Winter is coming...What is left on your to-do list?

[tripletfeb]

I need to stock up on sunscreen and golf balls.

You are such a brat

 

[-Chanticleer-]

Although our winters are generally mild, I still have to do a little prep.
I have to reroof one of the smaller coops. I have a fraying tarp on it now (I know, I was being lazy) I noticed all the tiedowns are swinging freely in the breeze so it's past time. I usually use corrugated wood strips under tin roof panels attached with roofing nails. I think I am going to step into the modern era and use fiberglass panels and some kind of adhesive. I couldn't find the corrugated strips anywhere and had to get the local hardware to order them.
I also need to take down the poultry netting, clear off all the leaves and sticks, then put it all back up. I need to find some taller helpers...this job is a major PITA.
I will accept any advice on the poultry netting job!

With the net try a leaf blower. I’ve been able to clear mine faster that way.

 

[Cpgrnwd]

When my hubby built our first coop we covered it with a tarp, and added another every year or two depending on the level of deterioration in our extreme summers in ENC. These resulted in accumulation of several layers and unfortunately the perfect air BNB for rats...I've battled them for a year now. I had a metal roof put on, hardware cloth over every possible opening larger than half inch, covered the ground with hardware cloth and put a fresh 5" layer of sand over that (best decision for bedding I ever made), AND replaced my feeder (the Rubbermaid garbage can kind with 8 PVC tubes, lol, rats climb in there too) with a treadle feeder, placed outside in the run instead of in the coop (no longer any food in the coop) (also hardware cloth that whole thing too inside and out-those suckers climb, jump, tunnel!!). Adjacent to my coop is my greenhouse where they moved in after I got them out of the coop and run. Adjacent to the greenhouse is my shed, where I think I've finally gotten them out, smh. The final act of non poisonous attack was to run a hose from my exhaust pipe into the shed... haven't found any bodies so I guess they've finally moved away. My property is surrounded by farmland and forest. I'm just giving you some things to think about because you mentioned a tarp roof, sorry this saga was so long ..but it has been

I just tarped for our first winter. Do you think it was the layers of tarp? Sounds like a horrible ordeal !

 

[K0k0shka]

Another big step done now and I am almost ready for winter! I put clear polycarbonate wind blocks on the run. Leaving the door uncovered for now, because it's not too bad yet and I want to be able to see better. When we start getting real storms, I'll put a clear shower curtain on the door to block wind and snow from that side as well. And that will be my last winterization item!

 

[thecatumbrella]

When we start getting real storms, I'll put a clear shower curtain on the door to block wind and snow from that side as well. And that will be my last winterization item!

Teach me how you do the shower curtain over the door! We have a very similar setup, and I'm trying to figure out how to secure the curtain so it won't blow away, but also be really easy to remove for getting in and out.

Our winter checklist was:
- reinforce run with extra support poles, wire tires, and bungees
- install clear roofing panels around the entire enclosure (with ventilation at top)
- set up a heated waterer (went with Premier 1)
- convert the Omlet Cube to winter mode (reinstall vents, fill trays with insulating hemp, add wooden roosts)

 

[K0k0shka]

Teach me how you do the shower curtain over the door! We have a very similar setup, and I'm trying to figure out how to secure the curtain so it won't blow away, but also be really easy to remove for getting in and out.

Oh I don't remove it for getting in and out! Once I install it, I don't touch it until springtime when I take the wind blocks down. I've cut the curtain to be the exact size of the door, and then I zip tie it tightly to the HC on the door. It becomes part of the door and moves with it when I open it and close it.

Here's what it looks like when done (the picture is from a couple of years ago but that's how it always looks). I put the plastic on the inside of the door because it looks nicer that way.

I make DIY "grommets" for the curtain to keep it from ripping at the holes, by putting a piece of duct tape where I want the hole to be, taped to both sides of the plastic, then I punch a hole through the middle of the duct tape with a hole puncher. This reinforces the hole. Then I put a zip tie through the hole and tie it to the HC, like this:

My buddies like to supervise the process

 

[StinkyAcres]

Lets see...I need to trim the sheep's hooves and remove her summer shelter tarp so it doesn't get damaged by snow. I also need to clean the heated water bucket and place it in the chicken and sheep pen. And I'm waiting for a new outdoor GFCI outlet to be installed so I can plug in the new heated water bowl for the ducks.

I have already installed the winter windows, set up the winter pen and reinforced the fence for snow and ice, and added extra straw to the duck coop. Anything else? Hmmm...

 

[thecatumbrella]

Oh I don't remove it for getting in and out! Once I install it, I don't touch it until springtime when I take the wind blocks down. I've cut the curtain to be the exact size of the door, and then I zip tie it tightly to the HC on the door. It becomes part of the door and moves with it when I open it and close it.

Thank you SO MUCH! I'm going to try and engineer something using your photos. Your chickens are so well behaved. Mine "help" by biting my hands, biting the tools, and running to eat anything I foolishly drop (after being BITTEN! GUYS, STOP!)

Also, I see I'm not the only one decorating the run for Christmas! Clearly that's essential winter prep.

 

[Sally PB]

So I had to look up "Mast Year".
"Every few years, some species of trees and shrubs produce a bumper crop of their fruits or nuts. The collective term for these fruits and nuts is 'mast', so we call this a mast year."
So I learned something! Not a term I have heard down here in the south. My acorn amounts seem normal but I have a bumper crop of pecans!

I had to look it up too. The first year we lived in this house, the oaks here definitely had a HUGE mast year. The ground was covered with acorns. It was like walking on marbles.

Teach me how you do the shower curtain over the door! We have a very similar setup, and I'm trying to figure out how to secure the curtain so it won't blow away, but also be really easy to remove for getting in and out.

I make DIY "grommets" for the curtain to keep it from ripping at the holes, by putting a piece of duct tape where I want the hole to be, taped to both sides of the plastic, then I punch a hole through the middle of the duct tape with a hole puncher. This reinforces the hole. Then I put a zip tie through the hole

I love the duct tape grommet idea! I'll use that next year.

For the past 3 years, I've had a piece of shower curtain cut to the size of the door. The door is made of wood, so I just staple it on. This year, I was short on shower curtains, so I used a couple of feed bags instead.

 

[RedwoodCoastChick]

Store a couple of pails of soil to add to the dust bath tub over the winter.

Thanks for the good idea! We rarely get any snow but it's VERY wet; moisture even seeping in from the soil outside into their covered dust bath area under the coop. Definitely will collect clean dirt and dry it out in the workshop to replenish their dust bath area.

Of course, the girls still go out & excavate muddy wallows in the run to "dust bathe" in...despite the thick layer of wood chips.