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- #71
Winterizing. Vents. Insulation. Coop floor materials.
I have read hours of opinions on each of my headers.
My advice is to read all of it and then find what works for you and your hens.
2 years later you’ll realize what you should have done different and then try to convince your other half to rip it down and build you another new and improved coop!!! Yeah, I haven’t had any luck with that either….
My coop is 12x8ish and 6 to 8ish feet tall as the roof slants and my husband can’t build anything that won’t with stand a tornado or is straight. (My broody pen for in the garage weighs 50 lbs and is only 4x4x2ish). It is fully insulated and finished on the inside. I currently house 12 beauties! I use straw and shavings on the floor for winter, maybe a foot deep, and a little shavings for the rest of the year. I clean the poop boards EVERY day and put a little DE on the boards once a week to help dry out some of the messier spots. My girls are only in the coop to sleep so the floor materials are very clean and getting hauled out every 2 months max during colder weather and weekly in the summer! I may have some OCD….
I laughed at the concept that mites might inhabit the straw hollows as they much prefer under the roosts and on the birds. There are much scarier things in hay and straw bales…. But still I can’t buy straw without wondering and giggling. But again this goes with how often you clean your coop. I recently over hauled a friend’s coop. Dry. Wonderful. But hardly ever cleaned, few shavings. I’m saying they have 6 chickens and 40 wild birds living in there! He doesn’t close up the door at night. Yes the mites were there in every crack and crevice! Cleanliness is next to mitelessness…..?
They talk about “deep litter” and I’m going on the assumption they are housing a lot more birds and making them stay inside all the time. Yes then you will need a LOT of vents! My birds are able to go outside despite the weather as I planned the green house next to the coop, or rather the other way around, cut a chickie door into it and they have a safe haven if they want in the bad weather. Otherwise please set up a short patio umbrella or a patio table or a tarp for outside adventures! My green house is closed off to them during planting season but they also have the above mentioned amenities.
My coop is fully insulated. Even though you may think, “she lives on the south coast of BC, how cold could it be?” The cold here is fog and dampness for months, if not snow and rain rain rain!! Starting in August the fog rolls in and doesn’t leave until April. I live on a little inland at sea level living in the middle of the Fraser River. The cold here isn’t -10 usually but the dampness goes straight thru your bones. If I feel it thru 5 layers of clothing, my ladies must too. And I can see it in them! Watch your birds and you will see their needs.
Now they talk about venting… From what I have read I need to keep basically one entire wall bare to the elements! I have no wind break as in trees. Yet they say to keep drafts away? I’m confused. My coop is not completely air tight as my DH is not that committed but there is a window and 3 chickie doors that I open and close as needed. Please keep in mind I work full time and I hatch chicks under broodies all at the same time as this weather goes on. A hen will dry out faster if they are in a warm, clean, dry coop. If I put my OEG bantam roo in a coop with one wall open to these elements, he wouldn’t make it a night.
They say “DRY” “NO MOISTURE” “IF YOU HAVE MOISTURE BUILD UP IN YOUR COOP YOUR HENS WILL DIE” Hens breathe and poop moisture, the fog in the night and the rain of the day or the wet hen, all bring in moisture!
So my dilemma in the winter how much do I really need to vent if my coop is kept immaculate, my hens are dry and bug free and I don’t over stuff my coop with hens 24/7. I think I have my answer. And it even allows a heat lamp on those really cold nights.
I find a lot of confusing topics about chickens but I guess you have to decide if they are talking about YOUR situation or something completely different.
If you lived in Alaska and had 3 hens in a 4x4 box with a 10x10 run attached, would you want any vents in the cold of winter? Not if the door is open all day. If you had the same setup in Mexico in summer you might want the door open all day and a wall open to the elements!
If you have 1 hen would you ever need to do deep litter? Only if you were really lazy and didn’t clean the coop in which case you may need vents so your bird doesn’t die of the stench not to mention parasites during the 6 years it took you to build up that litter!
I think hay verses shavings as hay is softer then straw for their little baby chick legs, better to nest in… and the babies shouldn’t be on shavings because they might eat it and die, and then my broody ate a long piece of hay and got an impacted crop….
I’m back to straw for warmth and shavings for drying out what does make it to the floor including the mud from my boots! Oh Gawd. Another moisture factor!!!! The best I have found for chicks is paper towel. Might be expensive but they don’t try to eat it. But then again that is only if I am raising the chicks and not the broody!
