So, we raised the extra 14 pullets until they started to lay eggs, and when we started getting more than a dozen eggs per day, we put ads on the craigslist to sell as many as we could. We were able to sell 15 birds, actually, so that's a huge help. We have one Blue Plymouth left. We kept one younger and one older each of the Barred Rock and the Rhode Island Reds. So five egg layers left to work with is way more managable. Although, even with the twenty pullets as headed into January was not too many for the pen/coop, so that's a good deal and we know that they will be just fine if we do that again next fall.
Heading into the second week of February, it was predicted that we would be strong winds coming ouf of the east with the potential for a foot of snow. I put an extra tarp on the end of the coop to protect that from any wind/snow and it is working well. There don't seem to be any drafts inside the coop, itself. I put a ten-foot wind block on the east side but it is only 18 inches tall, and well, that has turned out not to be high enough. As the freezing rain seemed to be coming from the north, I draped a two foot high sunscreen tarp on the north side of the pen so that we can still step over it, and to block the wind from that direction, but yah.... when it started snowing, the strong winds blew snow all over inside the pen last night.
Today was regroup day. Hanging a tarp on the east side seems to have helped a lot. The ten-foot barrier is still there frozen to the side of the pen. As you can see from the inside photos, the snow was being blown in to the pen, over the 18 inches of the barrier.... so while the chickens were not being "blown" around, the snow just blen in over the top of the barrier. So, that's a lesson learned. The hens were extremely upset because they had no area inside that wasn't covered with snow. They were all standing on their ramp protesting loudly. We threw grass hay all around that they can navigate on, munch on, and get access to their feed and water. So that portion is resolved.
In spite of our poor planning that ultimately caused the whole pen to fill with snow, the hens still laid four eggs for us today.
The snow is still going to get in on the west side but it's not blowing from that direction. So I'm going to take a calculated risk to leave it open tonight. I may regret this decision.
I took a quick shot of the thermometer that indicates that it is frosty cold outside in their pen. It if drops into the teens later, I will add a heat lamp in there to help keep temps managable.
Update on February 14, 2021 - The drifts in some areas are four feet deep, but the average depth is about 12 to 14 inches. We had it arrive in layers. First the freezing rain about .25 inch worth, then the drifting dry snow of about six inches in most places, then another layer of freezing rain, about .25 inch again on top of the snow, and another six inches of snow on top of that, and then another layer of freezing rain, closer to .5 inch that time. When I last measured the total depth of the ice on the bird's pen cover, it was a little more than 1 inch in total tonight. The freezing rain is continuing to fall as you can see in the pix below. Argh!
