What do I do in winter?

mamahenny

In the Brooder
10 Years
Jun 28, 2009
33
0
22
I free range my chickens. The front door is wide open during the day it is really big and lets in lots of air. They have a small run they can go in and out of as well. I live in delaware the winter is kinda coldish. We get snow a few times every season. So what should I do for winter?
 
Maybe you could build a plastic covered insert for the door with a small section left open for the chickens. This would cut down on drafts and let in natural light.

My girls preferred to be outside even in the coldest weather. Just provide them with some sheltered sunny areas and maybe some hay bales for them to sit on to get up off the cold wet ground.

I worried about my girls last winter. I couldn't sleep at night when it started getting cold. I kept worrying they were freezing to death. I relaxed a lot when I saw how well they do.
 
They'll be fine in the winter. You may have to keep them confined to the run. If the door lets in too much cold air, keep it partially closed or build a pop door for the chickens. Insulation and good ventilation in the coop will help tremendously, as well.
 
Many people build what is called a pop door. It is about 12" square. The chickens can use this instead of leaving the big human door open. It also helps keep the rain out.

I haven't done it but I've seen photos where people build winding tunnels outside their pop door to help deflect wind, or you can hang a flap over it to help block wind. You might have to teach your chickens to use a door covered with a flap.

Hopefully someone will post pictures for you, especially of the tunnels, or you can try a search on pop doors using the search feature above.

Good luck!
 
Quote:
I've been thinking a lot about this myself as I prepare to convert an old farm building into a coop. Instead of insulating and using plywood to seal up the walls I may just cover them with hardware cloth and/or metal lathe and go with that. They'll have plenty of ventilation that way and it'll certainly cut down on the work for me. Still pondering.
 
Quote:
I've been thinking a lot about this myself as I prepare to convert an old farm building into a coop. Instead of insulating and using plywood to seal up the walls I may just cover them with hardware cloth and/or metal lathe and go with that. They'll have plenty of ventilation that way and it'll certainly cut down on the work for me. Still pondering.

How cold does it get where you live?
 
I agree with the other posts. I put two pop doors in this coop when I was integrating my pullets with my hens.

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Hi I live in Delaware also and in the winter what I do is have a 1ft. square opening on the door so they can go out and back in with out having the cold draft or wind blowing in the coop it's worked now for several years. When it snow though they will not come back out till they can see grass or dirt you will see there heads pop out every so often it's kinda funny just make sure there water is not always frozen and they had feed.
 

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