Hello! New member here, need advice on coop!

We recently bought a house in October and turned the tuff shed out back into a chicken coop for my 4 hens. I have a speckled hen, jersey giant and 2 Americanas. It's been frequently cold in Wa state, and installed a heat lamp from the ceiling to keep away from fire danger. Since I only have 4 girls, keeping them warmer to continue laying is a priority, although with the temps down to -10 the last week, I've only been getting 1 egg a day anyway.

I'm wondering if you guys could take a look at my coop and see if it's healthy and set up well for them. This is my first time keeping chickens and I want to do well for them
They are definitely our pets more than just chickens, they are so smart! My large speckled hen even figured out how to use the dog door to get inside the house!
Anyway, thanks for letting me join and any nice suggestions, would be appreciated! [/IMG][/IMG]

onlyadina said:

We recently bought a house in October and turned the tuff shed out back into a chicken coop for my 4 hens. I have a speckled hen, jersey giant and 2 Americanas. It's been frequently cold in Wa state, and installed a heat lamp from the ceiling to keep away from fire danger. Since I only have 4 girls, keeping them warmer to continue laying is a priority, although with the temps down to -10 the last week, I've only been getting 1 egg a day anyway.

I'm wondering if you guys could take a look at my coop and see if it's healthy and set up well for them. This is my first time keeping chickens and I want to do well for them

They are definitely our pets more than just chickens, they are so smart! My large speckled hen even figured out how to use the dog door to get inside the house!
Anyway, thanks for letting me join and any nice suggestions, would be appreciated! [/IMG][/IMG]

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Gosh, your birds have it made in there - very nice quarters. They lay according to the number of daylight hours and since there's less this time of year you'll get a lot less eggs. You don't need the heat lamp at all for fully feathered birds. They can take the cold much better than the heat so I'd remove the lamp. Leaving the lights on will induce them to lay more frequently if that's what you want to do but I don't push them myself since I prefer they get some rest during their down time. I think in the long run they'll do better this way. My philosophy is if I want more eggs I just add more chickens.

ejcrist said:

Gosh, your birds have it made in there - very nice quarters. They lay according to the number of daylight hours and since there's less this time of year you'll get a lot less eggs. You don't need the heat lamp at all for fully feathered birds. They can take the cold much better than the heat so I'd remove the lamp. Leaving the lights on will induce them to lay more frequently if that's what you want to do but I don't push them myself since I prefer they get some rest during their down time. I think in the long run they'll do better this way. My philosophy is if I want more eggs I just add more chickens.

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Thanks! And yes! They have tons of room!
I mainly only had the heat on because it's been below freezing the last week. And I really only used it at night when it got -10. I have it on in the pic to show how it was installed. I know they don't really NEED it, but it makes me feel better...lol

agree with the prior poster...egg production is a function of "daylight hours" not so much temperature. I also tend to agree with not messing with nature and giving them time to focus on staying warm and keeping their weight as opposed to laying eggs during the winter