Moose and I are finishing up the last and final breeding pen before we start creating a tractor or 2 a month for the next couple months. We need one for the roo's, and the guinea, and the bantys and... well they're good to have anyway. The birds would be able to roam a bit while I was at work and I wouldn't have to worry so much.
Anyway. I got to wondering if it was possible/feasible to 'winterize' a chicken tractor. Google brought me to a bunch of pages and blogs of people winterizing in the frigid north that is North Carolina
, the terribly cold state of Florida 
, and a couple from Maine. The approach for most in the southern US was simple: Tarp it. Well that's fine and dandy -- I've lived there and I'm here to tell you if you're able to sit on your porch Christmas day in shorts and a no-sleeve shirt, "it don't get cold."
One of the blogs from Maine, the woman used Green House plastic and covered the wire mesh part of the tractor, and she had thin foam insulation that she slid into the inside of the roost/nesting areas, with 3-5 birds a tractor, depending on the size. She said even when the weather got down to 0°F (so -18°C ish), the green house plastic helped keep the water from freezing up.
As anyone who has lived in/passed through/seen pictures/heard stories of the prairies in the winter knows, that's a hot day in the dead of winter. In fact, it's probably sunny and no wind. So the question I have, really, is would that be effective here? I know the important things are to keep the birds dry, out of the wind, away from drafts, fed with high-energy food and make sure they have access to fresh, unfrozen water. 3-5 birds a tractor, with a smaller but livable roosting area/nesting box would generate a fair amount of heat, but would it be enough to keep them comfortable in a 'winterized' tractor. My coop is un-heated and uninsulated, but not drafty and stays dry now that we've got the roof patched up; is there too much of a difference between that, where there's less of a chicken to floor/roost/nesting space ratio versus a tractor with a higher chicken to floor/roost/nesting space ratio?
I'm interested to hear your opinions/experiences/recommendations with this. I know my chickens sure loved the snow and they would choose when to go in and out, and I'd make sure to shut them in before the sun went down so their feet could warm up and dry beneath their down before it froze-froze.
Thanks Ladies and Gents.
Anyway. I got to wondering if it was possible/feasible to 'winterize' a chicken tractor. Google brought me to a bunch of pages and blogs of people winterizing in the frigid north that is North Carolina
, the terribly cold state of Florida , and a couple from Maine. The approach for most in the southern US was simple: Tarp it. Well that's fine and dandy -- I've lived there and I'm here to tell you if you're able to sit on your porch Christmas day in shorts and a no-sleeve shirt, "it don't get cold."One of the blogs from Maine, the woman used Green House plastic and covered the wire mesh part of the tractor, and she had thin foam insulation that she slid into the inside of the roost/nesting areas, with 3-5 birds a tractor, depending on the size. She said even when the weather got down to 0°F (so -18°C ish), the green house plastic helped keep the water from freezing up.
As anyone who has lived in/passed through/seen pictures/heard stories of the prairies in the winter knows, that's a hot day in the dead of winter. In fact, it's probably sunny and no wind. So the question I have, really, is would that be effective here? I know the important things are to keep the birds dry, out of the wind, away from drafts, fed with high-energy food and make sure they have access to fresh, unfrozen water. 3-5 birds a tractor, with a smaller but livable roosting area/nesting box would generate a fair amount of heat, but would it be enough to keep them comfortable in a 'winterized' tractor. My coop is un-heated and uninsulated, but not drafty and stays dry now that we've got the roof patched up; is there too much of a difference between that, where there's less of a chicken to floor/roost/nesting space ratio versus a tractor with a higher chicken to floor/roost/nesting space ratio?
I'm interested to hear your opinions/experiences/recommendations with this. I know my chickens sure loved the snow and they would choose when to go in and out, and I'd make sure to shut them in before the sun went down so their feet could warm up and dry beneath their down before it froze-froze.
Thanks Ladies and Gents.
