Before I rebuild, what would yall do differently?

[z3lda3]

Someone on this forum made little hats for the chickens with large combs. Sewed, I think, not knit or crocheted. Too cute.

Prevention being the key, next time get birds with small combs and wattles. I now have a big Brahma and his comb and wattles are fine after our recent winter, even mostly living outside. I'll never get another large comb bird unless he is planned as dinner.

I hoping my birds will do ok. In the south our winters are MOSTLY mild-ish. This is my first year owning chickens, and I never considered comb size, I didn’t know to actually. I was mostly researching docile chickens, or friendly breeds. I’ve learned SO much in the short time I’ve had them!

 

[aart]

Someone on this forum made little hats for the chickens with large combs. Sewed, I think, not knit or crocheted. Too cute.

Yes, but they had to glue them onto the birds.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Yes, but they had to glue them onto the birds.

Makes dubbing seem more logical, besides not getting big comb breeds.

 

[SourRoses]

The member who wrote this article lives in NC.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

In a hot climate, insulation can be helpful under the roof, depending on the design and materials of the roof, to resist the suns rays.

Insulating walls doesn't make much sense to me, because if there's enough ventilation to prevent a humid coop, the internal temperature should be about the same as external.
This can be different in a climate where hot days still have cold nights, where you may still be able to trap coolness from the ground and the building materials.
In a southern state, you won't be getting those cold nights, and more than anything the birds need more ventilation, even an open-air coop design or modification like taking off a wall and replacing with hardware cloth on a shady or well over-hanged side.
There's a problem when it comes to the way people are taught by movies and each other regarding chicken coops... the idea is that it's a box with a roof. That works ok up north... but those of us in the south run into a lot of problems, eventually you realize you're just cutting more holes in the box... so I'd like to push for the idea to be more like a tree. Shaded and covered but open and airy. Only with hardware cloth to protect them. A tree made of metal. Okay, I'll shush now.

 

[aart]

In a hot climate, insulation can be helpful under the roof, depending on the design and materials of the roof, to resist the suns rays.

Absolutely!

so I'd like to push for the idea to be more like a tree. Shaded and covered but open and airy. Only with hardware cloth to protect them.

Well, it is often recommended to use an open air coop(large roof with mostly mesh walls) for hot climates.

 

[SourRoses]

Well, it is often recommended to use an open air coop(large roof with mostly mesh walls) for hot climates.

Agreed! Here on BYC people do share that advice. But in the larger world, too many people don't know the concept should be different in different climates. In my local FB groups, there are people offering custom coop building services or pre-built and none of them have ventilation adequate for even a cold climate. Any coops you happen across real estate shopping / etc. are all hot boxes. And I can't count the number of locals who've told me they tried keeping chickens but they couldn't get them back in the coop at night in the summer and they all got eaten.

 

[z3lda3]

The member who wrote this article lives in NC.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

In a hot climate, insulation can be helpful under the roof, depending on the design and materials of the roof, to resist the suns rays.

Insulating walls doesn't make much sense to me, because if there's enough ventilation to prevent a humid coop, the internal temperature should be about the same as external.
This can be different in a climate where hot days still have cold nights, where you may still be able to trap coolness from the ground and the building materials.
In a southern state, you won't be getting those cold nights, and more than anything the birds need more ventilation, even an open-air coop design or modification like taking off a wall and replacing with hardware cloth on a shady or well over-hanged side.
There's a problem when it comes to the way people are taught by movies and each other regarding chicken coops... the idea is that it's a box with a roof. That works ok up north... but those of us in the south run into a lot of problems, eventually you realize you're just cutting more holes in the box... so I'd like to push for the idea to be more like a tree. Shaded and covered but open and airy. Only with hardware cloth to protect them. A tree made of metal. Okay, I'll shush now.

I was having terrible issues with keeping the girls cool. It’s HOT in the south, it’s technically not summer yet and today’s average is 96 degrees. I finally moved them to the “big” coop, and it’s covered by trees. It’s a 15-20 degree difference! It’s awesome. I have no plans to add more holes with the exception of moving/adding vents toward the top. Maybe I should add insulation to the roof? Man I gotta tell you, I HATE doing overhead work. I mean I will, but I’ll complain the entire time.

 

[z3lda3]

Makes dubbing seem more logical, besides not getting big comb breeds.

Ok yall are being silly! You crochet a little hat and tie a bow under their chins..jeez everybody knows that!
I seriously don’t think my chickens would like me tying anything under anywhere lol.

 

[z3lda3]

Agreed! Here on BYC people do share that advice. But in the larger world, too many people don't know the concept should be different in different climates. In my local FB groups, there are people offering custom coop building services or pre-built and none of them have ventilation adequate for even a cold climate. Any coops you happen across real estate shopping / etc. are all hot boxes. And I can't count the number of locals who've told me they tried keeping chickens but they couldn't get them back in the coop at night in the summer and they all got eaten.

the coop that I’m redoing, (it’s A huge B doesn’t look like the guy cheaped out on anything.) my older neighbor told me the guy had chickens for 20+ years until he got too old to care for them. And I mean this guy really kept the coop up, it had hardwood floors, and storm windows. Unfortunately it has just sat in the elements for years, so it does need a bit of work but not much actually. I’ve found old metal feeders, a feed bag from 1961, a huge incubator. No I won’t be using those obviously but still kinda cool.

 

[SourRoses]

I’ve found old metal feeders, a feed bag from 1961, a huge incubator. No I won’t be using those obviously but still kinda cool.

If there's nutrition information on the feed bag, I bet a lot of people would be interested to see a picture of the label!