Worried About the Weather

[aart]

Can I put the horizontal nipples on the HD bucket or should I just start with a new one?

Should thread into the same holes, unscrew the cups - screw in the HN's.
I use foil bubble wrap, covered with a feed bag (they like to pop bubble wrap too!) for insulation.

 

[Altfrizzle]

Thanks so much! I've been contemplating covering the spot over the coop with some heavy duty plastic but that might have to wait until we have a little more budget freedom...and I caught my husband browsing bigger coops on-line!

Improvise? A plastic shower curtain from the dollar store would work for a while. Even trash bags.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Thank You! When I saw the wood the coop was made of, I thought "Oh boy...a rat is going to sneeze and blow a hole in the side of this thing." I was thinking of making a second shelter for them out of recycled pallet wood this summer. Do you know of any articles or threads where I can find some inspiration?

I’ve seen some pallet coops on here. If I find anything, I will pass it on.
I’ve had my coop since October. It’s not doing too bad. But, I made sure the coop/run was secure with extra hardware cloth and landscaping stones that we had just lying around.
We’ve had some good winds and it is still standing. I reinforced the latches with eye hooks and carabiners - or added it in addition to the latches.
I also gave it a good coat of Thompson’s water seal. I think that has really helped. With the snow, I can see where it blows in when the vent window is open and it’s coming from just the right direction. Grrr... I will remedy that - hoping this weekend. But, so far it’s doing what it was meant to do. We built a cattle panel run around it covered with welded wire after my in-laws dogs were able to get to the chickens with small run extension made of lattice that I didn’t reinforce at first.
We are planning on adding something to the top of the cattle panels so that they are safe from birds of prey. But, the chickens are only allowed out in that when I’m out there and confined to their coop/run set up when I’m not.
I added plastic around the part of the run that is under the coop - then added a tarp to the lattice extension so that they have areas that are dry and can still utilize when it’s snowing.
They seem secure enough, but you just never know with all of the stories I read here.

 

[daxigait]

There are several comments about water. I work very long hours (gone 13-16 hours a day) and so my water in both the coop with power and the coop without needed an easy solution. We get down to the negatives at times.
For the coop with power I do what someone else suggested with the horizontal nipples. I the

K&H Pet Products
4.0 out of 5 stars 179 Reviews
K&H Pet Products Ultimate Pail Deicer (No Float) w/ Cord Clip Red 250W
for $25.99

For the coop without power I have successfully used a heated pet pad down to -8 that I microwave in the morning and put out water to leave out all day (no need at night). In the worst weather at 14 hours it had just a thin layer of ice on top. I put it under the standard white with red base waterer from tractor supply. This coop was for a grow out group.

Lows are not a big issue if they are draft free and dry on the roost and have some dry space to move around in the day.

 

[blackdog043]

Do you get a lot of snow?
Not sure that run roof will hold up to much.

Get your leaf blower ready to blow the snow off the roof run wire. Snow will stick to the wire and build up. Don't use a broom to knock it off, snow will land on your head.

 

[daxigait]

@Sally Sunshine
She has great pallet coops and goat pens.

@Fire Ant Farm has great partial shelter coops.

If you have pallets you can use a couple of pallets a couple of cattle panels and a tarp along with T post to make a hoop coop type thing to cover an area.

 

[daxigait]

I use one for feeding goats and having a mobile shelter for kids. This is after winter. The tarp had to be replaced before this winter, but otherwise it has been really good.

 

[Naturegirl155]

Should thread into the same holes, unscrew the cups - screw in the HN's.
I use foil bubble wrap, covered with a feed bag (they like to pop bubble wrap too!) for insulation.

I should have thought of bubble wrap! I just finished an engineering challenge with 3rd graders where they were testing thermal insulators and bubble wrap is one of the materials I provide.

I'll pick up the HNs next week. This morning I poured hot water in the cups to thaw but it only got down to 15F last night.

Thanks for taking the time to give me feedback!

 

[Naturegirl155]

Improvise? A plastic shower curtain from the dollar store would work for a while. Even trash bags.

That's so simple! I think I've been overcomplicating things. Shower curtains would fit perfect in this spot and it will keep snow from piling up on the water bucket. Thanks for taking the time to share your advice!

 

[Naturegirl155]

Get your leaf blower ready to blow the snow off the roof run wire. Snow will stick to the wire and build up. Don't use a broom to knock it off, snow will land on your head.

Grabbing the wire and "boinging" the snow off was probably not a good idea either!
Thanks for suggesting the leaf blower! I never thought to use it for snow before but on mornings like today where the snow is dry and fluffy, it seems like a no-brainer!