Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Chickin Fairy]

The vet (Tish) is a 'farm/exotic" animal vet. She does every thing else as well, but her specialty is farm/exotic.

I'm glad you have a vet in your area who will see birds, it's quite rare.

Please know that I mean absolutely no disrespect when I say the following, but those who raise chickens know what they need more than a vet would know what they need (unless the vet raises chickens). My cousin was a farm vet, trained and employed as an ag veterinarian for years with MSU and knows squat about raising chickens. She lives on a farm with horses, but is always baffled when I tell her about my bird's behavior.

Be prepared to shovel their free range area when you let them out if it is snowy. Chickens are snow-blind, which means when they look out onto an area of snow, they literally think that nothing is there and will not wander into it.

Lots and lots of people go into the chicken game without knowing anything and then have to figure out what to do when they didn't prepare well. I'm currently helping a woman in my area rehome 7 hens because she didn't finish her coop on time and is overwhelmed. So many people don't do their research first, and birds suffer for it. I did research for over a year before I got birds and still had issues with feather picking and frost it's because of poor coop and run design.

Our advice comes from places of experience and we have all seen someone who has been gungho to plow in, only to have pecking order issues or ventilation issues. Many of us have pointed out our concerns kindly to you. We will absolutely help you if you run into issues down the road, but please take some time to reassess your coop size and ventilation before the cold weather does set in for good.

 

[LadyGuinevere]

I'm glad you have a vet in your area who will see birds, it's quite rare.

Please know that I mean absolutely no disrespect when I say the following, but those who raise chickens know what they need more than a vet would know what they need (unless the vet raises chickens). My cousin was a farm vet, trained and employed as an ag veterinarian for years with MSU and knows squat about raising chickens. She lives on a farm with horses, but is always baffled when I tell her about my bird's behavior.

Be prepared to shovel their free range area when you let them out if it is snowy. Chickens are snow-blind, which means when they look out onto an area of snow, they literally think that nothing is there and will not wander into it.

Lots and lots of people go into the chicken game without knowing anything and then have to figure out what to do when they didn't prepare well. I'm currently helping a woman in my area rehome 7 hens because she didn't finish her coop on time and is overwhelmed. So many people don't do their research first, and birds suffer for it. I did research for over a year before I got birds and still had issues with feather picking and frost it's because of poor coop and run design.

Our advice comes from places of experience and we have all seen someone who has been gungho to plow in, only to have pecking order issues or ventilation issues. Many of us have pointed out our concerns kindly to you. We will absolutely help you if you run into issues down the road, but please take some time to reassess your coop size and ventilation before the cold weather does set in for good.

I mentioned the suggestion for the coop and he's going to cover the run area to give them more room to roam. The vet actually does do chickens, she was raised on a poultry farm in central Michigan. Her training is farm specific, but does domestic as well. We met her prior to bringing the birds home, and had a list of over 20 questions to make sure she was good enough for our family.

I'm never offended by comments and suggestions from those that have been there, done that. I'm new, I will adapt as needed. A friend suggested we cover the snow with hay. Something they can see and walk on. If anyone has anything else to suggest, I would love to read it. I leave the window open at night.

I was looking at a heater for the hen house ... would that be a good investment?

 

[Chickin Fairy]

I was looking at a heater for the hen house ... would that be a good investment?

You don't need to heat or insulate the coop in the wintertime. Chickens are great at producing and trapping heat between their feathers. I'm always more concerned with keeping them cool in the summer, lol.

The hay is a great idea, and worth a try. There are lots of trials and errors and you'll figure it out.

That's great that you vetted the vet so well! And forgive me for assuming she didn't know chickens. That sounds like a valuable resource.

How large is the window you leave cracked? My coop has a north facing window that is about 2'x4' that remains open throughout the winter and is above the roosts, on the opposite side of my coop, I have drilled ventilation holes along the roof to let air out the other side.

For a waterer, I use a 5 gallon bucket (Lowe's or Home Depot) and have the cups. You can purchase the cups on Amazon for very cheap. It has been my favorite waterer by far and I only need to fill it a couple times a week. I do go out when it starts to get gunky and spray it with vinegar spray and scrub it out. You have to watch for alge and slime in the summertime.

