fuzzi's Chicken Journal

[1muttsfan]

If hoses in winter aren't stored inside above freezing here they don't last long. And leaving hoses hooked up all the time when it's below freezing increases the risk that they will freeze and possibly break.

Remember, for you guys it's coolish - coolish - cold - freezing - warm

Here it's freezing - freezing - almost above freezing - frigid

 

[Shadrach]

It was a damp day, temperature didn't make it to 50° so I decided to forego coop work.

I am thinking of adding a solid material to the roosting end this time instead of a tarp. It's too damp here for OSB, and I am looking at another material that could block wind and wet without breaking the bank. T11 siding looks promising but it's almost as expensive as weather ready plywood .

But buried in the shed may be a solution...
View attachment 4041740
View attachment 4041742
It looks like a sheet of plywood, about 4'x6', with a 2x4 attached. Its probably one of my dh's incomplete projects. I'll dig it out later this week, see if it might work.

View attachment 4041749
The end would be something like this but leaving the bottom 24" of the coop open to the air (with hardware cloth of course!).

Thinking... thinking...

I don't have your weather but from what I've read it isn't that much different on the low side to where I am. It freezes here a few times over the winter but mostly hovers a couple of degrees above freezing overnight.
I put a translucent heavy weight tarpaulin over the coop extension. I took one side down to the ground but left the other side about ten inches off the ground. The partly open side is low enough to avoid most of the wind due to the weeds and other objects. What I hope it does do and so far in quite strong winds (70mph) it has is give the wind a vent should it blow directly into the end of the coop extension. Hopefully the vent is enough to prevent a gust getting underneath the tarp at full pressure and trying to lift it.
The closed side faces South West which is where the wind blows from most. The closed side offers good shelter from the wind, especially if the chicken get onto the coop extension perch.

 

[fuzzi]

I don't have your weather but from what I've read it isn't that much different on the low side to where I am. It freezes here a few times over the winter but mostly hovers a couple of degrees above freezing overnight.
I put a translucent heavy weight tarpaulin over the coop extension. I took one side down to the ground but left the other side about ten inches off the ground. The partly open side is low enough to avoid most of the wind due to the weeds and other objects. What I hope it does do and so far in quite strong winds (70mph) it has is give the wind a vent should it blow directly into the end of the coop extension. Hopefully the vent is enough to prevent a gust getting underneath the tarp at full pressure and trying to lift it.
The closed side faces South West which is where the wind blows from most. The closed side offers good shelter from the wind, especially if the chicken get onto the coop extension perch.

And shelter from wind and wet is what we hope to achieve. The feathers do the insulating part.

 

[fuzzi]

If hoses in winter aren't stored inside above freezing here they don't last long. And leaving hoses hooked up all the time when it's below freezing increases the risk that they will freeze and possibly break.

Remember, for you guys it's coolish - coolish - cold - freezing - warm

Here it's freezing - freezing - almost above freezing - frigid

I lived for years in NE Connecticut, up in the hills, and do understand the freezing/snow/freezing/ice/Arctic cold/snow rollercoaster very well!



I like it better here.

 

[NanaK]

I was born here in eastern NC so never experinced a long cold winter. It would take a while for me to get used to that. I get stir crazy with a week of cold.

We do have to deal with the muggy hot
summers.

 

[1muttsfan]

It takes a long time to get used to it here too. Still working on that.

I would, however, have a much harder time with long hot humid summers. My sister lives in Dallas and I can't comforably go to see her anytime from May through September.

 

[Molpet]

I would, however, have a much harder time with long hot humid summers.

Me too
I thought Florida at Christmas was humid and icky

 

[fuzzi]

Three eggs today!

They sure do love greens.

Naomi and Abigail figured out that I had left a few bread crumbs in the dish...

 

[fuzzi]

They're so happy to see me...

 

[Wyorp Rock]

They're so happy to see me...

Love it