Winterized the coop today

[chickiegrrl]

I put the plastic up on the coop today. The weather was so nice, it felt like I shouldn't be doing it yet, but I know that the weather can get horrible anytime now. The worst part is that we can't see the girls from our window anymore. The girls aren't sure what to think about it. They don't know what to think of the plastic and I know they wish that they could see outside, too. We'll all live through it, though, and I know this winter they will love having the plastic up so they have shelter from the snow and wind.



This is the south facing side of the coop. I'm leaving the top panel of the door open right now. If it gets snowy in there, it wont' take that much to go out with a piece of plastic and staple it up.


This is the east facing side of the coop. My clear plastic shower curtain wasn't big enough to do the whole side, but at least they can sort of see out. I left space at the top for ventilation. We don't get much wind from the south or east during the winter. The west and north sides are made of plywood, so no problems there.

I'd love to see photos of what others have done to winterize. This is our first winter with the girls. Hopefully this will work out.

 

[DLV58]

this will be our first winter too.
we're going to put up plastic but I hope to make it thru Nov before we have to

 

[chfite]

It never goes below 0 F here, so there is no winterizing beyond putting the bird bath heater in the water supply bucket once it turns cold.

Chris

 

[chickiegrrl]

DLV58 - I hope you can make it to November!

I would have LOVED to make it to Thanksgiving before putting the plastic up. It was nice and toasty in the run today, though. Even with a windchill outside, it felt nice.

chfite - I *just* unpacked a birdbath water heater that I'm going to try in my waterer. I have a 2 gallon bucket with poultry nipples on it. I'm going to try out the heater before I put it in with the girls and see if it keeps the poultry nipples from freezing up. If not, I'll have to come up with another idea.

 

[Going Quackers]

Looks good, i have never done plastic so i'd love to hear feedback on that, i tend to use feed bags if i do anything, my big hens only have a coop they free range so there aren't
any areas to cover up.


I do have some silkies with a runs that i might, but i worry about condensation build up with plastic?

 

[4 the Birds]

Nice job with Winterizing! I add a large piece of plexiglass to part of the coop/run during the Winter. It allows in light and keeps out wind. Hopefully your plastic will hold up during the Winter blasts. We are out in the open and I doubt that a shower curtain would hold during strong storms. You may get snow drifts inside from the top open areas. I have flaps on my top open vent areas so that I can close the upwind areas during snow storm conditions.

 

[chickiegrrl]

Going Quackers - I'm hoping there is enough ventilation in the run so that we won't get condensation. I left space above the plastic on the east side and up in the eaves on the north and south sides are all open with just hardware cloth covering them. It doesn't seem stuffy in there, just nice and sheltered. I can't imagine having the girls free ranging in the winter, but if you can do it in Ontario, then maybe I need to be less overprotective and give it a try this winter. This is our first experience with chickens. I'm guessing it's like having kids. My first one was overdressed 100% of the time. My second was much more appropriately dressed for the seasons.

The girls will just have to put up with me coddling them this winter.

4 the Birds - Your coop looks like it is much more out in the open than ours. Our coop is tucked into a very sheltered area with trees and a lot of bushy undergrowth. Even though there aren't leaves on the trees and bushes, that area is still sheltered from the strongest winds from the north. I can see the little flap that you have over the vent in your coop, that is a great idea! I have just an open vent on the north side of the coop. I think I'm going to put a flap over it that we can close it when there is a snowstorm. I'd hate to have snow in the girls' house. I'm not so worried about it in the run, I just wanted to keep the big drifts out.