- Thread starter
- #11
Silkie7
In the Brooder
@NatJ I will have to find a way to close up the run area for the winter. It's been raining a lot here, so my chickens are in my garage now. It has windows. Worst case, can I keep them in the garage for the winter? It's an attached garage, so it's warmer in there.If it can get below -20 F, you will probably want a larger coop to keep your silkies comfortable.
Chickens will typically stay inside the coop (sheltered area) in very cold weather, but the coop (upper sheltered area) that you have is not big enough to hold 6 silkies, and their food and water, and give them enough room to comfortably stay there for days at a time. It probably does not let in enough light either, for them to spend days inside.
A common guideline is 4 square feet per chicken inside the coop. That would mean 24 square feet for 6 chickens (so a space 4 feet by 6 feet, or similar)
Silkies are usually bantams, and bantams can usually get by with half that much space. So 2 square feet times 6 chickens would make 12 square feet (3 x 4 feet) But the Eglu Cube is only about 3x3 feet inside the top area (9 square feet is too small), and part of that space is taken up by nestboxes (so smaller yet), plus you still need a place to put the food and water.
So I would suggest you get a bigger coop. Or else be prepared to turn that run into a more sheltered area so they can keep using it in the cold parts of the winter. I see you have already covered part of it, but I think it will need more as the winter progresses, to keep out snow (drifting in or blowing in), and wind (chickens do much better if they can stay out of the wind.) You still need to leave some amount open for ventilation, but try to make it areas that will let air move gently rather than blowing hard on the chickens (pay attention to which direction the wind usually blows in your yard, to see where you can best leave ventilation without the wind blowing straight in.)