FIRST FREEZE AND THE CHICKEN DOME

Winter weather snuck up on me this year. It’s apparently going to dip down to 27 degrees Fahrenheit overnight. In the normal course of things, this isn’t a problem. This year, however, we have exposed chickens at play.

I was so busy working on strategy for a new newsletter subscription offer that I let the day slip by without realizing tonight could potentially be dangerous to the chickens still in our dome.

In case you’re wondering why we still have chickens IN our dome, let me reassure you, it is strictly for strategic and deeply purposeful reasons. Okay, I lied. The blog side of #blogsteading has been primary this past week or so, what with digging a trench and running internet cable to our new pod. I haven’t had time to slaughter the rest of our broilers yet this season.

So a little late, I found this quote on the Zip Tie Domes website:

To winterize your dome, just put a tarp or plastic sheet over it, then put hay down on the ground. When the hay gets dirty, move the dome. (By moving the dome year round, it makes it very hard for the dome to harbor mites or other pests, which is common problem for all other chicken coops.)

Tomorrow, we’ll pull some plastic from the shed and cover most of the sides so the birds will stay nice and cozy. And with the ground getting colder, it’s time to consider hanging some perches for the birds to get off the ground. Zip Tie Domes recommends adding hay as ground cover and leaving the dome in place until the hay needs to be replaced. That sounds fine, at first, except this dome is in our yard, and I’m pretty sure neither Heather nor I want to see poopy hay circles dotting the landscape outside our bedroom window.

To be continued…