You'll also need a heater in the winter for when the water freezes. I have used a base plate heater with different waterers, but this year I am trying a bucket heater that is submersible inside the waterer.

I don't leave water in their coop. It will raise the humidity of the coop and can lead to frostbite.

 

[Folly's place]

Don't heat the coop! You will want a heated waterer, here we have heat plates under the waterers, they work fine. The metal heat plates go under the metal waterers, or there are special heat plates safe for the plastic waterers. I've never used a nipple waterer, much prefer the other kind.
Make sure that your run and coop framing are up to potential snow or ice load in winter! Having things collapse, not good, and being out there at 2am in a blizzard cleaning off the roof, also not fun.
Ventilation! Cold and wet won't be a good thing, wrapping the lower part of your run with sheet vinyl, and leaving the upper area on the leeward side open, then the entire thing will be a coop for them. Might be okay this winter, small as it is.
Mary

 

[LadyGuinevere]

You don't need to heat or insulate the coop in the wintertime. Chickens are great at producing and trapping heat between their feathers. I'm always more concerned with keeping them cool in the summer, lol.

The hay is a great idea, and worth a try. There are lots of trials and errors and you'll figure it out.

When my family sat down to decide where to put the initial house and run ... they had to keep in mind I am disabled, so it's against the house just outside the door. The yard needs help (straightening) but we will complete that during the next week. I wondered how to teach them to go inside the house at night. But after the first night of just pitching them inside ... last night they went in on their own. I'm not sure if I like the automatic door.

 

[TOMTE]

When my family sat down to decide where to put the initial house and run ... they had to keep in mind I am disabled, so it's against the house just outside the door. The yard needs help (straightening) but we will complete that during the next week. I wondered how to teach them to go inside the house at night. But after the first night of just pitching them inside ... last night they went in on their own. I'm not sure if I like the automatic door.

I've seen some people on here have trouble with their automatic doors. If you're having issues with yours, you can do a keyword search of the brand in the forums and see if there are solutions!

Being disabled can make figuring out accessibility wrt caring for our flocks much more difficult, I feel you there. You're doing great and it's awesome that you're open to constructive criticism! I can see where a lot of people might get defensive about their coop/run situation. We all want to do what's best for our babies and it can be disheartening to find out we're doing things wrong. But we all need to start somewhere!

 

[Chickin Fairy]

When my family sat down to decide where to put the initial house and run ... they had to keep in mind I am disabled, so it's against the house just outside the door. The yard needs help (straightening) but we will complete that during the next week. I wondered how to teach them to go inside the house at night. But after the first night of just pitching them inside ... last night they went in on their own. I'm not sure if I like the automatic door.

I have the automatic door I have linked here and I love it. I change the batteries once a year and it has never failed. I've had it for 2 winters, it has withheld into -20 and rain and wind. You can get it with a remote control, too.

Isn't it amazing how they just go to bed? I had that same experience.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GL4S3Q4?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

[chickflick]

Poultry farm and backyard chicken keeping is quite different in my opinion. Farms don’t have individual coops but rather large barns.

 

[1muttsfan]

I'm sorry to disagree with another animal professional, but that coop is not large enough for the birds you have. Expanding your space out into an enclosed run would very much improve it.

A tarp over the top of the run is unlikely to work very well if you get any amount of snow or even worse ice. There have been people whose run roofs have had inadequate support, and they collapsed on top of their chickens, sometimes killing them. If your husband is handy he will understand what I'm talking about and be able to fix something sturdy as a roof or a support for a tarp.

 

[1muttsfan]

I have a metal base heater and use a metal waterer on it in the winter. We're often miserably cold up here, and cup or nipple waters would just freeze.

I read mixed reviews about timed doors, and see enough posts about chickens that get shut out at night to make it easy to not consider them. And if your run is predator proof, there's no reason to shut them in the coop and away from the run. But you should be very sure that predators cannot enter.