Winterizing My Coup

[Chris Hazlewood]

New member and first time posting. I have 5 layers (all different breeds) that I brought home back in April. 2 are laying regularly (early bloomers). I built the girls a coop with salvaged pallet wood with roosts on the inside to the left of the front door and nesting boxes attached to the outer wall on the right. The coop is inside a 10' by 10' dog kennel which also has a mesh roof. The water dispenser is outside the coop, but the food is inside so it doesn't get wet. The girls are currently getting on top of the coop at night to roost. The roof does have an angle to it, but not enough to keep them off of it. The low this morning was 45 and this weekend it is supposed to get even colder. I've read on this forum (and on others) that I can put a heat lamp (or 2) inside the run...just not in the coup. Here are some questions:

• How do I get them to start going inside the coop at night?
• Are heat lamps necessary? If so, how should they be setup? On all day or at night only?
• Do I need to make the kennel less ventilated for winter?

Any tips, thoughts, ideas, recommendations, etc. are appreciated.
Thank you! Have a wonderful day!

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so thrilled you decided to join us

What part of the world are you in? As a general rule you don't need heat in the coop or run. It's important that they stay dry and draft free, while having plenty of ventilation above them to evacuate the moisture that accumulates. A lot of folks will wrap the bottom of the run with a tarp or greenhouse plastic, etc and put a cover over the back half to give them a dry place to go to. As for getting them to go inside, you can try moving them to their roost after dark and see if they get the idea.

 

[grnidone]

Do you have a perch inside the doghouse/ coop? If not, put one up, and, at night, when they get on the roof, gently move them to the perch.

Make sure it is easy for them to get from the floor to the perch. I think they will prefer a perch inside....

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Chris can you take a picture of your coop and post it here?
Where is your general location? Relative humidity during winters is different for coastal folks, Great Lakes people, vs. Dry cold winter people in the Upper Midwest or Mountains.

Ventilation down low and up creates a draw and push to move moisture up and out. But if the moisture or dew point is high outside it can be a battle. This time of year with freezing rain and such is a bugger. You do not want direct drafts on your birds, however

If your birds are not roosting in the coop at night. You will need to train them by keeping them in there for a week without letting them out. Try letting them out after a week. See if they've got it. If not. Do another week. Maybe a picture of your roost situation would be good too...so we can give you some tips.

Heat lamps are not necessary and are dangerous--especially the cheap ones. They can tragically burn up your not so cheap hobby in a matter of short moments. If you have temps that do not go to negative digits or sub zero I would not bother with any heat. The birds are beautifully designed with downy feathers to keep warm.
That being said I do have a flat panel radiant heater for extended subzero temps. It's 150 watt and just takes off the edge. Sweeter heater is another brand. I have CoZy Legs or something like that. Sold at Target.
Lights will also force laying in the winter. You may want to research those considerations.
IF your ventilation is drafting right on your birds then you may want to close some of that up. It should be above your birds heads though...that venting. Keeping moisture from collecting on their combs and such. So head space is a good thing also in the roost level design.

 

[grnidone]

Ooooh, and I missed your heat lamp question.

The heat lamp thing is hotly debated. Some say yes, others are flat against it for fire reasons.

There are alternatives to the lamp: infrared wall heaters or heaters that aren't a lamp but fit into the lamp thing. Or, like Bogtown chick said, use a thing from Target.

Keep in mind that chickens wear down underwear. I make sure my perch is made from a 2 x 2 so the chickens can lower themselves onto their feet and keep their feet warm.

I am pro heat of some kind, but I have a thermostat thing that will turn it on and off. And, I only plug it in when it is 15 degrees or less with a BLASTING wind AND the termostat thing turns off at 32 degrees. Otherwise, they are fine.

 

[PirateGirl]

My chickens consider 45 degrees a heat wave. It's all relative. I agree that they should be fine without heat. We haven't seen pics of your coop, but if you can provide them a draft free area to sleep at night it would be ideal. Mine seem like idiots more often than not, but when it's really cold they do hang out behind their wind blocker or head back into their coop after getting some food and water and testing the weather. The other day when it snowed they didn't want to come outside, but when I got home from work there was a well worn path of chicken tracks from their pop door to the water dish, so they figure it out.

 

[Sublight]

Birds are not as worried about the cold as we are, and we tend to treat them like we treat ourselves.
Even their feet are designed to take the cold. Just think about the little sparrows, and red birds that don't die in the winter. All they have is a nest to sit in, with no guard from wind or rain. They survive just fine, and they don't have the body mass of a chicken. Your chickens are fine.
I would certainly give them a way to block the wind, and keep them safe from the elements.

As for the roosting, make it difficult for them to roost where they are. Put buckets on top of where they roost or something. Card board boxes, I don't care. Make them find where to roost.
Also you can try to "herd" them towards where you want them to roost as the sun starts to go down. At that point they naturally are looking for a place to roost, just help them find it on your terms.

 

[Chris Hazlewood]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so thrilled you decided to join us

What part of the world are you in? As a general rule you don't need heat in the coop or run. It's important that they stay dry and draft free, while having plenty of ventilation above them to evacuate the moisture that accumulates. A lot of folks will wrap the bottom of the run with a tarp or greenhouse plastic, etc and put a cover over the back half to give them a dry place to go to. As for getting them to go inside, you can try moving them to their roost after dark and see if they get the idea.

I'm in southwest Missouri just 30mins south of Lake of the Ozarks. I'll put some wrap around it tonight and then have them go into the coop after dark. Thanks!

 

[Chris Hazlewood]

Do you have a perch inside the doghouse/ coop? If not, put one up, and, at night, when they get on the roof, gently move them to the perch.

Make sure it is easy for them to get from the floor to the perch. I think they will prefer a perch inside....

Yes, I built 2 perches inside the coop on the opposite side from the nesting boxes and they are higher than the boxes. They used to use them until they figured out how to get on top of the coop.

 

[Chris Hazlewood]

Chris can you take a picture of your coop and post it here?
Where is your general location? Relative humidity during winters is different for coastal folks, Great Lakes people, vs. Dry cold winter people in the Upper Midwest or Mountains.

Ventilation down low and up creates a draw and push to move moisture up and out. But if the moisture or dew point is high outside it can be a battle. This time of year with freezing rain and such is a bugger. You do not want direct drafts on your birds, however

If your birds are not roosting in the coop at night. You will need to train them by keeping them in there for a week without letting them out. Try letting them out after a week. See if they've got it. If not. Do another week. Maybe a picture of your roost situation would be good too...so we can give you some tips.

Heat lamps are not necessary and are dangerous--especially the cheap ones. They can tragically burn up your not so cheap hobby in a matter of short moments. If you have temps that do not go to negative digits or sub zero I would not bother with any heat. The birds are beautifully designed with downy feathers to keep warm.
That being said I do have a flat panel radiant heater for extended subzero temps. It's 150 watt and just takes off the edge. Sweeter heater is another brand. I have CoZy Legs or something like that. Sold at Target.
Lights will also force laying in the winter. You may want to research those considerations.
IF your ventilation is drafting right on your birds then you may want to close some of that up. It should be above your birds heads though...that venting. Keeping moisture from collecting on their combs and such. So head space is a good thing also in the roost level design.

Here in SW Missouri, when the winter storms come, it's usually in the way of freezing rain. I haven't seen much snow in a few years. I will check out those options to heat lamps. When I built my coop, I wanted to make sure they had plenty of ventilation because it gets real hot during the summer here. There is a 1/2" gap between each board. I'll be making the coop lass drafty tonight. Thanks for the tips!