Winter is coming...

[Ninjasquirrel]

Great ideas @PirateGirl,

Solar lights have gotten to be inexpensive. A few solar flood light would greatly lengthen your hens day and allow them time to move around .

I just don’t like
“the power can go out “,argument it usually comes from people with no power to their coop ... hmm !

We use what we have ,I feel blessed to have power in my coop and water at the barn , makes my life much easier.

As I’ve stated before , power going out will not kill your chickens !! Just leave all doors closed til it comes back on , unless it’s more then a few hours .

If power outages are a concern ? Buy a back up generator.

Good luck

Got one

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

I do not use a heat source. This is my personal choice for a few reasons... 1) Preventing the birds from becoming hot house hens. If the electric goes out or if a lamp light burns out they can freeze because they are not used to the cold. 2) Fire hazard. 3) My bird breeds are very hardy and picked specifically for winter/heat tolerance. 4) My coop is insulated and they make enough body heat to keep the coop warm.

We had a winter last year of -20 with windchill and they were all fine. Obviously they didn't venture out, but I loaded them up on extra hay and a very old regular blanket. They loved the blanket because they could keep their feet tucked in it.

 

[aart]

My coop is insulated and they make enough body heat to keep the coop warm.

This is another fallacy.
Adequate ventilation makes a coop 'holding heat' moot.
Most the heat generated by a chicken is held next to the body by the feathers,
why eliminating 'feather ruffling' drafts is so important.

 

[moniquem]

They loved the blanket because they could keep their feet tucked in it.

Gosh, did they poop all over it? I would love to give them a blankie during winter but I would probably have to give them a new one daily!

 

[NewFlockOnTheBlock]

Thanks to everyone who responded with ideas for how to raise up the waterer. Definitely some good tips in there. In warm weather, we have the waterer sitting on top of an upturned milk crate, which works well. The milk crate sits on the coop floor and shavings are piled up against it. The problem is that the heated waterer base that we use in the winter is larger in diameter and hollow underneath. The milk crate is not large enough to support it, and the base cannot sit right on top of the shavings because the shavings would get into the heating element and be a fire hazard; plus it would not be steady enough as shavings are soft and prone to shifting due to chickens scratching and humans walking.

So, whatever the base is sitting on has to be very large and sturdy. I suppose a bunch of bricks or concrete pavers would work if we can stack them wide and high enough, or a large slice of log that was wide enough for the heated base and tall enough to stick up through about a foot of shavings.

 

[moniquem]

I have a couple cinder blocks that my current 3 gallon waterer sits on. In the winter I can place my heater on the cinder blocks and under the waterer and its close to the outlet on the house.

 

[sheetmetaltom]

my coop is 8' wide and 12 feet long, 6' high plywood and 2x4s. it isnt pretty. my inclosed run with roof is 10'x 12'. i have 18 chickens and 3 ducks all living together. the ducks shunned the house i built for them and decided living with chickens was much better. its to much work to separate them every night, they like it , i leave them alone. no insulation, no heat. i live in long island, ny. some winters are pretty cold, others not so bad. i use a heated dog bowl + large 3 gallon rubber bowls? tubs that if they freeze i dump out the ice in the morning and refill. i leave regular waterers in the coop for extra water when not below about 15 degrees. i have the usual ventilation on top, but i rarely close both my doors the one i walk through is open about 9 months a year, a small 16"x16" door is never closed. they even sleep close to it in jan/feb. i have a platform about 2' off the floor, 2 different roosts, and 2 6' branches on the floor.they mix and match, change up, the only thing that is the same is the ducks always sleep under the platform. i use tarps to wrap the sides of my run to block wind in the winter. the part opposite the coop doors is left uncovered. this is inside a 15x56' run that is just 4' wire fence. every morning i open the enclosed run door to let everyone out. after snowstorms i will clear some small areas and also throw some pallets down so they dont have to stand on frozen or icy ground. also i dont use interior or artificial lighting. usually in jan/feb my production goes down to only 6-10 eggs a week but i dont really care. hope this helps.oh i forgot, i hatched 3 chicks about 7 weeks ago, they started roosting on the highest roost last week. go figure.

 

[Blooie]

I dunno on the corn thing...I've heard that because it's more difficult to digest, makes body heat in the process. BUT, even digestion burns calories, and seems to me that in winter they need all the calories they can get. So I will stay in the camp of them not needing corn to stay warm. I make my own suet, and once or twice a week I fill several of those little wire suet cages you can buy and hang them in the run. Not only is the extra protein and fat helpful in winter, but them having to work a bit to get it out makes for great boredom busters when they are more likely to be confined in bad weather.

 

[Mosey2003]

So, whatever the base is sitting on has to be very large and sturdy. I suppose a bunch of bricks or concrete pavers would work if we can stack them wide and high enough, or a large slice of log that was wide enough for the heated base and tall enough to stick up through about a foot of shavings.

A couple cinder blocks will work fine

 

[llombardo]

I enclosed the coop yesterday. Gives them more room and less wind

Before

After(even added a light--it's more for me then them--it goes off when they go in)