I added a water seal to just the outside of the coop but it had about a week to cure. The inside is just normal pine. Nothing is treated, coated, painted, stained, etc. However, the floor is a plastic fiberglass, that is intended to make cleanout easier. I am definitely going to add more...
The coop is pine and the shavings were pine. However, after speaking to a few people, the pine shavings were on the small side. I also believe the coop had poor ventilation and they inhaled the dust from the fine flakes.
correct. The bedding was fresh out of the bag and very dry. Food was fresh out of a sealed bucket. As far as I could tell, everything seemed fine from a mold/wetness standpoint
We were using pine shavings, but I believe the bag said it was specifically for horse bedding...so perhaps the flakes were entirely too fine.
The coop has ventilated windows but I may cut holes into the sides and add a few solar powered fans.
Thanks for these questions, because I did not consider them! I am actually unaware of the temperature but it was a 75 degree day and they were in the coop for a short amount of time. They are still eating the Purina crumbles that were recommended to us. As far as the heat lamp, I will look...
My wife and I are new to raising chicks and just dealt with an emergency where we lost most of our flock. We originally purchased 14 chicks and kept them inside until they had most of their feathers. We moved them out to the coop this past weekend, where they were more fascinated with the pine...