# Winter is coming



## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

I have a 4x8 coop that houses 10 birds. Currently it have bid open windows on either side of the coops long walls. I am expecting the first frost in the next few weeks as was curious what you all think I should do in order to prepare for winter. 
Background: I live over 9000 feet, in a canyon, and in the summer will I ly receive about 5 hours of light a day. Where the coop sits currently, it will not receive any of that. I plan on moving my coop, to a spot


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

How about a pic of the coop and the interior so we can get an idea what you are working with?


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

Sorry, that did not even post properly. I intend on moving the coop to a spot that receives a bit better winter sun. Here's some pics.

























It now has a metal roof, and I will put siding on it once it gets moved.


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

That's a tough design to work with due to it being narrow and long in design. If this were my coop, I'd change those roosts to bars running side to side rather than down the length of the space. I'd place those bars in the back of the coop, one up, one down a little lower than the top one and put them higher up than they currently are. 

I'd put a deeper lip on those nest boxes so the bedding stays in better. 

I'd switch from a hanging continuous feeder to a trough feeder that I would place opposite the nest boxes and I'd put that waterer closer to the door on the left hand side, right this side of the trough feeder. For winter, you might switch to a heated dog food bowl for the water and place it up on a cement block or something similar so bedding doesn't get into it. 

This makes it easy to water and feed, without fussing with hanging this or that or walking all the way into the coop. Without feed waste in the bedding or having feed in the coop all night, you'll have less feed waste and won't attract rodents. If you continue to feed dry, you can place a piece of wire fencing over the trough to keep them from flicking feeds out into the bedding. 

I'd put some waterproof material on the floor so that I could start to build a deep litter and I'd start laying it in there~not straw, but leaves, shavings, pine needles, etc.

I'd place four furnace vents one would normally find in the floor of a home that uses forced air heating/cooling around the bottom of this coop about a foot off the floor to give better ventilation and I'd crack those windows a little to allow for more ventilation and allow moist air to rise and leave the coop. Then I would open or close the vents and windows this winter as needed to allow more or less ventilation in the coop. 

That would be my winter solutions for a coop such as this. You'll have more actual floor space without those big, round waterer/feeder hanging there, less feed waste, more insulation and better ventilation at the floor level, the roosting will be higher and so they will get more warmth as the heat rises, and the nesting will be even more insulated with more bedding to nest into.


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## shanedavis (Feb 26, 2013)

Register vents!!! Brilliant idea for ventilation ... I'm still looking into the deep litter idea and had major concerns about a sliding vent mechanism at floor level ... For Security and longevity reasons ... Register vents ... Bee your ideas/advice always seem to be right on cue.

Question will those big windows increase temperatures inside coop through thermal passage? And if so would you add register vents to the top of coop for moist warm air escape?
SD


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

For winter and in this situation, those big windows are a plus...the more natural light and warmth that is brought in the winter, the better and I can see some vent spacing up near the rafters on this coop that will help wick out excess moisture but cracking the windows will help with this as well. 

Placing a few register vents up high would be great as well...a small coop like this one can use all the ventilation it can get as they don't have the airiness of larger coops, so making ways for the air to move is best. 

Most folks feel if there is air flow in the coop in the winter that it will make the chooks too cold, but it's better than the humidity from their bodies and respiration lying on their combs and wattles, there to freeze when they go outdoors.

Something that could really help this coop in the summer months is placing some board insulation under the roof materials and allowing a good overhang of the roofing to allow for shade on all sides of this coop, particularly those windows.

When he moves this coop, he could place it in such a way that it gets good southern exposure in one of those windows for winter warmth, but in the summer that solar path will be higher in the sky and the sun won't enter into that window at the same angle, so the overhang of a roof will help with shading that.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

The coop has a linoleum floor, however I used a cheap remnant piece that just did not perform like I want. I need to pull it up and start from scratch there. 
So likely for winter I will take the bedding from inside the coop and toss it out into the run once a week, as I have too many other things before the snow flys. 
The coop has vents on all 4 corners of the roof and walls. Adding the floor level vents, and making the roost higher up. I intend to continue FF and trough feeding all winter, and will be switching from hanging buckets to a heated bowls once I start seeing ice in the water. 
The one roost running length wise is so they can look out the windows. It seems odd, but the love looking out the windows on rainy days


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

I should also add that I plan on having a shop light on a timer and a heat lamp set to turn on only during the very cold windy days. 
I am curious on thought for a run.. I'm sure the ladies would like to go outside when it's not bitter cold out. I may just let them free range all winter, as there will be less predators about.


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

I seriously would not heat the coop. It's hard on them to move from warm to cold temps as they come and go to the coop. It's just not necessary as they have adequate feathers to stay warm.

If you want to light the coop, you can do it with a regular light but a heat lamp is a recipe for disaster in more ways than one.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

So no heat source, makes things even easier


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