Winter preparations- at what temperature should door be shut?

[mflan]

Hello!
I'm new to the chicken world
I have a backyard flock of 7 pullets (4 EE & 3 Austra Whites) that are just coming into maturity (21 weeks old & we just had our first egg yesterday!!). Since they have been out in the coop I have always left the run door open day & night. The coop/covered run is in my yard which is surrounded by a chain link fence so I have not been concerned about predators.

I still have a few months to plan for winter but my question is- at what temperature should I shut the coop door overnight? Or should I keep it open all winter long? I'm in Maine so we get a lot of snow, wind, and cold temperatures in the winter. I plan to cover some if not all of the run with clear vinyl to block out the winter wind.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions!

 

[Ridgerunner]

What does your coop look like, is it well ventilated and does it provide good wind protection? You don't have to provide them with a warm spot, with their down coats they can manage that as well as the songbirds and others that overwinter. What they need is a dry place out of the wind.

The big danger is not them freezing to death but is frostbite. They are in much greater danger from frostbite if they are locked in an airtight coop than a well-ventilated one. Moisture from their breath, their poop, water bowls, and such can build up. Good ventilation gets that moisture out of the coop.

In Maine you are familiar with wind chill. A slight air movement isn't bad (it helps get moisture out of the coop) but a wind hitting you can be pretty vicious. There is another aspect to wind with chickens. They trap tiny air pockets in their down and feathers which insulates them. That's the same way your down coat works. But if a wind strong enough to ruffle their feathers hits them that can let those tiny air pockets escape so they lose insulation.

What does your coop look like, is it well ventilated and does it provide good wind protection? How does opening and closing that door affect those?

 

[mflan]

Thank you for your reply

The coop is raised 3.5 X 6 feet
covered run 8 x 12

I have attached a picture of the coop and part of the run. There is a window- however I usually keep it closed due to it being positioned next to and in line with their roost as i don't want rain to come in the coop. There is also a gable vent near one of the roof peaks. And right now the door to the run is always open and if I decided to close it when it gets colder there would still be a gable vent. However, I do store the food and water in the coop.

I guess my biggest concern is the girls getting cold as temp as temperatures can range from the mid 30's to well below 0 degrees F December-March. And like you mentioned- the wind chill can be quite severe at times.

 

[lazy gardener]

Hi. Have you popped in on the Maine thread to say hi? Is there any way you can leave that window open a little bit, perhaps putting an air baffle outside of it so that wet weather will not be able to get in, but fresh air can enter? IMO, keeping that window closed for the winter will result in quite a bit of moisture build up.

I keep 2 of my 3 windows cracked open most of the winter. Also have a floor level vent (which is blocked in the winter), 2 gable vents, and 16' of soffit vents. Pop door has recently been put on a timer, so it closes at night. Last winter, I opened the pop door every day that the temp was above 10 - 15*. I closed the 2 windows if temps got down below 10 - 20* at night.

Did you build your coop? Whether you did or not, it would not be at all difficult to move those side hinges to change the window so it hinges at the top. This would allow you to crack the window open to draw that air in through the bottom while shedding any rain/snow. You could even staple some plastic "gussets" on the side if you were concerned about draft.

Covering the sides of your run will be a good thing. I've done that with part of my run, in addition to putting a green house tarp peaked roof over part of it. I have to get out and knock the snow off that tarped roof several times/storm.

 

[mflan]

Hi. Have you popped in on the Maine thread to say hi? Is there any way you can leave that window open a little bit, perhaps putting an air baffle outside of it so that wet weather will not be able to get in, but fresh air can enter? IMO, keeping that window closed for the winter will result in quite a bit of moisture build up.

I keep 2 of my 3 windows cracked open most of the winter. Also have a floor level vent (which is blocked in the winter), 2 gable vents, and 16' of soffit vents. Pop door has recently been put on a timer, so it closes at night. Last winter, I opened the pop door every day that the temp was above 10 - 15*. I closed the 2 windows if temps got down below 10 - 20* at night.

Did you build your coop? Whether you did or not, it would not be at all difficult to move those side hinges to change the window so it hinges at the top. This would allow you to crack the window open to draw that air in through the bottom while shedding any rain/snow. You could even staple some plastic "gussets" on the side if you were concerned about draft.

Covering the sides of your run will be a good thing. I've done that with part of my run, in addition to putting a green house tarp peaked roof over part of it. I have to get out and knock the snow off that tarped roof several times/storm.

I'm new to BYC so I wasn't aware of a Maine thread- I'll have to check that out

Thank you so much for a ball park temp guideline. I haven't owned chickens since I was a kid so I really don't remember what we did in the winter.

