Winterizing The Coop!?

[cdawson41]

Quote:
Not sure if this will be helpful or not, but here goes, cause I'm a newbie as well. DH is putting a window in our new coop as well to provide some light but i also went out and purchased some push lights and have them around in the top of the coop. Should I need to see in there at night or should the window seem to not provide enough light then I can just use those push lights. No need to run electric, they are battery operated I purchased rechargeable batterys and a charger so that I'm not buying batterys all the time as that can get expensive as well.

 

[Mahonri]

Here, we shut of the AC and open the windows.

It got down to 72 last night! There is a chill in the air!

 

[Daisygirl]

From my inexperienced NZ perspective, I'd go with the insulation; generally when people are trying to keep a (people) house warm they either go overboard with heaters, (which I would suspect are the equivalent of heat lamps?) or they go for insulation...we recently insulated the house which has made a huge difference for us, after having to dish out more than a substantial amount of money to keep the old gas heater going year after year --- now the heater retires through all four seasons in the attic

perhaps this will prove the same for chooks?

 

[joebryant]

Insulate, that will keep your housing warm in winter and cool in summer.
Get an electric dog dish for watering from Home Depot or TSC, and get a Thermocube to go with the dog dish: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...06csegb&ref=3312&subref=AA&CAWELAID=525367411 .
Get rid of the heat lamp. Have LOTS of ventilation at the top to get rid of the warm, moist air; that's what will kill your chickens. Be sure your roost's 2x4 is turned so that they're sitting on the 4-inch part; that way they can sit on their feet, and their toes won't freeze.

 

[Orchid]

Quote:
We sheeted over the insulation with OSB, then painted it.

 

[MKKimmen]

Thank you all so much! We have decided to use Insulation instead of a heat light, and to put Plexiglas in both windows for letting light in during the winter!
And we will most likely purchase a water heater if the water freezes on us.

Thanks!

 

[HarryBun12]

Our coop (small) is well insulated, well ventilated and my bantams did just fine last winter here in WI. Our run has a roof and I also put up clear plastic sheeting partway up the sides to keep the bulk of the snow out and had wood shavings down on the ground. It worked out perfectly. It was my first winter with chickens and it went far better than I could've hoped. We also have a window facing south in the coop so I'm assuming that helped, too. The heated dog water dish was a life saver, too. I always enjoy going out to visit the chickens, but hauling water every couple hours in sub-zero temperatures just isn't my idea of fun. Good luck.

 

[Lisa202]

I'm totally new at this but I may have a suggestion when it comes to light in the coop all winter. Where I'm putting my coop, there will be outside flood lights on the house pointing at the coop. They are motion detector lights, so they are dim unless something triggers them to be brighter. They also don't come on until dusk, so the electricity is minimal. I intend to face the coop windows in that direction and that way the chickens will have dim light coming into the coop all night and then I won't need a night light like I have read so much about. Also, it's always good to have lights outside your house for safety reasons, so this serves several purposes. And maybe, the bright light coming on would scare off raccoons? That would be very good.

 

[Humhill]

Another question dealing with this. Hubby wants to do a low-pressure automatic nipple waterer system. If we put the foam pipe insulation on the pipes, then cover it with duct tape, will they leave it alone?

 

[carrlr]

Quote:
Something to consider...most farm stores sell thermostatically controlled outlet adapters for around $12. You can keep them plugged in during the winter. When the temps get around freezing they kick on. The ones sold at TSC and Rural King have three outlets. So you can use them for items like a heat lamp and a heated waterer.