Will my chickens be warm enough in an ark?

[CheerfulHeart2]

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What a great idea!

 

[chick4chix]

Yes- Elmo they are standards - I have two wyandottes and four EE's. The ark is on the side of the house where there can be a strong wind- so on those nights I might put a furniture blanket over the top or something and I'm going to use Opa's suggestion for rain. Thanks

Here is a picture of a couple of them beside the ark


and here is a photo of the ark

 

[Opa]

You've got some very pretty birds and they are considered winter hardy breeds. With thar setup, and the climate you have, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

 

[chick4chix]

Thanks Opa- I call them my "live garden art"

 

[patman75]

Mine are still in the ark and my temps are in the 40s at night. they seem to be fine. I mght do the tarp trick if it get a little colder.

Hopefully by then their winter coop will be finished.

 

[chick4chix]

Hi Patman-
How are you nest-sleepers doing? How many eggs have you been getting? I did end up putting a 2"x4" on top of the original roost (as per your suggestion) when the girls kept going into the nests to roost because after the first one started laying I didn't want to block them off anymore.

But... they still roost in there sometimes- not every night, but a couple of times a week they will all jamb themselves into the nest and then play ping-pong with me when I get one nest emptied- they have wandered down to the other side- until they finally tire of the game and settle in on their 2x4 roost

 

[sarahm]

We have four four-week old chirpies in the process of transitioning out to a catawba coop--daytime only this week, full time starting next week, no more heat light anytime. They are standard, supposedly cold-hardy breeds (2 EEs, 1 Dominique, 1 Cuckoo Maran), mostly feathered, and seem to do great with no extra heat during the day, when it's been in the 60s. It does get really cold here in the winter and now I'm starting to wonder if this coop will be adequate. Since we went through the trouble of building it ourselves and don't have tons of space to begin with, I'd really like to make it work!

Has anyone gone through a full winter in a cold climate with an ark? Do you keep the ramp down on cold days? Have you used a tarp and/or shower curtain and has it kept everyone safe and happy?

Thanks very much for any advice.

 

[PunkinPeep]

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[patman75]

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They were doing good for a while but then they started sleeping in the nest boxes again.

With the days getting shorter it is still dark when I leave in the morning for work and i dont want to disturb them unblocking the nest boxes.

I just gave up, mainly because I'm building a winter coop right now and hope to have to finished in the next week. At that point they go into the winter coop.

I will make some modifications to the tractor/ark next spring where I will put the nest boxes in the lower area on the doors and make the entire top a roost. i will also build an extenstion so that it can hold a few more chickens.

Did you give your hens a roost when they were chicks/pullets? Mine where not exposed to a roost until they were 11 weeks old. I'm thinking part of it could be my fault for not giving them a roost when when they were younger.

 

[chick4chix]

Patman 75 wrote:

Did you give your hens a roost when they were chicks/pullets? Mine where not exposed to a roost until they were 11 weeks old. I'm thinking part of it could be my fault for not giving them a roost when when they were younger.

Yes- I gave them roosts when they were only 2 weeks old- I pushed a wooden dowell through the cardboard box I was using as a brooder- then kept making the diameter bigger as they got heavier until they were on a closet pole size dowel. So they have been roosting as babies. They even had a 2x4 roost outside in the garden where they regularly hung out- so they have no excuses