Maybe I need to adjust the window and add some more vents. I didn't build the coop- bought it on craigslist ;-) but we did expand the run. Those adjustments you suggested shouldn't be too difficult.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It's good to have someone else form Maine chatting with you, they should have good credibility. My suggestion would be to look at the top of the overhang. Either install soffit vents or create an opening at the very top of that wall and cover it with hardware cloth to keep out predators. If possible the same on that back wall too if there is an overhang. I like vents over their heads when they are roosting, any breezes are over their heads yet it stirs up the air and gets moisture out. The overhang keeps rain and snow out.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I'm from Wisconsin, so cold temps during the winter is the norm. My chickens did just fine in the -30 degree temps that we have had - as long as they had a place to go out of the wind and snow. Wind is much more of a problem than cold temps.

I don't think I would close the door to the run during the day unless you are having problems with snow blowing into the coop. It looks like a smaller coop for 7 hens and if you were to wrap the run to keep out the wind, the birds will probably enjoy being outside.

My coop doesn't have enough ventilation, so it gets alittle moist in there sometimes. A couple of my chickens have lost points off their comb due to frostbite, nothing terrible, but enough to do a little damage. There were a couple of winter storms that blew snow into the coop and the moisture built up. I could see the frost on the concrete walls, so I knew it was going to be a problem but there wasn't much I could do at that point besides throw in a new layer of dry bedding. First year they were outside everyday, snow or not. Last winter they had a protected spot and refused to step in snow at all.

 

[wamtazlady]

To keep a chicken warm you need to keep the chicken dry. This means venting the moisture from them breathing and pooping out of the coop. Vents should be high to keep breezes off the birds. I've read that you should have 1 square foot of vent for every chicken. I have 12 chickens and about 10 square feet of vents. Closing up a coop makes for high moisture and cold chickens.

My pop door is not closed. I do cover 3 sides off their run with clear shower curtains. This keeps wind away from the run and from getting into the pop door of the coop. My coop and run are surrounded by electric poultry netting so pretty safe from 4 legged predators.

I know it's hard to believe that you don't need heat or to close up the coop to keep your chickens warm for the winter. I bit the bullet and decided to believe the people around here who told me to vent the coop. I vented. The chickens were fine the past two winters. Last winter it got down to -22. There was no frostbite. The girls spent the day out in the run rather than huddled in the coop. The first winter when the girls were pullets they were averaging 10 eggs a day from 13 pullets. They didn't mind the cold one bit.

 

[mflan]

To keep a chicken warm you need to keep the chicken dry. This means venting the moisture from them breathing and pooping out of the coop. Vents should be high to keep breezes off the birds. I've read that you should have 1 square foot of vent for every chicken. I have 12 chickens and about 10 square feet of vents. Closing up a coop makes for high moisture and cold chickens.

My pop door is not closed. I do cover 3 sides off their run with clear shower curtains. This keeps wind away from the run and from getting into the pop door of the coop. My coop and run are surrounded by electric poultry netting so pretty safe from 4 legged predators.

I know it's hard to believe that you don't need heat or to close up the coop to keep your chickens warm for the winter. I bit the bullet and decided to believe the people around here who told me to vent the coop. I vented. The chickens were fine the past two winters. Last winter it got down to -22. There was no frostbite. The girls spent the day out in the run rather than huddled in the coop. The first winter when the girls were pullets they were averaging 10 eggs a day from 13 pullets. They didn't mind the cold one bit.

Thank you for all the info! It looks like my husband and I will make it a fall project to add more vents after all the helpful suggestions.

When you were getting 10 out of 13 eggs your first winter- were you supplementing any light? I would love to get a regular stream of eggs during the winter but I'm still unsure about setting up a timer and light in the coop due to the fire risk and over health risk of the birds.

 

[lazy gardener]

Thank you for all the info! It looks like my husband and I will make it a fall project to add more vents after all the helpful suggestions.

When you were getting 10 out of 13 eggs your first winter- were you supplementing any light? I would love to get a regular stream of eggs during the winter but I'm still unsure about setting up a timer and light in the coop due to the fire risk and over health risk of the birds.

I have used a light on a timer for the past 3 winters. I start it in the late fall, and add an extra hour/week until they are on a 14 hour light schedule: on at 6:30 AM, off at 10:00 AM, on at 3 PM off at 8:30 PM. It's on a timer with a GFC plug. The bulb is a warm spectrum LED 750 lumen. I have a solar landscaping light close to the LED (to keep it charged)which acts as a night light to give them a little extra light coverage when the LED goes out. Even when I did not provide the night light, they were always perched before the LED went out. Never an issue of birds being caught aware on the floor when curfew called.