When to close up coop for cold weather

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

I put the windows back in the coop when it gets into the 30s if the wind isn’t blowing in on them. I still keep them opened at the top. The pop door gets closed when it gets below zero. I don’t know how cold your winters get, but chickens can tolerate cold much better than heat, if you let them acclimate naturally to the weather.

It’s random. Last winter was the worst we’ve had in 40 years apparently where it got into the negatives with windchill. But apparently that’s not the norm around here. I guess that I’ll have to wait and see about.

 

[Chicken poppy]

My older birds are California Tan, Golden Laced Wyandotte and Sapphire Gem.
My younger birds are Sapphire Gem, Starlight Green Eggers and EEs.
I’m in Fahrenheit. (Central Arkansas)
I’m unsure of the direction our wind blows I see a lot of people who know and I’m unsure how anyone really know

Okay, thats good. you definitely got some cold-hardy breeds there, and your temperature isnt to bad. Make sure none are going threw a molt (though they shouldn't be) and that their fully feathered, they should be fine for a while. But make sure they have a warm area to go into if needed.

 

[3KillerBs]

I’m unsure of the direction our wind blows I see a lot of people who know and I’m unsure how anyone really know

I'm a weather nerd.

But I deliberately observed weather patterns when preparing to build Neuchickenstein.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

My older birds are California Tan, Golden Laced Wyandotte and Sapphire Gem.
My younger birds are Sapphire Gem, Starlight Green Eggers and EEs.
I’m in Fahrenheit. (Central Arkansas)
I’m unsure of the direction our wind blows I see a lot of people who know and I’m unsure how anyone really know

If you use a site like this, and put in your location, it will tell you the prevailing wind direction by month, wind speeds, avg precipitation, etc. All very useful when orienting your coop and deciding which sides to wall up.

You don't get "cold". Yes, its too cold for **me**, but your birds have down jackets. The three most important things they need in frezing weather is to be draft-free, dry, and well ventilated (because moisture from their breath, in freezing temps, becomes a frostbite risk, and because wind-blown water (rain/snow) at near freezing temps is a hypothermia risk.

Your coop has excellent ventillation. You may want to close it up some on the prevailing wind side come November (likely the North), and to check the roosting bars for drafts, but you are otherwise in good shape from what I recall of the coop.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I’m unsure of the direction our wind blows I see a lot of people who know and I’m unsure how anyone really know

For me it was a mix of observation (watching the trees during windstorms before the coop was built, and I now I have a windsock out by the coop as well so I always know which way wind is going) and talking to old timers around the neighborhood who could verify that what I was seeing was a typical wind strength and direction. So my one windowless wall is to the south, which is what works at my location.

I planned to keep the arches open since they are the highest point in the whole coop I don’t want humidity building up there if I close them off but I am worried it might be drafty. It faces N-S -ish.

If you keep the highest areas of ventilation open that's usually a safe bet as far as ventilation without drafts.

If you really want to find the air flow patterns for sure in your roost area, go out on a typical windy day (for your area) with a lightweight ribbon, go inside the coop with all ventilation open, and hold the ribbon about 1' above roost level (and for you, test all your roost locations). If the ribbon is not moving or barely stirring, then the wind is not causing any draft at that spot. If the ribbon is dancing and fluttering around, then there's a draft at that spot, and you can try closing/blocking various vents to determine exactly which ones are ok to leave open and what needs to be closed.

 

[saysfaa]

...I’m unsure of the direction our wind blows I see a lot of people who know and I’m unsure how anyone really know

https://www.localconditions.com has a past weather section. I used it to correlate barometric pressure changes to headaches but it has wind direction too.

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/wcc/home/climateSupport/windRoseResources/ is kinda cool and much less tedious but doesn't have very many locations.

https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-77.10,37.88,183 is just real time only, I think, but is worth checking out

I didn't use any of them. I just assume my prevailing wind comes from the west (sw to nw) most of the time since I live in the westerlies band. And I don't live in a canyon or between dense forests or ocean shore or anything like that. And I didn't really have a choice of location or orientation of my coop anyway.

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

This site has been very informative
I like that under the humidity section it uses words like “oppressive” and “miserable” to describe the humidity levels here.

If you use a site like this, and put in your location, it will tell you the prevailing wind direction by month, wind speeds, avg precipitation, etc. All very useful when orienting your coop and deciding which sides to wall up.

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

If you really want to find the air flow patterns for sure in your roost area, go out on a typical windy day (for your area) with a lightweight ribbon, go inside the coop with all ventilation open, and hold the ribbon about 1' above roost level (and for you, test all your roost locations). If the ribbon is not moving or barely stirring, then the wind is not causing any draft at that spot. If the ribbon is dancing and fluttering around, then there's a draft at that spot, and you can try closing/blocking various vents to determine exactly which ones are ok to leave open and what needs to be closed.

That is a really great idea!

 

[Cryss]

Hey everyone this will be our first fall/winter with chickens.

The youngest are 15 weeks old and the oldest are roughly 21 weeks.

We have a very ventilated coop due to the extreme heat here in central Arkansas.

It’s been in the 50s for the lows this week but the highs are still around 75-85.

At what temp should I start closing up some of the ventilation?
I still plan to leave the low ventilation and the top ventilation open but the in between will need to be boarded up at some point I imagine.

What temp is too cold to have all the ventilation we have?? You can see my coop on my page via the “my coop” tab.

The answer is ‘never’. As long as it is ventilation and not a draft. A draft is air movement through an opening that hits directly on any part of a chicken. Ventilation is the opening that allows warm moist air to rise up above the chickens and flow outside of the enclosure. This is important year round. In winter if moisture can’t escape then moisture turns to condensation that settles on he chickens and freezes causing frostbite. Dry cold air is tolerated because they grow their own down jackets. Me, I gotta pay a ton for a down jacket. That down is grown in response to the gradually increasing colder temperatures. If heat is added to the coop nature isn’t triggered to grow those warm feathers. The worst part of this is that if for any reason you lose power they will lose that added heat and be unable to compensate because they haven’t been acclimated. They are much better off in a dry cold environment.

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

The answer is ‘never’. As long as it is ventilation and not a draft. A draft is air movement through an opening that hits directly on any part of a chicken. Ventilation is the opening that allows warm moist air to rise up above the chickens and flow outside of the enclosure. This is important year round. In winter if moisture can’t escape then moisture turns to condensation that settles on he chickens and freezes causing frostbite. Dry cold air is tolerated because they grow their own down jackets. Me, I gotta pay a ton for a down jacket. That down is grown in response to the gradually increasing colder temperatures. If heat is added to the coop nature isn’t triggered to grow those warm feathers. The worst part of this is that if for any reason you lose power they will lose that added heat and be unable to compensate because they haven’t been acclimated. They are much better off in a dry cold environment.

Yes this I know. However my coop has full walls open due to the extreme heat here.
We also had an attack last night where a chicken lost a lot of down feathers it’s about to get really cold and wet. I imagine leaving full walls open isn’t beneficial. However I still plan to keep open the lower level and highest level of all around ventilation. If you looked at the pictures of my coop you’d understand my question more.