Ice house to coop help w/ideas

[farmgirllvo]

Ok so from reading the the conversation link you left me here is what I've gathered.
-The wind keep the wet away which keeps them warmer
-I need to make sure I have good ventilation that is high up
-Ventalationnin the eves is best
-A wet chicken is a cold chicken

Did I miss anything?

 

[farmgirllvo]

Yes, but it will take the moisture and ammonia that the the birds' respiration and poop create with it. You want some air exchange and the movement of warm air up and out will give it to you. A well-ventilated coop that is dry and draft-free (different from ventilation) will allow the birds to keep themselves warm.

If you don't mind my asking, why did your first coop burn down?

Nothing involving the coop. It was a little brother playing with fire in the hay bales and it lit everything else around it on fire. The coop, barn, hay shed, work garage.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Ok thanks!!
But won't the heat just go out the windows?

yes, along with the bad air.

And I wouldn't bother with insulation. Even in Minnesota. Unless you have some ornamentals that need to live in a climate controlled environment, the insulation will cause you more bother than good. Mice will certainly take up residence in the walls.

X2
An adequately ventilated unheated building will be nearly the same temperature inside at 5AM in the middle of January as it is outside regardless of insulation.

I opened the windows the whole way to get the smell out this morning. I'm thinking I'll leave them half open all winter?

Why not all the way open?
I think what you're missing is that chickens don't need heat. Just because you're cold, it doesn't mean the chickens are.
They go to bed wearing warm down winter coats, not pajamas.
Chickens were developed from red jungle fowl that evolved to withstand a wide variety of climates all the way up into the Himalayan foothills.
Most of the breeds we keep today were developed in cold climates and 200 to 1000 years ago, they didn't worry about heat in winter.
English class breeds come from the British Isles. It gets cold there in winter.
Continental breeds come from more northerly regions of Europe. It gets cold there.
American breeds come from places like New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey (JGs), Massachusetts (Plymouth Rocks), Ohio (Buckeyes), New York (Wyandotte), Canada (Chantecler), etc.. I don't see a warm climate in that list.

If not allowed to acclimate to the ambient temperature, it is more stressful for the birds. A chicken kept cozy at night will be stressed at dawn when it walks out into the coldest wind of the day.

Quote:

There are 22 birds in the coop. And we are going to put a doggy door at the back leading out to a 8 by 12 runner. Hopefully tonight.

I don't think the windows open from the top, but I will check when I get home on Thursday.

There is a vent right above the door on the outside.

So you all really think I won't need insolation? What if we just do the walls? I'd like to keep it warm enough in there that I can keep roosting as just bars in the coop all winter long. Is that logical?

I put a big pile of woodchips for bedding down and than put scratch grains in the chips for the chickens to dig thru and spread out. They were clucking happily when I left

I detected a problem with your building. The roosts.
They're not wide enough. A bird needs to be able to hunker down and cover its toes with feathers at night.
That round one definitely won't work and the 2X should be horizontal.
If you go into the building at night in winter and you see toes, the roosts aren't wide enough.

One should shoot for 1 sq. ft. of ventilation per bird.
The only reason we keep them in coops is for predator protection and to keep the rain off of them.

Ok so from reading the the conversation link you left me here is what I've gathered.
-The wind keep the wet away which keeps them warmer
-I need to make sure I have good ventilation that is high up
-Ventalationnin the eves is best
-A wet chicken is a cold chicken

Did I miss anything?

A wet chicken is definitely a cold chicken. They need fresh air more than they need even food and water.

Chickens can live in a tree. How does one keep a draft out of a tree?


Every building I build has bigger openings than the one before. My newest ones have huge windows on both east and west wall at roost height with the wind blowing right through. I've lost chickens to heat but never to cold.

Nothing involving the coop. It was a little brother playing with fire in the hay bales and it lit everything else around it on fire. The coop, barn, hay shed, work garage.

bummer

 

[farmgirllvo]

Can you all help me by posting pictures of the venting vs insolation in your coops?
What side should I keep open window and vent wise?

 

[aart]

Can you all help me by posting pictures of the venting vs insolation in your coops?
What side should I keep open window and vent wise?

I posted a couple links here https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1141666/ice-house-to-coop-help-w-ideas/10#post_17754484

 

[farmgirllvo]

We are going to add vents in the eves.

 

[farmgirllvo]

This vent is on both ends of the coop.

 

[farmgirllvo]

The windows only open from the bottom. I'm thinking I will keep the south side window open, but is it bad that they will have that wind blowing in on them when they are rosting?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The window doesn't need to be completely open and it should be the window located on the least windward side of building. Keep roosts away from that window. Or use a hole saw and pop some holes along the two eaves, cover with hardware cloth. Say 2- 2" or one 3 inch hole saw every bay, between wall studs. Being a tall walk in coop your inlet holes can be large as the roosts are far below them. The air will inlet along both eaves that way, circulate with warm moist air of coop and be pushed out of the gable vents. Keeps ventilation up above their heads and in this way if you witness undue moisture or frostbite then open the least windward window until the condition stops.

Cock birds will lose some of their point tips in far Northern unheated coops. This is normal and unavoidable when temperatures are -20 and -30 F. If more than the tip of tines blaken then it's moisture driven frost and requires more ventilation. If they are getting frost bit 10 F then it's moister and requires more ventilation. I've never had a hen get any frostbite. I've had poorer ventilation and cock birds loose all tines. That clearly is not enough ventilation.

I use hardware cloth on all openings. If I had opening windows I'd hardware cloth over any that were opened. If your not using a latched pop door to close every night then the hardware cloth is not needed. Predators will get in through the doggie door anyway.

 

[aart]

We are going to add vents in the eves.

What does the inside of the eave area look like?
I'd remove the entire eave board, if possible, and replace with hardware cloth.