What incubator? There are probably folks who would be interested in rehabbing it.
Before I rebuild, what would yall do differently?
- Thread starter z3lda3
- Start date
wrathsfarm
*this space for rent*
I overkill all my windows security. 1/2" HC and 2" x 4" fencing. Nothing gets in besides human and bear. If it's glass, I bug screen it in case of a break to keep glass contained to outside. 
- Thread starter
- #113
Ooo good idea! I’ve definitely got to keep and broken glass out of coop! Thanks for the tip!I overkill all my windows security. 1/2" HC and 2" x 4" fencing. Nothing gets in besides human and bear. If it's glass, I bug screen it in case of a break to keep glass contained to outside.
View attachment 3860259
wrathsfarm
*this space for rent*
The pic shown has all 3 but I currently cover it with plexiglass during storms and winter. Building a top hinged glass window is in the near future for it.
- Thread starter
- #115
Why do you want top hinged windows? On one side of my coop are top hinged windows, I was thinking of replacing those. Idk why..I just imagine a raccoon learning to open windows lol. Should I keep those then?
Because they deter any rain infiltration when open in the summer....
....if they open outwards.
- Thread starter
- #117
Omg what is wrong with me?!? This is common sense stuff! Maybe I need a cookie..
wrathsfarm
*this space for rent*
I would if they're in good shape. A standard hasp just to keep them from banging against coop in the wind is really all that's needed, or barrel bolt on each side.
I just prop mine open with a stick of lumber, then screw cleats down to close them up for winter.
I did have one fall and break, some broken glass landed on the poop board thru the HC. Replaced the double glazing with plexi.
SoCal Chicken Mama
Chirping
- Jul 3, 2024
- 66
- 90
- 58
Wow, that was quite a thread! I wanted to make sure I read the whole thing before making a reply...let me preface mine by saying I am a newbie and I live in Southern CA, if we want snow we drive up to it for the day (in the mountains) and then leave it here, but it does get very hot in the summers...hot in the daytime and cold (40-50 degrees in summer, down to 30 in winter) at night. I have 4 chicks (all we are allowed in the city). I grew up in LA, so farm life was something that we dreamed about and never experienced. My girls are six weeks old.
My understanding about why no insulation is that:
1. chickens have a high body temperature and know instinctively (or learn from other chickens) how to get warm (huddling together) and cool off (sitting separate from each other, digging a little nest in the sand or earth where it is cooler, drinking cold water). Sometimes I put a shallow pie tin of water in the run in a shaded place for them to dip their feet in, so they won't try to step in their drinking water, which they do.) But they seem to enjoy getting their feet wet when it is 90-100 degrees.
2. If you provide them with a perfect human environment, they won't learn these things and will become dependent on you to keep the environment perfect, i.e., they will be less "hardy". For example if you provide heat at night or in the winter with lamps or a brooder plate and you have a power outage, they could go into shock because they don't know the chicken-y ways of keeping warm.
3. Once mine got overheated because I put them in a movable run on the grass while I fixed something in the coop. It had shade cloth and leaves on top, but it was not as shady as their coop with the run underneath the little house where they sleep. They are in deep shade all day in there. I bring them ice water in the mid day when it is really hot. Sometimes I mix a little gatorade in the water to help keep them hydrated, but they will only drink it if it is the clear kind. They won't even drink it if it is the homemade kind, which is made with molasses or brown sugar, because it is brown. But I have given it to one of them who was hurt by the dropperful, and it seemed to help her recover. And I mixed it (the homemade electrolyte solution) with warm water and their crumbles as a mash, and she loved that.
5. Once I put them in a dog crate and rushed them into the air conditioned house, because they were all panting, and I thought they needed to cool down quickly, but I was reading something and it said not to do that, for reason #2, above. So I brought them back outside after about 20 minutes, gave them cold water, and they immediately started digging little separate holes in the shaded area to nest in.
