Afraid they won't use the coop now! HELP! Imput needed!!

[gritsar]

My coop has large windows and it's in the shade all day long due to some very large trees.
Nonetheless, we are getting to that part of summer when you can't buy a breeze. My girls look so miserable sitting on the nest in this heat.
I just installed a small double fan in the window closest to the nest boxes. Now I'm afraid that the girls won't use the nest boxes because they are afraid of the fan.
The fan is quiet, but they aren't used to one being in their coop. They had a fan last summer, but that was while they were still living on the screened porch and let's face it, chickens are chicken of new things.
The only hen that's in the coop is Lilith. She walked in, gave the fan a serious stinkeye and then opted to use the only nest that's seperate from the others; away from the fan.
Should I have waited until tonight after dark to install it? That way they'd wake up and it would just be there?
Despite the fact that I have 14 dozen egg orders waiting, I wish my girls would go ahead into their moult and stop the egg laying for awhile.
Help!!

 

[LynneP]

Do you need to improve overall ventilation? Do windows open, perhaps with protecting screening such as hardware cloth? My birds would not accept a fan...and it's a hazard because it can't be supervised 24/7...

 

[ivan3]

We just use cheap box fans tied to the run fencing and aimed at the open doors of the turkey and chicken shed/coop. This provides a bit of breeze in the runs and moves the air through the buildings and out the open windows.

Windows are open all night (double layer hardware cloth attached with 1.75" wood screws/washers (too many preds).

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
The window on the front (south) of the coop is approx. 5 ft. wide by 4 ft. high. The north window is 8 ft. wide by 4 ft. high. Both are covered in hardware cloth with shutters that can be closed in bad weather. My husband basically designed the exterior of coop the way the commercial broiler houses are built.
It's just without a breeze blowing and the heat index at 105, it's miserable everywhere. The girls are only in the coop during the day long enough to lay their eggs, then they head for the shade of the woods.

 

[gritsar]

Any other thoughts? (Yes, this is me shamelessly bumping my own thread

)

 

[Puck-Puck]

I am very new to chickens, but I have noticed that my girls get used to all kinds of things over time. Dogs barking, doors banging, big scary new coop, me hammering on coop...since you only posted today, why not give them a couple of days to get used to it, and see if the problem doesn't solve itself?

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
My chooks are generally pretty laid back about everything. We literally built the coop around them. However the older they get the less they like change. If they stop laying eggs in the coop today I can only imagine what kind of easter egg hunts I'll be doing in a few days.

 

[westexcruzer]

Mine are staying out of the hot coop as much as possible this summer. I had someone give me a store bought nest box that I hung on the back of the garage in their outside run. They are happy to be laying in it but it will probably be the dickens to get them to lay in the coop again. Jake

 

[annek]

Mine aren't to laying age yet, but I have 2 fans in their coop and it never bothered them. I think they appreciate the fact that they have a breeze it is so miserable here in SC during the summer.

 

[westexcruzer]

I had a box fan in my coop and they weren't bothered by it at all. As a matter of fact they would take turns standing in front of it! Jake