10/06/2026
🧊❄️ Okay y'all, it's October and our nights are dropping into the 50s this week, so it's officially COOP PREP season at The Henitentiary! 🐔🦆
Here's our game plan for getting the flock ready before the first real freeze:
1️⃣ Dry > warm. Chickens are basically little feather furnaces, they don't need a heated coop, they need a DRY one. Our job is to keep moisture out, not pump heat in.
2️⃣ Seal the drafts, keep the vents. This is the big one: plug any gaps at bird level where wind hits the roost, but KEEP the vents open up high so all that breathing moisture can escape. Damp coop = frostbite on combs. If it smells like ammonia or you see condensation, it needs more air up top, not less.
3️⃣ Fresh deep bedding. Starting a deep bedding layer now. Fresh dry shavings/straw, keep building it through winter, watch for wet spots.
4️⃣ Water plan. Frozen waterers are the WORST winter chore. We're getting our plan together now (heated base vs. the haul-and-swap routine).
5️⃣ Stock up. Extra feed and bedding bags BEFORE it's cold and muddy. Nobody wants a feed run in January.
6️⃣ Walk the fence line. Predators get bolder when their food gets scarcer checking latches, hardware cloth, and any dig spots now.
The ducks get the same treatment, by the way, dry bedding and no wind on the roost goes for them too. 🦆
What does YOUR fall coop prep look like? Are you team heat lamp, heated waterer, or just hardcore dry bedding? 👇
