How To Build Chicken Coop For Cold Weather ???

Basic concepts behind the construction of a solar-tempered chicken coop are well known and have been used for a long time. Traditional poultry houses have a lot of windows (mostly for light rather than heat), and early homesteaders' coops were often built low to the ground and of logs.

PRIMARY FEATURES OF A SOLAR COOP

1. South-facing windows

2. Thermal mass to store heat

3. Outside insulation

4. Insulated window panels to keep the heat in.

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING SUGGESTIONS :

1. Birds need to be acclimatized to the cold. Hence if you start to heat for the winter you must follow it through the entire winter.


2. Consider ceramic heat bulbs which won't shatter as easily as glass bulbs
   
3. Use ceramic fixtures designed to withstand heat.


4. Fasten heating fixtures by wire or some other means so that they don't tend to fall.


5. Avoid hanging heaters near combustible materials such as straw, shavings or wood.


6. Include a circuit breaker sized to trip on overload based on your heater wattage
   

WHY SHOULD EVERY TOM ,DICK AND HARRY KEEP CHICKENS AS PETS?

1. Know where the eggs came from

2. Your eggs will taste better than any others

3. They are great 'pets'

4. The eggs pay for the food

5. Low maintenance

6. Chickens are fun !

INSULATION FOR YOUR CHICKENS :

Proper insulation will prevent heat loss through the ceiling and roof up to 70% in the chilly months of winter. The insulation is a key element in the design of your chicken house and will ultimately provide longevity, contentment and happiness of your beloved chickens.

1. The correct insulation system will

2. Save money

3. Reduce the amount of energy you use

4. Render your Chicken House more comfortable.

1. Organic Foams : Polystyrene, polyurethane, phenolic foam, polyethylene foam etc.



2. Inorganic Materials : Mineral wool, calcium silicate, cellular glass, microporous silica, magnesia, ceramic fibre, vermiculite and perlite.

POINTS TO PONDER :

STEP 1 : For all the available options check the heat loss , cost and the heat gain.
Make sure that moisture movement is handled correctly. Find appropriate
Insulating Material.

STEP 2 : Find correct size of Insulation Thickness needed.

STEP 3 : Work out the initial cost, installation cost, maintenance costs.

STEP 4 :Finally select the right insulation.

CHECKLIST :

Plant Organic Garden - Check
Make Compost - Check
Plant a Tree - Check
Gift a plant - Check
Rain Water Harvesting - Check

What's next?

Chickens, of course.

A chicken standing on one leg is a sign of cold weather .

Rain is on the way if


1. Hens roost earlier than their usual timing .

2. Hens take dustbaths and appear uneasy.

3. Cocks clap their wings in an unusual manner.

4. Hens spread and ruffle their tail feathers.

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT KEEPING CHICKENS IN BAD WEATHER


Are you in a state where you see temperatures below zero often ? How can you keep your Chicken healthy and alive through extreme temperatures ?

The solution lies in providing them adequate shelter. One that needs to be dry , with sufficient circulation and draft free - not necessarily heated, insulated or extravagant. Too much of air circulation can also lead to frost bite.

Do Chickens get FrostBite ?

YES they do!!!

Again the solution lies in the heating provided in their coops. Heating can be an expensive and potentially dangerous solution - doesn't contribute to the good health of your chickens .

What Can you do to ensure the comfort and health of your chickens in cold weather ?

1 . MAKE SURE THEY HAVE PLENTY OF CLEAN ,DRY AND DEEP BEDDING :

Build a foundation of hay bales the size of the hoop house. The center area of the bales can be left open because over the course of the winter the hens will poop and you can add hay bedding and they'll poop and you can add more bedding until spring.



Note : Addition of the hay absorbs the nitrogen from their poop because hay is high in carbon . In this way the nitrogen is captured for future gardening purposes rather than out-gassing. Thus the control is established over the usual awful smell and the odour is pleasantly bearable. The deep pack bed of compost decomposes during the winter. It also warms the chicken house.

2 . ACCESS TO GOOD QUALITY FRESH FOOD IS A MUST:

Lettuce greens , Fruits and Other Vegetables are a welcome addition in winter. Alfalfa hay can be provided as food and as an entertainment for their scratchy nature.

3 . ACCESS TO FRESH AND CLEAN DRINKING WATER ATLEAST ONCE IN A DAY :

More than once is advisable .

4 . EXTRAS :

During extremely cold weather a little cracked or whole corn would do them good.


Note : Many feeds already have a good proportion of corn . So take care to avoid excessive intake of corn to avoid the chicken becoming fat . For this interferes with their reproduction.

Breeds That Have Won Stood Their Ground Against Cold Weather

1. Wyandottes - are a good dual purpose breed.




2. Dominiques - are reliable and sturdy. They have survived many cold winters.




3. Buckeyes - well-suited to those cold Ohio winters and a good all-around breed.




4. Javas - adapt to any climate well.




5. Norwegian Jaerhons - good choice for a hardy dual purpose breed.

Determine whether there are any local laws that prohibit you from keeping chickens or roosters, restrict the amount of chickens you can keep or restrict the location of your coop. Visit or telephone your local authority or animal control office to find out exactly what, if any, restrictions exist. If you ignore the law it could end up costing you vast sums of money never mind the time, effort and money spent on your chickens.



Chickens are fantastic pets especially if you have small children. They can give you over 250 eggs per year! They require low maintenance and easy to look after and the beauty is you don't need a large plot of land. A small backyard with some thoughtful planning will suffice!


Don't hesitate and Click Here To Get Connected To This Splendid Website To Start On Your Chicken Coop Today !

My wife Karen invented these simple chicken houses a couple of years ago, when she decided she wanted a pen she could walk around in, rather than the standard Salatin-style pens that are only two feet high. These pens are made from with lightweight cattle panels bent into a semicircle, attached to a wooden bottom frame, and covered with a tarp. The ends are framed with wood, with the entrance in the front end.

Construction :

Lightweight stock panels are made out of heavily galvanized wire and are 16 feet long and about 4 1/2 feet high. They cost between $12 and $17 at local farm stores. We use two-panel coops to make a roughly 8'x9' coop with a ridge height of about six feet. This is good for between 50 and 75 broilers if you butcher them all at once. We butcher them over a period of two weeks, always choosing the largest birds, and in this case the coop is good for up to 100 broilers, with care.

The back end is covered with a tarp up almost to the top. A gap is left at the top of the rear wall to let hot air escape. The front is kept entirely open, covered only with chicken wire. This should be heavy-duty 1" chicken wire, preferably Red Brand. 2" turkey wire doesn't last. Neither do cheap brands of wire. The easiest method of attaching the chicken wire is to use plastic tie wraps.

The door should be arranged as a lift-out hatch rather than hinged. It is our experience that doors quickly get ripped off their hinges.

The tarps can be attached to the wood framing with a staple gun and to the panels with plastic tie wraps.