Winter is Coming! Checklists, tips, advice for a newbie

[farmchickutah]

I will use pine shavings in the coop this winter, not straw. My husband is a farmer, he along with my son calves out 300 head of mother cows every winter. They use straw in the barn for the calving sheds but they have to replace the straw every couple of days as everything (birthing material, poop etc.) clings to the straw. They use it because of it's warmth, but it soils very easily. So I think the pine shavings are better in a coop than straw. I do put straw in my dog houses as they keep them warm and the dogs don't poop in their houses so I don't have to change the straw just add to it. Just my experience and two cents worth !

 

[JackE]

I'm also curious on how best to insulate my very little henhouse. I live in southern ontario, and have 3 red sex links. I am planning on covering their run with plastic and using some bales of straw for wind breaks as well as to scatter around in the run. The henhouse is small: 8x3 and only 3.5' tall. There is r13 (I think!) foam core insulation throughout and good ventilation. We've also switched the roost over to a 2x4. Obviously we can't do deep litter method and I'm concerned that adding any sort of heat might be dangerous because the ceiling is pretty low. Should I add extra straw inside the henhouse (I currently use pine shavings)? I read somewhere that straw can house lice and other yucky things and am concerned about that too. I've gotten a lot of helpful info from this thread but my coop is so small I'm not sure what applies to my situation. Anyone out there have advie for my tiny chicken house?

You don't need to add insulation at all. The chickens come with perfect insulation of their own already, they don't really need any help from us. Now if you want to put it in there anyway, you will have to install interior walls. Otherwise, the chickens will happily shred and tear it right out of the walls. And, if you put interior walls in a coop, you will have provided a nice hidden secure place for mice and other pests, to set up housekeeping of their own. Just go with what you have, they'll be O.K. Just make sure you don't throttle off too much ventilation, cause then, you'll open a whole new can of worms. With frostbite, respiratory problems, and possibly freezing shut the coop from the inside.

 

[rojororeo]

I will use pine shavings in the coop this winter, not straw. My husband is a farmer, he along with my son calves out 300 head of mother cows every winter. They use straw in the barn for the calving sheds but they have to replace the straw every couple of days as everything (birthing material, poop etc.) clings to the straw. They use it because of it's warmth, but it soils very easily. So I think the pine shavings are better in a coop than straw. I do put straw in my dog houses as they keep them warm and the dogs don't poop in their houses so I don't have to change the straw just add to it. Just my experience and two cents worth !

I use wheat straw in our coop. Only because we have nearly 2 tons of it stored away after not needing nearly as much for stall bedding for my horse after a month long stalled surgery recovery as we thought we would need.
It isn't nearly as bad as it seems it could be, I don't think.
But I don't have a different reference point. I do go out and scoop up poop ever day, taking the gnarly straw with it to the compost pile. Then I just use my little hand rake to turn it all under so they don't step in little bits I might have missed. The straw actually shards really nicely, thereby sort of dropping down the small pieces of it, plus the chicken poop bits to the bottom, so it is sort of like a litter box for clean up of the dry bits the next day, and also for complete clean out that is great- you just pull back the big straw sticks on the top, and shovel out the bottom bits. I am the eternal no- wasting of anything, use everything to the fullest, lol. I have 13 birds in a 4x6 coop all night, and so far it hasn't been obnoxious for me, aside from having to twist myself into the roosts to scoop under them lol.
When I got this coop it was used they had used pine shavings, and the whole thing smelled to high heaven of nasty small animal and chicken poop. I think they didn't clean the poop nearly as much as was needed (as evidenced by the dried layers I had to chop off the roosts, lol), and the mice also love the bedding, along with the food having been kept in the coop. Now that I did a massive cleaning, and get poop most everyday, even though we have a few more birds in there than it really should have, there is no major smell, and the mess stays fairly contained.
I still have remnants of shaving in the nest boxes, and I hate it, lol they track it everywhere, and throw it. I started filling them with straw, and there was a bit of annoyance from the hens, but once they got it all situated and smashed how they like, they seem to have really taken to it.
Just wanted to give my 2 cents on the flip side of straw. And good to know it is insulating.

