Winter question... What to do with my Silkies??!

[Silkie75]

Now that winter is right around the corner- ugh- I am trying to figure out what I am going to do with my Silkies. They are my first chickens and are 3 months old. Right now, they are in a coop in my backyard. Since I live in upstate NY I am getting a little scared of what I'm going to do if we get one of our crazy snowy and cold winters. If we do end up leaving them outside, we will insulate the coop and keep a heat lamp on. But I'm afraid if it snows like it has in the past, I won't be able to get through the snow!! It can get brutal here! Has anyone brought their chicken in for the winter or am I crazy? In our finished basement, we have a utility room with cement floors. I was thinking of keeping them there- I would have to come up with another coop I suppose- as their current one is too big to fit through a door. I just think I would be able to keep an eye on them better (feeding/cleaning) and wouldn't have to deal with their water freezing, etc. Does anyone think this is a bad idea??

 

[thebanthams]

Do you have a back patio where you can get to them ?, or side of house? keeping in the basement is ok, but they can get messy unless you want to clean up after them everyday ! Heat lamps will help at night, but I am worry about power outages , Keep the lamp as far away from them so they dont get tooo warm . My silkies survived 0 degrees without heat lamp. I just covered up the cold drafts, and other chickens huddled together.

 

[NovaAman]

My silkies did just fine in the winter last winter. I live off of Lake Michigan, and we can get some lovely lake effect snows... Anyway, I have a snow blower so keeping path cleared is not a problem. I also shovel. Have a covered run attached to the coop as well, so they have some place to be when the weather is too bad to go outside. Yes, my silkies did go outside in the winter. I create a lot of paths for them to wander on. Well anyway, I did not have heat either. They do huddle up together to keep warmer. IF the coop is well insulated, they'll even heat the coop up on their own a bit.

If you are going to use a heat source, be aware that if you have a power outage, and you've kept the coop at a cozy 50 degrees, you'll kill them with the sudden temp drop from not having that heat. Nature knows what its doing. They will feather out so much that come spring, when they start losing all that winter fluff, you'll wonder who busted a pillow in the coop.

I would suggest maybe getting a generator of some kind in order to keep the power going in your coop in the event that you do lose power while heating...

 

[Silkie75]

Thank you so much both for the info! I never thought about a power outage and "shocking" their little bodies with coldness... Maybe just insulating will work. A few times 2 winters ago, it got down to -16 degrees (Farenheit)... but last winter was a joke- it was more like fall all winter long! We do have a cement patio attached to the house, but I'm not sure how much it would help, as I would still have to go down our deck stairs and around the house to get to it. It used to be a greenhouse, so there is no door from the house directly to this spot. We do have a snowblower, but we would have to make a path from the garage all the way around the house. Which USUALLY shouldn't be a problem. But sometimes, the snow gets so high here that we hire a plow to even do our driveway, which is maintained regularly. We live close to Lake Ontario, so we get the lake effect snow too, as you do NovaAman. I guess maybe I won't bring them inside... by the way, my boyfriend is pretty happy with both of your posts! LOL. He wasn't entirely thrilled when I started talking about bringing them in.

I guess I'll plan on keeping them out, and hope we don't get a TON of snow so I will be able to clear a path. Do you guys wrap the "outside" part of your coop with a plastic wrap (like putting it over the chicken wire)?? Just to keep the wind and snow out??

 

[Silkie75]

By the way. I didn't mean wrapping the entire coop in plastic- leaving no ventilation. I was just thinking one side or something to keep some snow out. Wasn't sure if anyone did this....

 

[thebanthams]

why not? it will keep drafts out and better yet wet snow wont leak in

 

[NovaAman]

I only wrap the run. The coop has pretty solid walls.

 

[Gramma Chick]

Hi, I trust you got home safely from the fairgrounds ? How is your little silkie doing ?
I also am dreading Winter ..frozen water ..having to walk out to the coop ...in the snow.
Maybe I wont mind once I get there ..I am hoping for another easy winter ..Deborah