Wrapped for Winter

[Mamilo]

I installed transparent reinforced tarps all around the chicken run and door using tie wraps attached to eyelets screwed in the chicken run frame. The tie wraps will be replaced by bungee cords which will make installation even easier (waiting for my bungee cord order to arrive). The roof is covered with Suntuf panels. So both the roof and tarp let in lots of light in the chicken run. There is plenty of ventilation in the soffits all around the roof. In the spring, I will simply take down the tarps and store them for the summer.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I installed transparent reinforced tarps all around the chicken run and door using tie wraps attached to eyelets screwed in the chicken run frame. The tie wraps will be replaced by bungee cords which will make installation even easier (waiting for my bungee cord order to arrive). The roof is covered with Suntuf panels. So both the roof and tarp let in lots of light in the chicken run. There is plenty of ventilation in the soffits all around the roof. In the spring, I will simply take down the tarps and store them for the summer.

Do watch the temperature in there please.

My greenhouse (it isn't huge at all) hits 70+ degrees when it's less than 30 degrees out if the sun is shining even with the vents open.

 

[Mamilo]

Do watch the temperature in there please.

My greenhouse (it isn't huge at all) hits 70+ degrees when it's less than 30 degrees out if the sun is shining even with the vents open.

Thanks for mentioning that. I have a Bluetooth thermometer in the chicken run and intend on rolling up the tarp when it gets too warm in there. The intent is to keep the cold wind and snow out so the chickens can enjoy the chicken run year round, and not turning it into a greenhouse.

 

[D13]

I purchased the materials and made custom tarps to cover my run. It's reinforced polyethylene sheeting. I have snaps to hold it in place until I can screw on deck boards to pin it down against the vertical uprights of the run.
View attachment 3974396
I put the sheeting up not to keep the snow out but to keep the wind out. That way the flock has a place to hang out on cold windy days even if there is no snow on the ground.

You built a chicken greenhouse! That's so cool!

 

[D13]

Last year we just put a tarp over the front side of our coop. I'm not sure how much it helped, but our chickens lived through the winter so... I guess it worked!

Our coop is an old stall in our barn that we repurposed for our chickens with heavy-duty wire around it and inch-thick wood walls on two sides (The other two are concrete). Sometimes we call it our "Fort Knox" it's so built up.

 

[K0k0shka]

I use clear polycarbonate panels as wind breaks on the sides of my run. They are a bigger upfront investment, but they are a lot easier to work with, last longer, and don't flap around in the wind. I've done clear shower curtains, too, and they were just too frustrating. The clear poly panels are actually clear and you can see well through them. If it looks like we'll be getting a lot of storms, I cover the run door with a clear shower curtain, but in recent years I've been leaving it open. I'm in MA but we haven't had real, sled-worthy snow in a couple of years now, winters are getting warmer and starting later every year, so I've been waiting later and later to put up the panels. Previous years, I have them up by the first week of November. But here we are, at the end of the first week in November, and we still get regular 80-degree days (like today) which is ridiculous. So this year I'll probably wait until Thanksgiving to put the panels up. They are mostly for the wind, because we barely get any snow anymore. Wind is a bigger problem than snow, because it opens up the chickens' feathers and breaks the bubble of insulating warm air underneath, compromising their built-in shields. And they hate the wind. We may not get much snow, but we get a whole lot of wind. It's so pleasant hanging out in the chicken run even on the windiest of days. The chickens really appreciate it, as they'd much rather be outside than in the coop all day.

 

[DobieLover]

You built a chicken greenhouse! That's so cool!

No I didn't. It gets a little bit warmer in there but there is no greenhouse effect because there's way too much ventilation in the run.

 

[aart]

but there is no greenhouse effect because there's way too much ventilation in the run.

Not to mention the solid roof.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I can't because I haven't let them out yet. They're still young. 18 1/2 weeks. I figure that they should learn to lay inside the coop first.

Actually though, that would be a great way to get them used to going outside, and back in... After a big snow storm, shovel a small area in front of the coop, spread some straw and ground corn.
Better yet, it would get me used to letting them out.

i have many bags of dried leaves ready to put on top of snow, otherwise, noone comes out!! They think the snow is Lava. This is our third winter together. so happy to have DRY leaves bagged and ready to go!!

 

[linguini]

I use clear marine vinyl, 30 gauge, to wrap the enclosed run for winter. It works very well. Have been using same vinyl for 3 years.

https://www.marinevinylfabric.com/products/clear-marine-vinyl?variant=41108241776724