Worried About the Weather

[Naturegirl155]

Sounds great. I get old ones from the industrial park. My favorite project with pallets and reclaimed wood is my goat toy/jungle gym. The adults lay over and under depending on the weather, but the kids run up and down and jump around. Better on this than my coops.
Sally and Fire have posted pictures on the Incubating with friends thread, and they may be linked from the notes section on the first page.
Here is the goat toy though it is off topic. It may be an idea to put three or four pallets together like it for a temporary fix to get through the winter. If you build with screws it will be easy to tear down later.

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If I can figure this chicken thing out, goats are my next project. I love your set-up!

 

[Naturegirl155]

What about that semi transparent plastic they use for green house type sheds. It is like a plastic version of barn tin?
Corrugated polycarbonate roofing panels I think.

Smacking my head right now ... I just let my husband throw away the plastic from the old flimsy greenhouse we used to have. The frame was broken but the plastic was still good.

 

[Naturegirl155]

Here's the waterer.

....and the 2x2 run roof prop, there's notch cut in end so it doesn't slide off.
This one stays up all winter in a weak spot, I have others if we are expecting a heavy overnight snowfall.
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The visuals really help! When you mentioned the plywood I was thinking way over the top of the run. This makes it much clearer! (Also I can't stand when they sit on top of the bucket.)

 

[Naturegirl155]

@Naturegirl155 If your Hubby is handy have him MAKE a new coop. The ones on line are cheap.
Or you can do what I did. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-resin-plastic-coop-construction-thread.1198632/

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older carport frame that I COULD put a tarp over but only did a small section.
Coop is a Rubbermaid 7x7 shed. Went up easy. Click the link and you can see my whole process on making it.
I rent so this is a temp for the next 2 years

Thanks for the link! We have a carport we use for a party tent in the summer but one year we left it up about a week into autumn storm season and a wind gust actually picked it up and over our house! I like the shed idea. I was looking at some of those online.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

Thanks for the feedback! A lot of the learning curve for this seems to be "read the advice and find out what works for your flock". It's really helpful to hear what other people in our climate zone are doing... I think I read one too many winterizing advice posts from Michigan!

I was surprised to go out to the coop this morning and find the gate and the coop frozen shut but that's what I should have expected after rain and a temperature plunge! Did your girls get soaked yesterday too?

Sorry, I wasn't on at all Thursday. My girls seem to have decided that if it falls from the sky, its no good. LOL. Actually, I let them out yesterday afternoon, from the run. Left the door open when I went in to bring them feed, check their water and for eggs. They followed me in, and then when I left (with the gate open) they followed me out. By the time I'd dropped the feed bucket in the basement door, the brahmas were already calling it quits, and by the time I came back out from putting away the eggs, all but 3 were back under cover. The remaining 3 were in w/in 5 min. LOL They are all done with this white crap. lol

 

[Frazzemrat1]

What about that semi transparent plastic they use for green house type sheds. It is like a plastic version of barn tin?
Corrugated polycarbonate roofing panels I think.

See, that's what I'm planning on wrapping my run with, just to create a wind block... but I want the kind that comes with the wire or string through it, for durability.

 

[aart]

When you mentioned the plywood I was thinking way over the top of the run

Well, I did mean to put some plywood(and a tarp) on top of run framing over the coop to keep snow off coop...
....but a small piece over waterer is to keep them from roosting on it.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

@Naturegirl155 ugh... more

 

[daxigait]

Smacking my head right now ... I just let my husband throw away the plastic from the old flimsy greenhouse we used to have. The frame was broken but the plastic was still good.

Now that truly stinks.
Let me know on the go so I just built some new shirts over Thanksgiving. My favorite part is the window like opening at the back that I hinge the plywood door over. Now I can put the hay in the feeder on the wall without ever going in the pen.

 

[tigger19687]

My carport frame had a ton of Cinder blocks holding it down, plus those metal tie downs you screw in ot the ground. Worked great for 4 years.
As you can see I only have a small section covered, just not had the energy to fiddle with it
Next Tuesday is going to be 45 f !! What is with this silly weather !
I may cover most of the carport for them that day.