See what I mean? It can be very confusing. Read. Learn. Talk to others who’ll confuse you further and then set your own mind and coop up!
Good Luck!!!!
I have read hours of opinions on each of my headers.
My coop is 12x8ish and 6 to 8ish feet tall as the roof slants and my husband can’t build anything that won’t with stand a tornado or is straight. (My broody pen for in the garage weighs 50 lbs and is only 4x4x2ish). It is fully insulated and finished on the inside. I currently house 12 beauties! I use straw and shavings on the floor for winter, maybe a foot deep, and a little shavings for the rest of the year. I clean the poop boards EVERY day and put a little DE on the boards once a week to help dry out some of the messier spots. My girls are only in the coop to sleep so the floor materials are very clean and getting hauled out every 2 months max during colder weather and weekly in the summer! I may have some OCD….
I laughed at the concept that mites might inhabit the straw hollows as they much prefer under the roosts and on the birds. There are much scarier things in hay and straw bales…. But still I can’t buy straw without wondering and giggling. But again this goes with how often you clean your coop. I recently over hauled a friend’s coop. Dry. Wonderful. But hardly ever cleaned, few shavings. I’m saying they have 6 chickens and 40 wild birds living in there! He doesn’t close up the door at night. Yes the mites were there in every crack and crevice! Cleanliness is next to mitelessness…..?
They talk about “deep litter” and I’m going on the assumption they are housing a lot more birds and making them stay inside all the time. Yes then you will need a LOT of vents! My birds are able to go outside despite the weather as I planned the green house next to the coop, or rather the other way around, cut a chickie door into it and they have a safe haven if they want in the bad weather. Otherwise please set up a short patio umbrella or a patio table or a tarp for outside adventures! My green house is closed off to them during planting season but they also have the above mentioned amenities.
My coop is fully insulated. Even though you may think, “she lives on the south coast of BC, how cold could it be?” The cold here is fog and dampness for months, if not snow and rain rain rain!! Starting in August the fog rolls in and doesn’t leave until April. I live on a little inland at sea level living in the middle of the Fraser River. The cold here isn’t -10 usually but the dampness goes straight thru your bones. If I feel it thru 5 layers of clothing, my ladies must too. And I can see it in them! Watch your birds and you will see their needs.
Now they talk about venting… From what I have read I need to keep basically one entire wall bare to the elements! I have no wind break as in trees. Yet they say to keep drafts away? I’m confused. My coop is not completely air tight as my DH is not that committed but there is a window and 3 chickie doors that I open and close as needed. Please keep in mind I work full time and I hatch chicks under broodies all at the same time as this weather goes on. A hen will dry out faster if they are in a warm, clean, dry coop. If I put my OEG bantam roo in a coop with one wall open to these elements, he wouldn’t make it a night.
They say “DRY” “NO MOISTURE” “IF YOU HAVE MOISTURE BUILD UP IN YOUR COOP YOUR HENS WILL DIE” Hens breathe and poop moisture, the fog in the night and the rain of the day or the wet hen, all bring in moisture!
So my dilemma in the winter how much do I really need to vent if my coop is kept immaculate, my hens are dry and bug free and I don’t over stuff my coop with hens 24/7. I think I have my answer. And it even allows a heat lamp on those really cold nights.
I find a lot of confusing topics about chickens but I guess you have to decide if they are talking about YOUR situation or something completely different.
If you lived in Alaska and had 3 hens in a 4x4 box with a 10x10 run attached, would you want any vents in the cold of winter? Not if the door is open all day. If you had the same setup in Mexico in summer you might want the door open all day and a wall open to the elements!
If you have 1 hen would you ever need to do deep litter? Only if you were really lazy and didn’t clean the coop in which case you may need vents so your bird doesn’t die of the stench not to mention parasites during the 6 years it took you to build up that litter!
I think hay verses shavings as hay is softer then straw for their little baby chick legs, better to nest in… and the babies shouldn’t be on shavings because they might eat it and die, and then my broody ate a long piece of hay and got an impacted crop….
See what I mean? It can be very confusing. Read. Learn. Talk to others who’ll confuse you further and then set your own mind and coop up!
Good Luck!!!!
My advice is to read all of it and then find what works for you and your hens.
