- Jan 12, 2015
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Hi there,
We are designing a 12x20 ft insulated, wood construction coop with an insulated tin roof that will accommodate chickens and turkeys. We will frame chicken wire walls inside to keep turkeys, chickens, and brooding hens separated. We'll be using screen doors to allow human access between sections. There will be a poultry door for each internal section to allow them out to separated runs.
We're reading that turkeys need much more ventilation than chickens do, and we have very cold winters (-20 C / -4 F is common, -40 C/F is possible).
We're planning a two foot tall ventilation strip (open to outdoors with hardware cloth to keep out weasels) along the top of wall to accommodate the turkeys, but it will run the entire length of the coop on the taller wall (8.5 ft), so through the chicken sections as well.
My instincts tell me that will be too cold for the chickens mid-winter, and that we should create a way to close this up partially for the chicken sections. However, I'm wondering if anyone with experience keeping both turkeys and chickens can tell me if that's necessary.
Also, will closing that up for the chicken area make it too humid for the turkeys since they're just separated by chicken wire inside the coop? Or would it be too cold for the chickens having the turkey section's ventilation strip open? I'm trying to figure out if we need more than just chicken wire to separate the two in the winter, maybe a plywood wall.
Thanks for any and all advice!
We are designing a 12x20 ft insulated, wood construction coop with an insulated tin roof that will accommodate chickens and turkeys. We will frame chicken wire walls inside to keep turkeys, chickens, and brooding hens separated. We'll be using screen doors to allow human access between sections. There will be a poultry door for each internal section to allow them out to separated runs.
We're reading that turkeys need much more ventilation than chickens do, and we have very cold winters (-20 C / -4 F is common, -40 C/F is possible).
We're planning a two foot tall ventilation strip (open to outdoors with hardware cloth to keep out weasels) along the top of wall to accommodate the turkeys, but it will run the entire length of the coop on the taller wall (8.5 ft), so through the chicken sections as well.
My instincts tell me that will be too cold for the chickens mid-winter, and that we should create a way to close this up partially for the chicken sections. However, I'm wondering if anyone with experience keeping both turkeys and chickens can tell me if that's necessary.
Also, will closing that up for the chicken area make it too humid for the turkeys since they're just separated by chicken wire inside the coop? Or would it be too cold for the chickens having the turkey section's ventilation strip open? I'm trying to figure out if we need more than just chicken wire to separate the two in the winter, maybe a plywood wall.
Thanks for any and all advice!