Winterizing, vinyl Vs. Poly sheeting

[Badchickenpun]

Adding sheeting to run... to block wind. Clear poly is not clear. I read that vinyl is toxic for chickens... and it's more expensive... is vinyl toxic in consumption or the VOCs? What are your thoughts?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

If your coop is properly ventilated, VOCs aren't a concern. Neither should your birds be eating it. The differences are mostly in light transmission and long term durability.

 

[AnnPann]

I have some 4 mil vinyl. After I bought it, I started to wonder... can it be reused year after year? Vinyl has a bad habit of going brittle... how many winters cold it take?

i have some clear marine vinyl that i used last winter and it’s still in great shape this year- no rips or tears at all. time will tell, but i’m using it in smaller pieces (3x5’), so not a huge deal to replace individual panels if one goes bad. i love how clearly i can see in and they can see out. i’m not worried about them consuming it (mine is applied on outside of the run).

 

[HollowOfWisps]

When it comes to VOCs most building materials anymore have some level of VOCs coming off including paints and pressure treated lumber that are used all of the time to make chicken coops. Not to mention many things used for chickens are made of vinyl including the PVC pipes that you see all of the time being used for gravity and bucket feeders. Long story short if you were to put chickens in a sealed room that was also filled with a bunch of new vinyl could it kill them? Sure. So could sealing them in an airtight freshly painted coop. Use whichever one fits your budget and needs best then just make sure to keep things ventilated.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I use heavy duty clear vinyl shower curtains. I get the ones that are between 8 to 10 mil. They are easy to hang and last for 2 to 3 years. They are also easy to pull back on very warm days.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I will add that clear vinyls are the least durable, for lack of UV stabilizers - but there are a lot of other factors involved, and temperature is a bit component as well, particularly hard persistent freezes (they make special vinyls for use as hanging barrier strips for walk in coolers/freezers, atypical of most vinyls - as i said above, all vinyl is not the same). and as all of us old enough to have a record collection remember, temps over 100 can make some vinyls very soft - shower curtains have a higher temp range.

 

[jreardon1918]

We use dollar store shower curtains. We put them up carefully and they last the winter. In fact the ones under the raised coop were not taken off last winter. They still look OK and only have a couple rips. Here is an article show our setup.

Preparing the girls for winter

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I have some 4 mil vinyl. After I bought it, I started to wonder... can it be reused year after year? Vinyl has a bad habit of going brittle... how many winters cold it take?

all vinyls aren't the same. Time will tell. Nothing else will.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I will add that clear vinyls are the least durable, for lack of UV stabilizers - but there are a lot of other factors involved, and temperature is a bit component as well, particularly hard persistent freezes (they make special vinyls for use as hanging barrier strips for walk in coolers/freezers, atypical of most vinyls - as i said above, all vinyl is not the same). and as all of us old enough to have a record collection remember, temps over 100 can make some vinyls very soft - shower curtains have a higher temp range.

All I know is that heavier shower curtains work very well in New England winters and the chicken run is only wrapped when the temperatures will be below 30F at night. So any reaction at triple digit temps is not problematic.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Nice! I attach rope to the hardware cloth then run the rope through the grommets. Then secure them with a rope and bungee cords in the middle and at the bottom. It works and easy to put up and take down.