I can’t imagine your winter to be too cold to let them range. We have cold weather here, but not like up north, but we do have below freezing temps and we do get snow. We open our coops every day and leave it up to the girls on whether to come outside or not and they always come out. We may have a few that decide to stay in, but very few.
One thing that has turned out to be a great tool is a three sided “fly in”, similar to a three sided run –in for larger livestock, but only four feet high, 8 fts wide and two perches two feet off the ground. Some of mine will come out of the coop and eat, then go straight to their roosting in their “fly-in”. On rainy days, the perches will be full………everyone wanting to be outside with a better view, but still wanting to be under a roof. It only took two 4x8 sheets of treated plywood and the plastic corrugated roof panels……..at a slant to the back for rain to drip off the back.
Most of my hens still like to come out in the snow and even in the rain. I don’t worry about them because I really feel the fresh air is more important than keeping them warm. They seem to enjoy the colder weather more than the hot weather.
I am a little concerned about my Game chickens. I understand they don’t do so well in the cold, so I will make sure their coop is nice and cozy with lots of bedding. They are in a coop with an attached yard and they can go in and out at will, also. If worse comes to worse and we have a horribly cold winter, I will bring them into the garage. They are so little and easy to house.
Laura
Laura Roberts
R Half Pint Farm
From: CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com [mailto:CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of maryhen11
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011 6:04 AM
To: CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [CHICKENS-101] Re: HOw many chickens in a 10x10 coop??
that's what my guineas are doin all night! I have a 12x12 coop and at night it seams a little tight for all 21 hens, a roo and 8 guineas, 4 adults an 4 almost 3 month olds. Things will be worse this winter. Sure Tx winters are short but even a few weeks locked up all day makes for a mess in the coop. So anyone in the Forestburg area of Tx and want some hen or guineas let me know. We're nne of Dfw by about an hour.
All good coments.
Maryhen and the gang
CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com
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