To answer your questions: *to close coop door in winter - vinyl will not be enough closure for windy nights plus water will freeze inside if coop isn't kept warm enough in your climate you may need a heated water base in winter can be homemade with a light bulb fixture attached inside a upturned bucket *can reduce cold wind by attaching plastic sheeting on 3 sides of the run. We have protection of forest and our coop isn't out in the open. Others use the plastic sheeting or fiberglass panels on the side of prevailing winter winds. Imagine it is like a greenhouse with the protected run. we reuse old tarps on our run to cover it. Someday will switch to fiberglass panels when we redo the various repurposed welded wire fencing we first used. Needs to be strong because of the forest debris that falls *we close manually with a track for the door to slide up or down by a cord along the wall through a hole in the front with a washer on end of string that when pulled down & door is open loops over a cup hook. Plus a bit of ribbon on the washer helps us see from the house whether open or closed. Our kids were K & 3 grade when they started raising chickens, so it was helpful to supervise their work. concern because of raccoons & possums who manage to show up in fall hungry for chickens Numerous times kids in our 4-H club have sad stories about losing chickens one by one or the whole coop in a night from predators. Closing up the coop with a solid door prevents that. *about nesting in corner on floor - is the nest box large enough for them to turn around 14 inches or more square chickens will nest where they feel safe and it's darker lighting may also be nesting there because one started laying there try putting dummy eggs in the nest you want them to use (even golf balls or rocks work as dummy eggs, so you don't have to buy them) hope that helps

Actually came to this site to post questions concerning my moutling chickens. I was hoping it was an active board. I acquired my chickens and guinea hens as babies. All started in the bathroom or basement under heaters and graduated to the chicken coop. I have a thermometer to record their ambient home temperature. A majority of time the spent time directly under the heat lamp so I adjusted the setting lower to have more heat. As they grew they would alternate directly under the heat lamp to its periphery. I feed them twice a day with poutlry crumbles and fresh water. I also tossed them fresh chopped romaine lettuce. I let them hang in their coop yard until the spring weather was above 60 degress and they no longer hovered under the direct heat lamp. They were about 4 months old when we left outside 24/7. I learned over time and trial and error. We built the chciken coop buying the build plans off the internet for 25 dollars. We have two indoor perches and five nesting boxes. There are two perches in their chicken yard. Originally I used the plastic water can and plastic feeder but graduated to the3 and 5 gallon chicken cans. Over time I realized I needed to add ACV with the mother to their water so I switched back to the plastic can. Apple cider vinegar is added to their water for several reasons the primary to ward off intestinal worms and fight off diseases. You can not add ACV with the mother to a metal can : the ACV corrodes the metal. We took a pvc pipe and cut it in half capping the ends to make a tube feeder which was great until they were adults. I now prefer to use the large horse rubber feed bucket as their grain container. Our set up is a door with a removable screen , an entry ramp and an opening to obtain the eggs from outside the coop. We took horse fence and laid it on the floor going up the walls to a roof for their yard. You really need to go down two feet to secure their home from predators which is impossible with our rocky soil. We placed the tacky green vinyl fencing on the roof of their yard to provide shade. We also built a mini roofed feeding station so they can get out of the rain or sun. I never posted pictures but I will try to do this. back Yard chickens is a great website to glean info. I feed my chickens daily fresh cut romaine lettuce,and the following cucumbers, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, berries, apples, mozzarella , watercress, cilantro. oat millet, I have given them red leaf , parsley , cabbage and broccoli with no one interested. last year they devoured a ripe pumpkin but this year they have not touched it. Sometimes the pumpkin or squash needs to be cooked before they will eat. I feed dried worms during their moult and to call them in at night. At a young age I called chick chick and gave them something delicious so now they recognize the chant to come home. They love to roam freely which I did the first summer but by fall the hawks knew they were around and found them hiding under a bush scrambling from a hawk. I have had opossum attempt to get into their coop. I only let them out to roam the acreage when I am out for hours . Our normal routine is they are allowed into the backyard for the day. Several bushes provide the shelter from the sun , wind and hawks. I lock them up when I know I am gone before dusk. I have spotted coyotes at all hours of the day so I keep an eye on them such as leaving a dog in the yard while they are beyond this fence. My dogs have been great with the chickens but not with the quinea hens. Plus Guinea hens attack chcikens. they do not co exist. Our set up is the hen house with their yard nailed up to their entry doors, a latch on all opeings, a screened in yard and then this set up is in an enclosed fenced yard. There are openings in the back yard fence that fox can slide under due to the landscaping we could not get the fence low enough. I have placed the granite boulders along these gaps so they can not get under the fence and the rock will fall on them when they dig. I keep hydrogen peroxide around for the cuts, a&d ointment and blu kote. I have a heat lamp, a heater for their water , shavings, and timothy hay. The timothy hay is to spread when it snows. They hate walking on snow. we have fields of timothy so this is no cost for me. You learn as you go. Fox, raccoons , hawks and coyotes are their major predators. I use a cat carrier to separate a wounded bird. In the cold weather I feed hot oatmeal and soaked mung beans. Cat food is welcomed when they are injured or moulting. I feed oyster shells for their calcium . I never feed their shells. Some owners do. They do have personalities. i buy my supplies at a feed store or Tractor supply. I also used DE sprinkled on their grain to treat against worms. The birds acclimate to the cold so when one would get injured I would place that bird in a cat carrier in their coop at night. This way the flock does not peck at the red blood and the bird is safe and does not freeze if I had brought it in . I collect their droppings daily. I find the coop smells more with left over rotted food so I always clean their coop daily. A variety of food works with their main being the turkey crumbles and the lay egging pellets. I learned as issues emerged. Good Luck Try Back Yard Chickens . Also not everything you read works for each poultry person. Food, Water and shelter from Predators is the key

