Building my first coop

[aart]

Aart,
I was trying to help out a fellow Canadian who shares the same weather and rodent climate that I do . I don't have the energy to defend my every choice with you again . That's what I hate about these forums a select few think they are superior to the ones with " only pullets??"I didn't get my chickens last week you know., we don't even get a chance to help before you cut in... I'm done , it's not worth it.

Geez..... I was just curious what your experience was with supplemental lighting.

 

[WarrenV]

Well that sure escalated quickly. I was curious about the supplemental lighting as well but I do believe I'll have to find my answers somewhere else.

 

[aart]

Well that sure escalated quickly. I was curious about the supplemental lighting as well but I do believe I'll have to find my answers somewhere else.

Welcome to BYC @WarrenV .
Some folks are touchy.....
.....and supplemental lighting can be complicated and take time to succinctly document the details.

It's also quite controversial.

There are a ton of variables with supplemental lighting:
When you start it.... late summer, fall, early winter.
How you start/stop it....slowly ramping up/down or all at once.
The results can be difficult to gather and assess.

I've used it for 3 winters with varying results, it can be hard on them, they need to molt and restore body condition.

Lots of info on BYC for you to peruse:
advanced search>titles only>supplemental lighting

 

[WesleyBeal]

Greetings from the north;

This happens to be my first post and the first time I will build a coop.

Welcome! I'm not as experienced as others here - I've only got 1 winter under my belt so far.

I live in central Minnesota, and we also have cold winters - had a couple days of -25 F this last one.

For my coop, I've patched up an old existing coop on the property. It's falling apart, but was well designed for the climate.

It is double walled, but if there was any insulation in it it's long gone now.

My impressions on how the cold impacts my chickens so far (I have Buff Orpington, Plymouth Rock, and Wyandotte):

They don't seem to care about how cold it gets.
They do want protection from the wind.
They do want it to be dry.
Dry included humidity inside the coop.

So the challenge is how to protect them from wind, AND keep it ventilated inside the coop well enough.

I don't provide any supplemental heat to the coop. I do use an under-tank heater for the waterer, and started out leaving it on 24/7, but after I realized it was too damp in there, I stopped using it overnight and instead removed the waterer from the coop each night.

Having a way to keep the waterer outside the main coop altogether and keep it from freezing is a solution I'd like to figure out myself.

Once it snowed, my chickens were very reluctant to ever leave the coop. Make sure there's adequate space inside for them to not be too crowded when they decide to spend day and night in there for months.

Also, look into a way to make a run that is protected from the snow that they will hopefully be willing to go out into even when there's a lot of snow on the ground.

Eggs freezing is an issue. I collected my eggs at 10, 2, and 5 each day during the winter, and tolerated that some were frozen and cracked from the cold.

The main thing I'd impart is that for my breeds anyway, I don't think they'd care that it was 30 below 0. They're very capable of keeping themselves warm enough so long as they can get out of the wind and the wet.

 

[snow5164]

Well that sure escalated quickly. I was curious about the supplemental lighting as well but I do believe I'll have to find my answers somewhere else.

Welcome to backyard chickens Warren.
We all have our own ways of doing things,
you just have to choose your path and follow it . We all live in different climates and have different predator issues and different birds and coops.

Enjoy reading everyone's very knowledgable opinions, but choose what works best for you in your part of the world !!