B'villechicken]

I have to preface this comment by saying that this is the first winter with my chickens here in Syracuse,NY. I have 8 Red Stars in an 8'X8'X6' high well insulated and vented coop. I have a cookie tin heater for their water and plan on no additional heat. I use deep litter. I certainly may change my thinking on this, but on the farm when I was growing up, we had Leghorns that free ranged and never were in a heated coop.

 

[Wildsky]

Last year I put in a few hay bales, sqare ones still tied up - this year I don't have any spare right now.

I will be putting hay in soon, we were getting some from a chap the next town over but he was rushed to hospital so now I'm not sure whats going on.

My chickens have been ok, the coop is 20X7, with 18 chickens, 6 ducks and 6 guinea's and so far so good. We were down to -15 last night.

 

[rcentner]

B'villechicken :

I have to preface this comment by saying that this is the first winter with my chickens here in Syracuse,NY. I have 8 Red Stars in an 8'X8'X6' high well insulated and vented coop. I have a cookie tin heater for their water and plan on no additional heat. I use deep litter. I certainly may change my thinking on this, but on the farm when I was growing up, we had Leghorns that free ranged and never were in a heated coop.

Did your chickens come out of the coop when they saw the snow and winds this morning? Mine didn't unitl around 11am. I don't have heat in my coop or insulation. I do plan to insulate it but figure I have a few weeks for it gets real cold here. I haven't heated the water yet, they don't drink at night so I just empty and bring nice warm water in the mornin.​

 

[B'villechicken]

My chickens did not come out in the 5" of snow all day yesterday. There were some footprints in the snow on the ramp but none in the yard. I guess this is how the term "chicken" got started!!! We'll will have to see today if they go out in the yard.

 

[gsim]

Dry overall, and draft free at roosting level are two important things. Dry is easiest to come by if lots of ventilation overhead near tops of walls and or in gable ends. Maybe like mine is with a turbine vent in center of roof to help the two gable vents. I have continuous soffit vents too, front and back. Comes to around 5 sq ft of ventilation, all overhead. for 24 pullets. So I can shut up windows and pop doors tight and no problems with moisture building up overnight.

Got 2" snow in E Tenn recently. Mine all trooped out into it at first light when I pulled their two pop doors open same as always. It was gone by late afternoon. It was around the mid-20'a that morning. If in 40's I leave a little crack in W and E windows. Below that I just shut it up and let the built-in breathing at the top of the coop do it's work. No moisture buildup yet and no troubles either. I have no insulation, but no drafts either unless I crack windows. Poop planks are scraped clean daily in AM and windows opened wide to do complete air changeout. Coop has remained very dry so far. I could even spray a light water mist on the litter every day just to minimize the dust and probably be ok.

 

[LynneP]

We're in Nova Scotia so our situation is similar to those of you along the eastern seaboard of Maine, though if you are in the Salient, your climate is closer to that of northern New Brunswick or the Quebec border. I've put together some thoughts in the link below. I would say that first you should have a thermometer in the coop, before making changes - it's difficult to work among the birds at this time of year. Other than that, the most effective thing you can do is to cover your run- it is the most magnificent add-on you can give yourself!

 

[jjparke]

I throw in a bunch of straw and mix it with the pine shavings. The walls in my coop are open so I throw some straw in there too. I put the waterer up on a CMU block and put a light in one of the cells and that keeps the water from freezing and I also have put a 250 heat lamp in one corner so if they want they can go over there. I have noticed that they still don't spend much time under it. Also try to keep things REALLY dry.

 

[sparkles2307]

We have our coop in an old granary so its pretty tightly built, but its on a cement floor so we put several bales of straw down till it was nice and deep for them, and I have a light buld over the water bucket and a heat lamp aimed at the roosts and nest boxes. So far they are pretty happy and havent been fluffing up to stay warm. They have open rafters above them and actually roost up there instead of on the roosts most of the time.