Winter snow and Catawba-style coop

[AmyBella]

My DH built a great catawba-style coop for our 4 girls and it has been awesome this warm season. We move it every day so they always have fresh forage.

What can I do when the snows come and I can't move it? I am concerned mostly with the run area and poo build-up. Would something like the deep litter method work in the bottom part?

I don't have pictures of the finished coop, but here is is under construction-

 

[patandchickens]

You'll just have to put some bedding in there and change it out anytime it gets too soggy/skanky (which may not be often during the cold part of winter, but may need to be done Real Fast once a thaw hits).

You can put heavy plastic on one, or one and half the other, sides of the run portion to make it more chickenfriendly.

Honestly though, if you live very far north of the Mason-Dixon, then if you have a shed or other outbuilding that could have some winter chicken quarters knocked together in a corner of it, that would be much better -- those type coops are *really* not good for wintering chickens in up north. It is extremely hard to balance sufficient air quality (ventilation), draft-free-ness, and temperature. Not impossible, and chickens can survive, but both you and they would be a lot better off if you could cobble together some other arrangement for wintertime -- maybe with the A-frame coop parked just outside the wall as a run.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat