Apple Tree in the Run

[Artemis_Nix]

I have an 8x10 aluminum shed with a large kennel run that runs in front of the shed and alongside my house, this area was a kennel that kept 3 dogs at one time. My dogs are spoiled so they have the rest of the back and front yard to run in and then come in the house. The largest part of this kennel has a big, prolific apple tree on one end. I can only keep up to a dozen hens as I can't keep a rooster within town limits. I plan on covering the entire run as there are a lot of cats and a hawk that hangs out in my neighbors tree so maybe I should just fence off that end of the run?

My other question is about the shed, I'm North of Reno Nevada, as I'm typing it's snowing and about 20 degrees out there, what is the most efficient way to heat this much space and should I insulate it first?

 

[Dar]

I would not worry about heating the coop... I am in Canada and we get mighty cold.... as long as there are no drafts on the hens and they have access to water thats not frozen they should be fine.. I wrap a human heating pad around my waterer to keep it thawed I only have it on low... I also have a small oil filled electric heater in the coop sitting about 4 feet off the flrro on a shelf.. if the chickens were cold they can go by there but I only ever find my bantam wyandottes there and thats only a a reeeealllly cold night. My silkies huddle in the nest boxes and mt standard "mutts" are on the roosts like normal I have large tree branches about 3" in diameter so they can huddle down and cover their feet.

I think having the tree would give them some wonderful shade in the summer .. I have never had issues with cats but the hawk may be an issue... i found some really great inexpensive fish netting on Ebay 2 years ago... its been out all year and has stood up to the UV and snow loads no problem.. just stretched a little....


Oh yeah....

 

[Artemis_Nix]

Thank you!

I'm mostly interested in laying hens at the moment because I'm limited here in town, so I'm thinking a mix of Wyandottes, Orpingtons, Australorps or even Easter Eggers could work. Drafts are my main concern as this is one of those aluminum garden sheds, I think we probably need to work on some type of insulating.....and I was thinking of heat lamps hung from the ceiling, which after reading this and the other posts on heating I don't think I'm going to do by the way.

As for the hawk, she is a brazen ole hussy, I've seen her go after the cats!

So covering the entire area is probably going to be the only way to keep her away from what will amount to the buffet table no doubt!

Thanks for the welcome, love the avatar

 

[Dar]

LOL @ brazen ole hussy....

for insulation the problem is it will also keep the heat in, in the summer... can you stack bales of straw around the outside to act as a wind block? When we had our first coop it was a remolded wooden shed that the squirrels had lived in before being evicted... Squirrels eat through everything so there were holes there the roof met the walls and where the walls met the walls... I went to home depot and bought a $50 roll of vapor barrier and used the staple gun and attached it to the outside and then stacked straw bales outside and it was much better... trust me this was not fun in 3 feet of snow

in the spring we used the bales of straw in the run cause it was muddy and in the nest boxes. I also use the deep litter method that helps keep the floor a little warmer

I will admit... I am shocked to hear you are getting snow right now I didnt think Navada got snow..

careful with the heat lamps they have caused more them one member to loose their coop cause they have caught fire I used to use heat lamps my first winter until I melted my waterer

 

[Artemis_Nix]

Actually I edited that post to better summarize.....lol....I'm not going to bother with the heat lamps at all! I can totally do straw bales, as a matter of fact it was the first thing that came to mind

didn't know about the vapor barrier, I'll check that out when I get into Elko, I'm 50 miles from pretty much everything.

Yup, I'm in Northern Nevada, I'm even north of Reno, so along the Sierra Nevadas.....I just moved from Helena, MT and the weather here is pretty comparable until maybe January. From what I understand it usually doesn't get under -20 here, I've seen -30 in Helena, probably considered balmy weather to a Canadian

my husband is from Eastern MT near the N. Dakota border where it gets to be -60 with the wind, he works outdoors here all year round and it doesn't bother him. I'm originally from So Cali, and I'd rather walk through the 9th circle of hell before I'd spend a night out in a snowstorm working on heavy equipment the way he does!

I read somewhere that chickens are actually covered in down under those feathers....something I hadn't considered

 

[Dar]

Quote:
dont worry I did not think of that either in my first year i was trying to make it 20*c in that coop... not gonna happen when its -30*c outside

 

[bfrancis]

I have a tree or two in all of my runs...it's relatively easy to put net over your run and cut for the tree. I use 2"x 2" poultry netting...Ebay is a good source. You can view my BYC page for pics.

 

[Artemis_Nix]

Thank you!

Gonna go check out your page....