Winter prep on chicken run. Should I cover half of the west side yet but leave the top moon shape left open?

[Livvydays]

This makes me feel more at ease.... Whew. I was starting to wonder if I had made a big mistake by having sand in my run. I will keep some dry bagged leaves in the garage that are going to be given to me for free. I will ask around for straw but I might have to resort to the hay I already have in the garage if needed. I realize it isn't as good as staw. And heard some chickens eat it and can have trouble with crop issues.

As a side note maybe I will buy some sweet pdz to use on the sand to help dry out if it gets too moist or ammonia issues arise in the run and harder to fix in the middle of winter as another back up plan.

Thanks again for your help!!

 

[Sally PB]

Do I leave the opening in between the coop and run open at all times during the day or confine them to the inside coop during the day if the temp gets too low. How low is too low for them?

Here's what I do.

I have a fabric windbreak over the openings in the coop. It stops the wind, but air moves through it freely. I lower the roost a few inches in the cold weather so that there is more air space above the chickens' heads.

I put poly carbonate panels and plastic shower curtains on the walls of the run. I totally cover the west side (prevailing wind) and the north side up to about 5 feet high. I also cover the openings on the south side, but the coop itself takes up most of that side anyway.

That leaves the east side. Least amount of wind from that direction, and 6 feet away is the wall of the garage. I block off that side only at the bottom, and just up about 24-30 inches. We can still get some SE or NE strong winds that swirl through the run, but not a lot.

There is one food bowl in the coop, removed every night. There are two food bowls in the run. There is a heated dog water bowl in the run; no water in the coop. No water in the coop means no water spills, and no extra source of humidity.

20°F and above, I leave the pop door and the people door to the coop open. At 15°, I just leave the pop door open, and shut the people door. When it gets much below 10°, I put a dish of snow in the coop for the birds to nosh on instead of a bowl of water, and close the coop. When it's that cold, I go out and check on them several times a day. On those days, they don't want to do much but hunker down in the shavings on the floor. I make sure there is a thick layer of shavings in the coop before winter arrives. If a chicken wants to scratch out a bowl/nest and sleep down there, that's fine by me.

The only frostbite problems I had were on a Buff Orpington rooster who had a large comb and long, droopy wattles.