Winterizing for North Carolina ( Piedmont)

[jaybyrdsfarm]

Hello fellow chicken peeps! ( pun intended )

This will be my first winter with my chickens! They are between 8 and 10 months old.

My coop is made of recycled wood so I have gone thru and made sure there are no huge gaps that would let drafty winds through. Some of them I had to caulk over.

The bug window in the front has a board I can slide over to prevent wind from coming straight at them while they are roosting.

The window covers ( plywood on hinges) fit pretty tight. The window that faces North had some pretty big gaps around it so I made flaps put of rubber that will fall down over the big gaps to help keep the wind out. The south facing windows have some small gaps but I dont think they will be too drafty.

I keep water in the coop in the summer because of how crazy hot it gets here. I plan to take that out once it starts getting colder so it decreases the humidity in the coop to prevent frost bite ( I have some big combed birds).

The coop has shavings in the bottom that I keep pretty deep. I dont plan on adding anything else there.

Nesting boxes... I use straw in them and plan on tucking extra straw in when it is super cold and plan to check 3 times a day for eggs to prevent any egg freezing.

The North end of the run will get a big tarp over it to act as a wind block. I plan on leaving the other sides open. On half the run has a solid roof and one half has wire roof so they will always have a dry place to get.

The only thing I think I am still thinking on is how to keep water from freezing. I can run the drop cord from the shed if need be ( I do that to run fans in the summer heat) for water heaters but considering how often I lose power in the winter storms, I don't want to depend on it. Should I just plan on filling waters every AM?

And is there anything I forgot?

Thanks for any advice!

Jaybyrd and her Byrds

 

[sourland]

Keep them dry, draft free, well fed and ventilated, and you have a plan. Good luck.

 

[3KillerBs]

I'm about an hour down the road from you and this is what I did to winterize last year:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/23617821

You get just a *little* more winter than I do, but most people would figure we don't get any winter at all.

Don't compromise your ventilation, just account for the fact that we can get winter winds from any direction so offer plenty of wind-blocks.

 

[rosemarythyme]

For the waterer I would opt to use a de-icer or heater, however also plan on checking it daily to ensure that there isn't an issue with the power. I have a heated waterer but the outlet I use has issues sometimes so it's not 100% reliable but it's still much more convenient having liquid water most of the time (and remembering to check it daily), than having to bring water out daily.

 

[jaybyrdsfarm]

For the waterer I would opt to use a de-icer or heater, however also plan on checking it daily to ensure that there isn't an issue with the power. I have a heated waterer but the outlet I use has issues sometimes so it's not 100% reliable but it's still much more convenient having liquid water most of the time (and remembering to check it daily), than having to bring water out daily.

I'm looking into de-icers but only one of my waterers actually opens from the top so the other I would have to dump out if it freezes. I may look into replacing that waterer for the winter to something that I can drop a heater into.

 

[jaybyrdsfarm]

I'm about an hour down the road from you and this is what I did to winterize last year:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/23617821

You get just a *little* more winter than I do, but most people would figure we don't get any winter at all.

Don't compromise your ventilation, just account for the fact that we can get winter winds from any direction so offer plenty of wind-blocks.

Yeah the crazy " which way the wind will blow" in this part of NC is Crazy. The north wall is blocked. Im thinking of making low wind blocks or low tarps on the sides of the run just so they can have a wind proof place to be out of the weather.

Hmmm. I have some old aluminum siding that maybe I could slide into some kind of channel.

 

[3KillerBs]

Im thinking of making low wind blocks or low tarps on the sides of the run just so they can have a wind proof place to be out of the weather.

Hmmm. I have some old aluminum siding that maybe I could slide into some kind of channel.

Yes, that's a good idea.

My coop is an Open Air style with the direction of the prevailing winter wind blocked, but I kept the option of stapling-up some tarps to create a better wind-shelter if we're expecting a freak storm from the east.

 

[jaybyrdsfarm]

Yes, that's a good idea.

My coop is an Open Air style with the direction of the prevailing winter wind blocked, but I kept the option of stapling-up some tarps to create a better wind-shelter if we're expecting a freak storm from the east.

My coop is pretty snug. I caulked the cracks that would let drafts hit them on the roosting bars.

I figure if it gets super cold IN the coop ( if we get one of our rare horrible cold snaps) I can always staple some feed bags on the inside to cover up the cracks better. ( i always have 1000s around between all the animals on the farm).

I'm going to put some shower curtains up so they have a good area in the run that they can get out of the wind in. For some reason I have a rather large collection of shower curtains?!

When I hit the feed store I may get a bale or two of straw to make a mid run stack that they could use to get out of the wind no matter which way it came from.

Gotta love winter! ( no no I dont)

Jaybyrd

 

[3KillerBs]

My coop is pretty snug. I caulked the cracks that would let drafts hit them on the roosting bars.

I figure if it gets super cold IN the coop ( if we get one of our rare horrible cold snaps) I can always staple some feed bags on the inside to cover up the cracks better. ( i always have 1000s around between all the animals on the farm).

I'm going to put some shower curtains up so they have a good area in the run that they can get out of the wind in. For some reason I have a rather large collection of shower curtains?!

When I hit the feed store I may get a bale or two of straw to make a mid run stack that they could use to get out of the wind no matter which way it came from.

Gotta love winter! ( no no I dont)

Jaybyrd

Even in the far north it's not wise to seal up the coop too much. They still need that 1 square foot of ventilation per adult, standard-size hen minimum.

Ventilation is KEY to keeping chickens dry and healthy -- possibly even moreso in a wet-winter area like ours instead of a cold-winter area.

Chickens don't even notice cold down to about 0F and draft-free doesn't mean "no air movement at all" -- just that there is no breeze on the roosts strong enough to ruffle their feathers.

 

[aart]

I figure if it gets super cold IN the coop

Chickens don't even notice cold

Exactly......just because you're cold, doesn't mean the chickens are.