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

[LadyCluck77]

I like the idea of snow being enough, it's very tempting to just limit my preps to covering part of the run. Do you find it to really work?

I like engineering problems, so I may still try my hand at the homemade solar water trough.

Here is an article from Mother Earth News about how to make them, if anyone else is planning to build one.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/solar-stock-tank-zmaz10onzraw.aspx#axzz2g6a5vrou

 

[Chickens R Us]

Another of the many things I have to do is put up a snow fence so I won't have to shovel as much. Actually I use a yooper scooper its a lot easier than shoveling.

 

[mrchicks]

Interesting reading here!

Last year we insulated our coop, but didn't add heat. All of our girls were just fine. Now of course chicken math has worked it's wonders and we are adding another coop. We are debating whether or not to insulate the new one. We're in WI, so it gets pretty darn cold. The birds are EE's, Polish and Silkies.

Opinions please?

 

[groverlvchx]

I'm in MN (pretty much the same climate as WI) and we bought an old home made playhouse to use for our chicken coop. It was built by a carpenter and has vinyl siding (matched his house) but no insulation. It is 9x11' and 11 feet tall at the peak and has a wooden ceiling most of the way at about 6 feet so the upper level is a storage loft. The eves above the ceiling/loft are open but blocked by hardware cloth (stapled up) so that's our ventilation when we close the windows in the winter. I lost three birds to sickness early last winter because I was heating with two 150 watt red bulbs. Once I got rid of those, the colds cleared up and the chickens weathered the rest of the winter just fine--and that included multiple blizzards and several twenty below actual (wind chill was lower) nights. I use deep litter bedding. Last winter I put a whole bale of hay in there for them to snuggle in, but their droppings froze on top so it was impossible to mix. I ended up dragging it out into the run. I'm sticking with wood shavings this winter. It's pretty amazing how they can live in such cold temps as long as they have food and drink and shelter.

 

[Myrth]

Here in Illinois, it gets pretty cold. It used to get to -20F on rare occasions, but I haven't seen it get that low for a long time. It still gets pretty cold though. Over the years I have kept chickens in tractors, greenhouses, and more traditional coops.


A cold hardy breed will not need heat. They need a dry shelter where they are out of the wind and weather (and mud). They need water and feed. They need ventilation.


Given these things hardy chickens do great in our winters.

 

[craftyridge]

Thinking about moving our coop/run closer to the house this winter. Is there places we shouldn't have it? Over water lines...near air conditioning units?

 

[jimmywalt]

Here in Illinois, it gets pretty cold. It used to get to -20F on rare occasions, but I haven't seen it get that low for a long time. It still gets pretty cold though. Over the years I have kept chickens in tractors, greenhouses, and more traditional coops.


A cold hardy breed will not need heat. They need a dry shelter where they are out of the wind and weather (and mud). They need water and feed. They need ventilation.


Given these things hardy chickens do great in our winters.

Are ISA Brown's, Porcelain D'uccle Bantam and Araucana considered cold hardy?

 

[MEMama3]

Are ISA Brown's, Porcelain D'uccle Bantam and Araucana considered cold hardy?

I know ISAs and araucanas are cold hardy. I don't know enough able d'uccles to say on those ones.

 

[pbarr86]

Started my winterizing project for my first New England winter with chickens, I am going to sandwich clear sheet plastic between the hardware cloth and the plastic lattice. I will close the windows and add an electric water heater to keep it from freezing and that's about it.

 

[jstlitlome]

Started my winterizing project for my first New England winter with chickens, I am going to sandwich clear sheet plastic between the hardware cloth and the plastic lattice. I will close the windows and add an electric water heater to keep it from freezing and that's about it.

Functional, AND adorable!