I have a room in my house that is very drafty and if I let it stay cold it keeps the rest of the house cold. I brought this heater from Target last year, I keep it on 24/7 on a low temp and after about a day running it has kept the room comfortable although not real warm. If I turn it up it will be smokey hot in there which I did not want to do. It has solved the problem. I checked my light bull and it did not change significantly over the year. I am wondering if this might be a solution for you? You are in zone 7 like I am and I have had no need for supplemental heat outside yet and my birds seem to be doing fine. Their whole pen is made of wire mesh with a box for them to go in at night. The temp has gotten pretty low and when it did the chickens stayed in their box huddled together for a while but for the most part they were business as usual. I did close their box on really cold nights though to keep out the drafts. HTH Here is a link that might be useful: heater

I do raise chickens and although I don't sell eggs I give them to my mother, who is nearly 80, and to my daughters who feed them to my grandchildren, including one who is 20 months old. I will also point out that the eggs in the store are not, for most part, pasteurized nor are they tested in any form for salmonella or other contaminants and they come from far larger and dirtier places than my chicken coop. That's why there are all those widely read and heard warnings about raw eggs. So, if your neighbors eat unpasteurized eggs from the store, or sunny side up eggs at the local diner, your eggs are probably healthier than that. Would I give them to a neighbor undergoing chemotherapy or someone with HIV or a child with a compromised immune system? Probably not and I'd be sure to point out that they are not pasteurized and shouldn't be eaten without cooking. I am far more comfortable with eggs from my own flock than I have ever been with eggs from the store. I'm assuming your issue with fresh eggs is salmonella? Other than that, eggs don't really spoil unless some contaminant makes it through the pores of the eggshell. That's why eggs shouldn't be washed, there is a natural coating on eggs which seals those pores and prevents the introduction of bacteria. My extension service tells me that, absent the introduction of bacteria, eggs usually don't actually spoil quickly, they just dry out. That's why old eggs float, the amount of air inside the shell increases, causing an ever growing air pocket. Annie