16 day old babies

[sjmarshall87]

My husband and I have taken on the adventerous task of raising baby chicks with our 2 year old. The chicks are about 16 days now. We are working on the construction of their future home. Our property has a metal storage shed with sliding doors that we want to convert into a coop. With it being metal it obviously doesnt have any insulation. Living in "the Sandhills" North Carolina should I make adjustments to this builing? My husbands only plans were to add a window opposite the doors for a cross breeze, build nesting/roosting stations, and fence in a large area around the building. Should we be doing more to protect the birds from the heat and cold?

 

[maclady]

I am new to chickens also. Mine are 10 wks today. Is there any shade trees near this building or is it in direct sunlight? A metal building is going cook during our summers. Ventilation is going to be an issue in direct sunlight. I do not remember the member name but someone on here has a huge page on ventilation and it is a good one. Try a search to find it. I am sure others will also answer your question. Good Luck with your chickens.

 

[maclady]

Ok I did the search for the ventilation page. It is from patandchickens. I don't know how to link you to the page though. If you find patandchickens go to their BYC page and you can get to the ventilation section there. Hope this helps somewhat.

 

[sjmarshall87]

this building stands next to a tree line. Its on the corner of the property so 1 side and the back have trees. I'll have to watch the next couple days to see the amount of sun it catches. Do you think adding a few fans to the mix would help circulate the air enough to make it work? I mean its a rental property until building our home is complete so they will only be there as long as it takes to build our property

 

[AlienChick]

Also do a search on using the metal sheds.

I know they can become ovens very quickly in the summer.

 

[Sorin]

I'm sure a fan would help, I would just stand inside it for a minute when the sun is on it and see how warm it gets and judge from there. You will definitely need at the least a couple of small windows though for some sort of ventilation. Will they be free ranging or in a pen during the day? That will make a difference if they will only be in after dark. Maybe you could take the metal doors off and make a temporary screen like door for ventilation. If you did this you will want hardware cloth on it though to protect from predators. Hope this helps!

 

[sjmarshall87]

I would love to be able to free range them but I have a dog that would love to make them fast food

So until I can trust the dog to leave them be they will be "jailed" behind fencing. He's been eyeing them since they came home. No the area around the "coop" will be fenced off. I figure during the day we can keep the doors open to allow them option of in or out.