chickens at night

[grammy]

I built the red and white chicken coop on the home page of BYC which has an upper loft. I live in Texas and we are already having some hot nights. I've been enclosing them in the "Chick loft" every night but it is so hot and stuffy. I have made every precaution to keep predators out. Can I keep the loft door open at night or should I enclose them every night? I did put three airholes in the top of the loft which are covered with wire but it seems like it could be stuffy for themwith the doors closed. These are my first chickens and would appreciate input. I only have two due to city code. Thanks.

 

[MTchick]

Keeping it open at night sounds risky to me.

Maybe you could install a small exhaust fan into the upper part of your coop. A small fan would prevent heat from building up and not be a predator-risk. If a fan isn't an option, you could increase the number of holes you've got for ventilation and make sure some of them are lined-up for better cross ventilation. Like putting a few extra holes on the "north" and "south" walls and then aligning the coop and its holes with the direction of any available breeze.

-MTchick

 

[Queen of the Lilliputians]

Just a thought, so don't know how feasible this is...

Maybe you could take some hardware cloth, nail/screw/staple it into a frame, and then use some latches to attach it over the doors. Then, during the day, just undo the latches and remove it?

Still not sure how our henhouse is going to be, and I'm worried that it, too, will get stuffy. If it does, this is what I am going to do over the big door into mine. I'm thinking, even if you do it for just PART of the night (while you are home and awake) and then officially close the doors before you go to bed, it'll make a difference.

Good luck with your girls!

-Meghan

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Grammy, did you use hardware cloth to make the run? Is your run wire secured strongly enough that it can't be pulled free? Did you do anything to secure it against digging predators? If you've done all of those, then you might be ok leaving the loft open. Otherwise, I would attach hardware cloth over the loft door opening. Then the loft door would function as a large vent door.