Chicken Coop In A Camper ?

[Kolin]

Hey every one, i am going to be getting 20 red star chicks soon and i have been debating on a coop. I really don't have too much money on building a coop and i was wondering if i could use an old camper that we have as one. I live in northeast ohio which is right in the middle of the snow belt , so i was wondering if i used the camper, how would i do the ventilation ?

 

[Stiggy]

that sounds like a good idea, and it would be movable. you could make the windows into venalation where they are openable as needed. with mesh on one side to keep out the predators. if it isn't insulated then some insulation would be handy as well.

 

[bigmrg74]

I would hope you're not planning on using the camper to go camping ever.

One thing I would make a point of doing is to make sure you pull out all of the old padding inside of it. You might even want to think about gutting some of the cabinets out to make room for nest boxes, or maybe even using them for your nestboxes.

 

[Kolin]

Do you know how i could have it ventilated in the winter without having a draft ?

 

[Stiggy]

how cold do your winters get? you could get old thermal backed curtains and hang them/ tack them over it to help keep the chill out but with ventilation unless you are using a heater there will always be a little draft

 

[missnu01]

Chickens fare better with cold than they do wet. First year I had chickens I would go close all the windows when it would snow, and my rooster got terrible terrible frostbite, a few other chickens had a little here and there... but he lost half his comb and waddles at least half...
Anyway the following year I felt like forget closing it up if they are going to get frostbite anyway...and with the coop wide open no frostbite, even though the first winter was also a lot more mild than the next year. So I got 0 frostbite they year it was super cold and awful weather all winter long and I left all the windows open...but the previous year terrible frostbite with molder weather and a closed coop.
I have a rooster with a really really huge single comb and I expected the whole thing to freeze off over the winter, but come spring be still had a huge impressive frostbite free comb...
I did have a chicken somehow not make It into the coop and it froze to death while bedded on the ground in the snow...so cold is better than humid and with the windows closed it is just too much moisture in the air, or in the snow

 

[Kolin]

I think i am going to head up to lows in the morning and get some hardware cloth to cover the windows. I'm kinda new at this so thank you guys for the responses

 

[missnu01]

Sounds like a good plan. I've seen quite a few used to be a camper coops.

 

[JAZsMom]

that sounds fantastic! knock the windows out and fill them with netting, make the cabinets into nests, build a run outside...so much fun for the chickens to play on!