6. My girls (which I bought at 3 days old) all got their wing feathers at 1 week old and flew out of the brooder. They were in a bathtub that I couldn't put a lid on, and they were moments away from being loose in the house. I already had the coop set up outside, so I made sure the predator proofing was done and started putting them out there during the day and bringing them in at night. That got old quickly, so I got someone to figure out how to get an electric cord in there, and I put the brooder plate in the coop, so they could sleep out there. I hate to admit it, but the first night I tried staying out there with them, but the bug noises kept me awake, so I gave up after a couple hours. They've been fine out there, and they very quickly let me know they did not want to sleep under the brooder. At this point they were not even feathered out. I tried moving it to the side, where the nest boxes are, and sure enough, there was no poop under the brooder plate, at it's highest (cooler) setting. I waited until at least their heads were feathered out (about 5 weeks old), and then took the brooder out. They've been perfectly content out there ever since. For several weeks they made me catch them at bedtime and put them into the little house. They were ready to bed down in the sand underneath. But I didn't want them to sleep where predators could see them, so I closed them up in the little house at night. I'm proud to report that for the past 4 days they have marched up the ramp by themselves and put themselves to bed. I peek in on them with a flashlight when I go out to close the door, and they are all huddled together on the floor. They don't know what a roost is for yet.
So I hope that gives you some insight about why people think insulation in the coop is bad. I can't speak to freezing weather, but others have already done that. I do tying you should look at a brooder/heater plate instead of lamps if you do decide you need winter warming areas. They are much safer. Mine converts to a heater, you can stand it up, so they can go next to it to get warm and walk away from it if they are too hot.
Good luck!
My understanding about why no insulation is that:
1. chickens have a high body temperature and know instinctively (or learn from other chickens) how to get warm (huddling together) and cool off (sitting separate from each other, digging a little nest in the sand or earth where it is cooler, drinking cold water). Sometimes I put a shallow pie tin of water in the run in a shaded place for them to dip their feet in, so they won't try to step in their drinking water, which they do.) But they seem to enjoy getting their feet wet when it is 90-100 degrees.
2. If you provide them with a perfect human environment, they won't learn these things and will become dependent on you to keep the environment perfect, i.e., they will be less "hardy". For example if you provide heat at night or in the winter with lamps or a brooder plate and you have a power outage, they could go into shock because they don't know the chicken-y ways of keeping warm.
3. Once mine got overheated because I put them in a movable run on the grass while I fixed something in the coop. It had shade cloth and leaves on top, but it was not as shady as their coop with the run underneath the little house where they sleep. They are in deep shade all day in there. I bring them ice water in the mid day when it is really hot. Sometimes I mix a little gatorade in the water to help keep them hydrated, but they will only drink it if it is the clear kind. They won't even drink it if it is the homemade kind, which is made with molasses or brown sugar, because it is brown. But I have given it to one of them who was hurt by the dropperful, and it seemed to help her recover. And I mixed it (the homemade electrolyte solution) with warm water and their crumbles as a mash, and she loved that.
5. Once I put them in a dog crate and rushed them into the air conditioned house, because they were all panting, and I thought they needed to cool down quickly, but I was reading something and it said not to do that, for reason #2, above. So I brought them back outside after about 20 minutes, gave them cold water, and they immediately started digging little separate holes in the shaded area to nest in.
6. My girls (which I bought at 3 days old) all got their wing feathers at 1 week old and flew out of the brooder. They were in a bathtub that I couldn't put a lid on, and they were moments away from being loose in the house. I already had the coop set up outside, so I made sure the predator proofing was done and started putting them out there during the day and bringing them in at night. That got old quickly, so I got someone to figure out how to get an electric cord in there, and I put the brooder plate in the coop, so they could sleep out there. I hate to admit it, but the first night I tried staying out there with them, but the bug noises kept me awake, so I gave up after a couple hours. They've been fine out there, and they very quickly let me know they did not want to sleep under the brooder. At this point they were not even feathered out. I tried moving it to the side, where the nest boxes are, and sure enough, there was no poop under the brooder plate, at it's highest (cooler) setting. I waited until at least their heads were feathered out (about 5 weeks old), and then took the brooder out. They've been perfectly content out there ever since. For several weeks they made me catch them at bedtime and put them into the little house. They were ready to bed down in the sand underneath. But I didn't want them to sleep where predators could see them, so I closed them up in the little house at night. I'm proud to report that for the past 4 days they have marched up the ramp by themselves and put themselves to bed. I peek in on them with a flashlight when I go out to close the door, and they are all huddled together on the floor. They don't know what a roost is for yet.
So I hope that gives you some insight about why people think insulation in the coop is bad. I can't speak to freezing weather, but others have already done that. I do tying you should look at a brooder/heater plate instead of lamps if you do decide you need winter warming areas. They are much safer. Mine converts to a heater, you can stand it up, so they can go next to it to get warm and walk away from it if they are too hot.
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