Winter care for my hens

[llombardo]

Thank you so much for sharing! Your coop is amazing! It's actually brilliant I think. I'm learning so much from this wonderful community. I'm so new at this but so far my girls seem very happy. I just want to see them be okay as we go on this winter. Thank you so much again!

It's my first year too. There always seems to be something more that can be done. I've added lights in the coop and in the run. My crazy chickens are out until 8-9 pm versus going in at 4 pm. They are keeping their summer schedule. Always learning. I've put in a lot of hours on the run and coop. I'm hoping to build a bigger coop(I know what I want in my head)that will be attached to the run and moving this coop to another area for another rooster I have that is living in the house for now. That is a whole other story, but he is safe and will have his own area hopefully in the spring.

 

[aart]

I posted a pic of my coop and run. There are only two hens. They are in their run each day, but I have a makeshift extension out of chicken wire for them for when I clean their coop each week. Thank you so much again!

Can you actually walk in there to shovel snow?!
Probably need a short handled shovel, eh?

Where is their feed and water...got plans to keep water thawed?

Might think about covering most that run with clear plastic, all but the door(or top of door) and 4" at the top of the tall walls to keep snow out and protect them from wind.
then cut a nice vent out of wall between coop and run so you can close that slider window

 

[Annalee Robin]

Cute coop and it has that small attached run space so that is something.

The other thing you might consider is a dog kennel. We have one of the Black 6’ tall dog kennel kits that we bought to use as a run for our prefab coop kit. So it isn’t a permanent fixture and can be moved. Maybe something like that could be an option for you in the future.

Thank you so much ! That is a really good idea and not too expensive either. Thank you for sharing this idea!

 

[Annalee Robin]

It's my first year too. There always seems to be something more that can be done. I've added lights in the coop and in the run. My crazy chickens are out until 8-9 pm versus going in at 4 pm. They are keeping their summer schedule. Always learning. I've put in a lot of hours on the run and coop. I'm hoping to build a bigger coop(I know what I want in my head)that will be attached to the run and moving this coop to another area for another rooster I have that is living in the house for now. That is a whole other story, but he is safe and will have his own area hopefully in the spring.

Wow! You are an amazing chicken parent! They are lucky to have you! I’m in a more urban area, and we rent, so we are limited with what we can do, but you truly have had amazing and very creative ideas and your chickens must be so happy! God bless you!

 

[Annalee Robin]

Can you actually walk in there to shovel snow?!
Probably need a short handled shovel, eh?

Where is their feed and water...got plans to keep water thawed?

Might think about covering most that run with clear plastic, all but the door(or top of door) and 4" at the top of the tall walls to keep snow out and protect them from wind.
then cut a nice vent out of wall between coop and run so you can close that slider window

Thank you very much for responding! Actually I tarped the coop with heavy duty tarp for the winter months, leaving air vents around it and openings around the door, the hen house and the nesting boxes so I can get in there to clean. No, unfortunately I can’t walk in to shovel snow, but so far the tarp has prevented snow from getting in. I use a children’s toy rake, believe it or not, to rake out the old straw and pine shavings. I clean the whole coop out weekly and replace the litter and straw in their nesting boxes since it’s a fairly small coop. Just to keep it clean for the two hens. My biggest concern is do they have enough ventilation and will they get depressed to not see much sunlight when it’s really cold? The tarp is black, but the Tractor Supply Store people said that black tarp will retain heat best. Again I’m learning everything from knowing nothing about this. Their waterer is big, tin, and I fill it with hot water when it’s below freezing in mornings. So far it hasn’t frozen. And their food bowls are in a stand on bricks. Not a lot of room in there. But they are hopefully happy- one of them is laying almost every day. Thank you so much again and I welcome suggestions and criticisms always! God bless you!