Winterizing Coop for NY winter

[Crazy_chicken_gal]

Hi everyone, new (ish) to chickens since April!

I have a covered but open material roof on my run. There is currently only dirt on the bottom, and with a week of rain it has obviously turned into a mud pit. The temperatures are dropping into the mid 30s, and somebody had said that the mud can freeze and cause frost bite on their feet? Is this true?

With this said my questions for winterizing are-

1) Should I be putting something over the mud to prevent their feet from freezing in possible puddles (mulch, pdz, sand, etc.)?

2) Should I be tarping the sides of some of their run to provide more protection from wind and rain? (I will add that the coop is 4 feet off the ground so they have about a 4 x 5 area of coverage, but the chickens are still soaked regardless of this).

Thank you in advance!

 

[KarynVA]

Do you have yard debris laying around, like pine needles, dry fallen leaves, wood chips? Dumping a pile of any or all of those things can keep your chickens' feet up off the mud in the run. The chickens will spread it out for you.

 

[Crazy_chicken_gal]

Do you have yard debris laying around, like pine needles, dry fallen leaves, wood chips? Dumping a pile of any or all of those things can keep your chickens' feet up off the mud in the run. The chickens will spread it out for you.

Ah this is a great idea, I can rake some leaves now and do this. Thank you!

 

[KarynVA]

I just did it yesterday (for the first time, I'm relatively new to chickens) and I have been very pleased with the way it reduces the mud factor. The chickens seem very happy with it also.

I also re-purposed an old shower curtain liner and used it to cover part of the hardware-cloth-covered run to shield it from rain and wind. It has worked surprisingly well.

 

[jreardon1918]

Got some pictures? That would help advise.

We put all yard waste and coop clean out in the run. Here in SE Mass we're getting snow today. I don't have the run ready for winter. So there is more snow in the run than we have ever had. Time to get up the plastic.

 

[DobieLover]

Hi everyone, new (ish) to chickens since April!

I have a covered but open material roof on my run. There is currently only dirt on the bottom, and with a week of rain it has obviously turned into a mud pit. The temperatures are dropping into the mid 30s, and somebody had said that the mud can freeze and cause frost bite on their feet? Is this true?

With this said my questions for winterizing are-

1) Should I be putting something over the mud to prevent their feet from freezing in possible puddles (mulch, pdz, sand, etc.)?

2) Should I be tarping the sides of some of their run to provide more protection from wind and rain? (I will add that the coop is 4 feet off the ground so they have about a 4 x 5 area of coverage, but the chickens are still soaked regardless of this).

Thank you in advance!

Borrow a truck, go to your nearest Town Highway department that offers free wood chips to the residents and load up. I put down about a 4" thick layer.

Next year put a solid roof over your run. No more mud. No more snow in the run.

 

[Crazy_chicken_gal]

Here is our run 6 months ago back when the gals had grass in it. Any advice on roofing material so it’s not too heavy? We don’t have a support beam in the middle so may need to add one. Thanks for all of the advice

 

[Crazy_chicken_gal]

Borrow a truck, go to your nearest Town Highway department that offers free wood chips to the residents and load up. I put down about a 4" thick layer.
View attachment 2393036
Next year put a solid roof over your run. No more mud. No more snow in the run.

Great advice to use Highway department! Does mulch cause bumble foot? I’ve heard mixed things

 

[Sally PB]

I also re-purposed an old shower curtain liner and used it to cover part of the hardware-cloth-covered run to shield it from rain and wind. It has worked surprisingly well.

I did the same two days ago. It seems to be working so far, so I'm going to add another shower curtain in a few days. Love the pre-grommeted holes and zipties. Instant windbreak.

 

[Crazy_chicken_gal]

Got some pictures? That would help advise.

We put all yard waste and coop clean out in the run. Here in SE Mass we're getting snow today. I don't have the run ready for winter. So there is more snow in the run than we have ever had. Time to get up the plastic.

Wow!! Thanks for this visual with the snow building up on the HW cloth, I didnt think it would stick like that so I’m glad you showed me!