 

[Alaskan]

I'm also curious on how best to insulate my very little henhouse. I live in southern ontario, and have 3 red sex links. I am planning on covering their run with plastic and using some bales of straw for wind breaks as well as to scatter around in the run. The henhouse is small: 8x3 and only 3.5' tall. There is r13 (I think!) foam core insulation throughout and good ventilation. We've also switched the roost over to a 2x4. Obviously we can't do deep litter method and I'm concerned that adding any sort of heat might be dangerous because the ceiling is pretty low. Should I add extra straw inside the henhouse (I currently use pine shavings)? I read somewhere that straw can house lice and other yucky things and am concerned about that too. I've gotten a lot of helpful info from this thread but my coop is so small I'm not sure what applies to my situation. Anyone out there have advie for my tiny chicken house?

I think a thick bed of the wood chips is all you need, they will snuggle together and stay warm that way. The small house will stay nice and warm without any heat. You just need to make sure that the run is inviting enough that they go out. If they stay in such a little coop for too many days in a row, thy will probably start eating each other.

 

[jsmith2952]

@JackE. Thanks for the advice. Good point about the mice that may take up residence...had that in our house last winter and am not looking for a repeat experience, even in my little coop!! I am a little concerned about the ventilation--I feel so torn between the need for ammonia buildup to escape and the desire to not have my chickens get frostbite. If I leave the ventilation open during the day and close it at night (especially during cold snaps/high wind chills) will that be enough to protect them? Even after reading so much on here I still feel confused...I'm sure it'll be better after a winter under my belt, but I want to go into this with as much knowledge as possible.

thanks so much.

 

[jsmith2952]

Thanks for that, Alaskan. I hope they don't eat each other! How would I get my eggs otherwise?!? By making the run inviting, do you mean warm (by covering with plastic) and more comfy on their feet with straw and whatnot?

 

[AK Baha]

@JackE. Thanks for the advice. Good point about the mice that may take up residence...had that in our house last winter and am not looking for a repeat experience, even in my little coop!! I am a little concerned about the ventilation--I feel so torn between the need for ammonia buildup to escape and the desire to not have my chickens get frostbite. If I leave the ventilation open during the day and close it at night (especially during cold snaps/high wind chills) will that be enough to protect them? Even after reading so much on here I still feel confused...I'm sure it'll be better after a winter under my belt, but I want to go into this with as much knowledge as possible.

thanks so much.

Mix some stall fresh in with pine shaving it will help with the ammonia.

 

[Alaskan]

If it is super cold you will not have much ammonia since it will just freeze solid.

You will still have humidity just from their breathing, so you will need venting.

 

[JackE]

@JackE. Thanks for the advice. Good point about the mice that may take up residence...had that in our house last winter and am not looking for a repeat experience, even in my little coop!! I am a little concerned about the ventilation--I feel so torn between the need for ammonia buildup to escape and the desire to not have my chickens get frostbite. If I leave the ventilation open during the day and close it at night (especially during cold snaps/high wind chills) will that be enough to protect them? Even after reading so much on here I still feel confused...I'm sure it'll be better after a winter under my belt, but I want to go into this with as much knowledge as possible.

thanks so much.

You should not have to worry about opening and closing off ventilation from day to day. Once you have it set, you should be go to go. No matter the weather. The thing you want to look for, that will tell you if you have enough ventilation, is frost in the coop. If you see frost in there, that shows that there is a buildup of moisture, which is coming directly from the chickens. You see frost, usually accompanied by an ammonia smell, you are not getting enough fresh air flow in there. A sure sign you need to open it up more.
Funny thing about mice. I battle them in my house every winter, but my coop doesn't have any problems.

 

[Fowl Wench]

@JackE.  Thanks for the advice. Good point about the mice that may take up residence...had that in our house last winter and am not looking for a repeat experience, even in my little coop!!  I am a little concerned about the ventilation--I feel so torn between the need for ammonia buildup to escape and the desire to not have my chickens get frostbite.  If I leave the ventilation open during the day and close it at night (especially during cold snaps/high wind chills) will that be enough to protect them?  Even after reading so much on here I still feel confused...I'm sure it'll be better after a winter under my belt, but I want to go into this with as much knowledge as possible.   

thanks so much.

Keeping the ammonia down and the coop clean, I have read about DIATOMACEOUS EARTH as a natural treatment for the coop. I got some and also started practicing the DEEP LAYER METHOD that I read about on here. The DE is supposed to help with parasites both externally and internally by adding it to their food. I'm sure there are others here who know ALOT more about this than I do but maybe you should research these two options. Good luck!