Winterizing the Chicken Coop

Having an unconventional coop means coming up with unconventional solutions to taking care of my flock of chickens in cold weather.  I was hoping to make it more like a greenhouse for the winter, but my budget wouldn't allow me to purchase the plastic that I wanted to cover the coop with.  Instead I used a variety of tarps to do the job for now.  Chickens need a dry, draft free place in order to be warm enough, so I covered as much surface area as possible with tarps.  I know the tarps will only last me a season or two, so I am not as worried about them being damaged by the wind and the weather out here.  I used my largest tarp to cover the back of the laying house and the rear of the pen.

The chickens all roost on the boards in the pen at night, so I am trying to make it as comfortable as possible for them.  The top of the pen was already covered by a small sheet of visqueen plastic and a tarp to keep off the rain, so all I had to do was get a tarp to cover each side to the bottom.  I had left the front of the enclosure open, but now that I had a sheet of plastic from the greenhouse that I took down I was able to cover the pen more completely.

 I pinned one side of the sheet over the rooster pen and the far side of the hen pen.  I draped the rest of the sheet over and pinned the top over the door.  There is still a small gap at the top by the door, but I think allowing for some ventilation at the top allows any moisture trapped under the plastic to find it's way out.  The side that covers the door is weighted down with a few large rocks and I can move it back to allow them to have more fresh air during the day.  At night I pull the plastic sheeting across the open front and hold it in place with more rocks.

So far the set up seems to be working.  During the day it has been a very comfortable temperature inside the pen even when it's a bit chillier outside.  At night I think it traps enough of the chicken's body heat to keep it a few degrees warmer inside than out.  I am glad that I chose cold hardy breeds for my flock as they seem quite content in this set up and haven't acted the least disturbed by the change in the weather lately.

I don't plan on giving them any extra lighting and so far thier egg production seems unfazed by the shorter days we are having.  Hopefully they will keep it up through winter and next spring will hopefully be a good time to hatch out more chicks and grow my flock a little larger.

 

The roosters in the bachelor pad are benefiting from the extra protection as well.  While they don't have the most ideal set up, they are totally protected from the elements and get to share a bit a the warmth from the larger run that theirs is attatched to.  In the next few months I will be deciding which roosters make the cut for a breeding program and hope to reduce the number of roosters down to two that will be living with the hens full time.  By spring I am hoping to use this pen to brood my next batch of chicks.