2 years later you’ll realize what you should have done different and then try to convince your other half to rip it down and build you another new and improved coop!!! Yeah, I haven’t had any luck with that either….
My coop is 12x8ish and 6 to 8ish feet tall as the roof slants and my husband can’t build anything that won’t with stand a tornado or is straight. (My broody pen for in the garage weighs 50 lbs and is only 4x4x2ish). It is fully insulated and finished on the inside. I currently house 12 beauties! I use straw and shavings on the floor for winter, maybe a foot deep, and a little shavings for the rest of the year. I clean the poop boards EVERY day and put a little DE on the boards once a week to help dry out some of the messier spots. My girls are only in the coop to sleep so the floor materials are very clean and getting hauled out every 2 months max during colder weather and weekly in the summer! I may have some OCD….
I laughed at the concept that mites might inhabit the straw hollows as they much prefer under the roosts and on the birds. There are much scarier things in hay and straw bales…. But still I can’t buy straw without wondering and giggling. But again this goes with how often you clean your coop. I recently over hauled a friend’s coop. Dry. Wonderful. But hardly ever cleaned, few shavings. I’m saying they have 6 chickens and 40 wild birds living in there! He doesn’t close up the door at night. Yes the mites were there in every crack and crevice! Cleanliness is next to mitelessness…..?
They talk about “deep litter” and I’m going on the assumption they are housing a lot more birds and making them stay inside all the time. Yes then you will need a LOT of vents! My birds are able to go outside despite the weather as I planned the green house next to the coop, or rather the other way around, cut a chickie door into it and they have a safe haven if they want in the bad weather. Otherwise please set up a short patio umbrella or a patio table or a tarp for outside adventures! My green house is closed off to them during planting season but they also have the above mentioned amenities.
My coop is fully insulated. Even though you may think, “she lives on the south coast of BC, how cold could it be?” The cold here is fog and dampness for months, if not snow and rain rain rain!! Starting in August the fog rolls in and doesn’t leave until April. I live on a little inland at sea level living in the middle of the Fraser River. The cold here isn’t -10 usually but the dampness goes straight thru your bones. If I feel it thru 5 layers of clothing, my ladies must too. And I can see it in them! Watch your birds and you will see their needs.:cd Now they talk about venting… From what I have read I need to keep basically one entire wall bare to the elements! I have no wind break as in trees. Yet they say to keep drafts away? I’m confused. My coop is not completely air tight as my DH is not that committed but there is a window and 3 chickie doors that I open and close as needed. Please keep in mind I work full time and I hatch chicks under broodies all at the same time as this weather goes on. A hen will dry out faster if they are in a warm, clean, dry coop. If I put my OEG bantam roo in a coop with one wall open to these elements, he wouldn’t make it a night.
They say “DRY” “NO MOISTURE” “IF YOU HAVE MOISTURE BUILD UP IN YOUR COOP YOUR HENS WILL DIE” Hens breathe and poop moisture, the fog in the night and the rain of the day or the wet hen, all bring in moisture! So my dilemma in the winter how much do I really need to vent if my coop is kept immaculate, my hens are dry and bug free and I don’t over stuff my coop with hens 24/7. I think I have my answer. And it even allows a heat lamp on those really cold nights.
I find a lot of confusing topics about chickens but I guess you have to decide if they are talking about YOUR situation or something completely different.
If you lived in Alaska and had 3 hens in a 4x4 box with a 10x10 run attached, would you want any vents in the cold of winter? Not if the door is open all day. If you had the same setup in Mexico in summer you might want the door open all day and a wall open to the elements! If you have 1 hen would you ever need to do deep litter? Only if you were really lazy and didn’t clean the coop in which case you may need vents so your bird doesn’t die of the stench not to mention parasites during the 6 years it took you to build up that litter! I think hay verses shavings as hay is softer then straw for their little baby chick legs, better to nest in… and the babies shouldn’t be on shavings because they might eat it and die, and then my broody ate a long piece of hay and got an impacted crop….
I’m back to straw for warmth and shavings for drying out what does make it to the floor including the mud from my boots! Oh Gawd. Another moisture factor!!!! The best I have found for chicks is paper towel. Might be expensive but they don’t try to eat it. But then again that is only if I am raising the chicks and not the broody! See what I mean? It can be very confusing. Read. Learn. Talk to others who’ll confuse you further and then set your own mind and coop up!
Good Luck!!!! 
