AlbertaChickensEtc

Welcome to the site HGPG, my husband is from Shaunavon and my in law's stil live there.
We have a coop that was an old grainery, we sided it with metal, insulate the walls and roof and made some pop doors for the chickens.
We also installed a window that we remove in the spring and put back in for the winter. I think a sliding window would be a better idea so a person could ventilate with it during the winter.
I would suggest vents up high so the chickens are not getting the cold drafts right across the floor.
For bedding I use straw because it is cheaper then shavings, but this winter I think I am going to try shavings to reduce the work of cleaning in the spring.
I dont heat my coop, I did hand a heat lamp to keep the water thawed the last couple years that also keeps the chill off, most of my birds contiunue  to lay through winter even with no heat. If your building is insulated the birds will produce their own heat, if you keep them scratching around during the day that also helps them to generate heat.
If you were to heat your coop I would suggest a gas heater, electricity is very expensive to use to heat, I learnt that last year with my brooders.
What breeds of chickens do you have, that plays a large part of winter hardiness as well.

Welcome Home Grown;
You will enjoy this site and as you said it is Canadian content, I also was glad to find somewhere to get a cold weather prespective on my questions.
We are living in central Man. and are retired but not ready to leave the farm so we are raising Heritage chickens. We are having a great deal of fun doing it.
Last year we kept our chickens too warm and had moisture problems, so we have insulated our barn this year and have left the loft, insulation free, we are putting straw bales up there and will leave the loft door open if there is too much moisture. We hope not to have to use extra heating this year as our bird # is up considerably.

Last edited by Margret (2009-10-18 02:00:12)

We have also tried the wood shavings and straw but still prefer the straw.  In winter the chips seemed to stay drier though so we used a mixture.

We've got about 15 hens  and a roo, with a few more babies on the way.

We insulated an 8 x 8 wooden garden shed, including the floor and ceiling, then put plastic sheeting and chipboard over the insulation, exactly like you would insulate a house. Then we used one 250 watt heat lamp for most of the heating, except when it got really cold. Then, we switched on a second lamp with 150 watt heat lamp.
It worked ok, but was a bit hard to keep the heat level consistant. Especially on those cold winter days when it's -30C and the north wind howls down the open field behind the chicken house.

We use shavings and regularly clean them out on nice days, because I hate the smell of the soiled shavings and it makes things humid.  Besides, the chickens seem to love it when I clean the coop out and put fresh shavings down. lol  But, I guess with a well insulated floor, and a heated building, it's not quite as necessary to worry about the chickens feet freezing. 

This winter we are trying something new.  We purchased a 400 watt panel heater from  https://www.econo-heat.ca/index.html
It sounds like a great idea, and we think it will keep the heat more consistant and save on electricity.

Hubby found the idea on the US discussion group, and we're excited to see how it works. We are buying a thermostat to go with it, so we can have the heat adjusted to go down just a little over the freezing mark. We don't keep it too hot.
The panel on it's own continuously runs at one temperature, so needs a thermostat to control the heat.

For our water, we bought one of those heaters that you set your waterer on, that keeps the water from freezing.  It uses very little power and  we know our babies always have water available if for some reason we are late coming home from work and can't get to check them right at the same time every day.

We use wall mounted feeders for the feed and grit to save space as well, and tomorrow we are starting to build a wall mounted cage area above the roosts, to use for keeping our little Silkie and her new chicks away from the rest of the flock, or other hens or roos if needed.  The cage is going to be made so it can be divided into two cages if we need to do so.

Will try to remember to take pics of that project and post them on my website.

Debbie

Last edited by dreamergirl (2009-10-11 23:35:04)

I would really like to hear how that radiant panel works as well. I looked at those as well. No power at present or in the near future, but maybe one day.

HGPG,

I need to ask what you  mean when you say...

We had been heating our coop with heat bulbs as well, but the winter of 2007 we had 4 in there at one time and it would barely keep up.

... keep up to what? What temps are you trying to maintain? I have read similar comments from others many times. I guess I feel a little defensive at times because I can't heat my new coop. But the other thing is that I don't think we always need to. If a coop is built properly and you feed/water properly... is heat really needed? Wild birds do quite well when they have good shelter and a steady food source. Just look at the geese that are now living in many cities year round.

Now I know for many people it comes down to the "I just can't see them out in that cold weather", anthropomorphizing(spelling?). We all put our own feelings and thinking into our animals. Thing is that they do not react the same way we do. My dogs are perfectly happy out in -30 when my wife can hardly handle 2 minutes even in full length down. They get cold, but it just doesn't bother them in the same way. I get cold too, but not like the wife does. We feel and cope with the cold very differently.

Personally I think that Hidden is right. Give them a good little home, good food, and some active scratching during the day. Do that and they will be happy, healthy, and productive.

Ps. Check out my new coop to see what I am working on to deal with the cold.

HGPG,

OK. Maximize the egg production. Go for it.

The fact that you can do it just makes me jealous, of course.  Don't mind me. Do what you need to do.