Against the odds hatching thread (with pictures and questions)

[K0k0shka]

It’s hot. I thought my two big windows and the giant wraparound vents would be enough, but they’re not. The coop retains heat and stays hot long after the outdoor temperature has dropped at night (which I know thanks to my remote thermometer). So I made some upgrades. I built a screen door covered with 1/2” HC (sandwiched between the frame and strips of wood) to use instead of the human door in the summer, to get more air in there. The solid door is now propped open. The screen door has a sturdy frame and locks in two places - at the top and bottom- with carabiner clips, in addition to a hook-and-eye latch by the handle. I’m hoping it’s secure enough. I read a tip somewhere about covering the bottom up so the chickens don’t get spooked by lurking predators, so I did that. The covered section still has HC across it, too, because I don’t trust the thin plywood I had on hand to use there.

In addition to the screen door, I also added two fans, both on the east side of the coop, hooked to a timer and set to blow from 3pm to midnight. One fan is right by one of the open windows, blowing at the roosts, and the other one is up by the east vent, blowing across the coop at the vent on the opposite side, hopefully blowing cooler air from outside as well as moving the rising hot air out the other vent.

The temperature did seem to drop faster in there tonight, so hopefully my improvements are helping!

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

It’s hot. I thought my two big windows and the giant wraparound vents would be enough, but they’re not. The coop retains heat and stays hot long after the outdoor temperature has dropped at night (which I know thanks to my remote thermometer). So I made some upgrades. I built a screen door covered with 1/2” HC (sandwiched between the frame and strips of wood) to use instead of the human door in the summer, to get more air in there. The solid door is now propped open. The screen door has a sturdy frame and locks in two places - at the top and bottom- with carabiner clips, in addition to a hook-and-eye latch by the handle. I’m hoping it’s secure enough. I read a tip somewhere about covering the bottom up so the chickens don’t get spooked by lurking predators, so I did that. The covered section still has HC across it, too, because I don’t trust the thin plywood I had on hand to use there.

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In addition to the screen door, I also added two fans, both on the east side of the coop, hooked to a timer and set to blow from 3pm to midnight. One fan is right by one of the open windows, blowing at the roosts, and the other one is up by the east vent, blowing across the coop at the vent on the opposite side, hopefully blowing cooler air from outside as well as moving the rising hot air out the other vent.

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The temperature did seem to drop faster in there tonight, so hopefully my improvements are helping!

That looks much more comfortable for them. Any more crowing?

 

[K0k0shka]

That looks much more comfortable for them. Any more crowing?

No more crowing for the moment. Just holding my breath for when the kids’ favorite decides to announce his manhood

 

[K0k0shka]

Just swinging by to say how happy I am with my coop and run bedding choices! (pine shavings with no poop board for the coop, and yard waste for the run). It's been about 3 months now (whoa!) with 9-11 butts pooping there (11 at first, down to 9 now), and neither coop nor run smell! And the best part - I haven't done any cleaning!

I decided to try no poop board for the coop, because I didn't want to do daily poop scooping/raking. No problems so far! No poop build up and no smell. I toss some PDZ in there every once in a while, and the chickens stir it up well enough, looking for spilled feed. I might toss some fresh shavings on top at some point, and then I'm thinking of scooping everything out at the end of the growing season and burying it in the garden for next spring. Would that be enough to break it down enough for the plants? They probably won't go in the garden until late May (the ones I start from seed, at least... As for the others, I can dig some out for them in May as well).

The run got covered with several bags of dry leaves I'd saved up from last fall, a large pile of raked up dead grass from the lawn's spring cleaning, and the grass clippings from every mowing so far this summer. I even made a deal with our awesome neighbors across the street, to take their grass clippings when they mow their lawn, too, so I have lots of free bedding now (both the neighbors and we mow our lawns frequently and use mulch mowers, so the clippings are short and safe for the chickens to eat - they love them!) Every morning before I let the chickens out, I toss some scratch in the run, and that keeps them occupied for quite a while churning everything up. I don't do any clean up, there are no obvious bombs on the ground, and there's no smell.

This setup is so easy and I LOVE it!

 

[aart]

Would that be enough to break it down enough for the plants?

Perfect for the poops to mellow, not sure shavings will break down tho.
Mixing un-decomposed wood into your soil can be a 'nitrogen stealer'.

 

[K0k0shka]

Perfect for the poops to mellow, not sure shavings will break down tho.
Mixing un-decomposed wood into your soil can be a 'nitrogen stealer'.

Hmmm... In your magic notepad of useful posts & links, do you have anything good on cold composting chicken poop? I've been digging on BYC but not finding a lot of useful information... Lots of others asking similar questions and lots of hot compost talk, but I want to do it cold. I've been burying plant matter in the garden in the fall (mulched leaves, grass clippings, etc.) for a few years with good results. It looks mostly broken down by spring, and my vegetables really like it, but I haven't tried doing that with poop before.

 

[aart]

cold composting chicken poop

It's basically what I do in my run....but not for garden soil, just to break it down to eliminate odor and reduce flies.
For garden fertilizer, best bet would be to spread the poop on the garden in late fall and let it sit over the winter.

 

[K0k0shka]

It's basically what I do in my run....but not for garden soil, just to break it down to eliminate odor and reduce flies.
For garden fertilizer, best bet would be to spread the poop on the garden in late fall and let it sit over the winter.

That’s what I’m planning to do, thanks.

 

[K0k0shka]

My two SL Orps - Zeiko and Sharada - are my sweetest, cuddliest chickens ever since they hatched. In the brooder, they loved sitting on my hands when I reached in. Even without a lot of "work" on my part socializing, they've always sought my attention and, most notably, physical contact. All my Orps are super friendly with people (and me in particular), but these guys enjoy touch and cuddles the most, and I mean actually enjoy it and ask for it, as opposed to simply tolerating it. They are my ultimate lap chickens! Especially Zeiko. He's a giant but the sweetest and most loving of all of them. I'll miss him so much!

Zeiko:

Sharada:

 

[RainbowHen]

I just sat and read through this whole thread. I love it you are wonderful