Chickens & Fans

[tedln]

I purchased the smallest, three speed, barn fan Tractor Supply had. I mounted it on the wall of the chicken coop pointing at the screened door so it will blow hot air out at the top of the door allowing fresh air to return at the bottom of the door. It looks and works great in my mind, but the chickens seem to resent any modifications I make to their coop. They wouldn't enter the coop last night with the fan running on low speed. When I turned it off, they entered, got on the roost and I closed their door to the run. I turned the fan on and they seemed to have a good night on the roost. They wouldn't leave the roost this morning until my wife turned the fan off and moved the cord so they couldn't see it hanging. I intend adding a rheostat to the fan in order to lower the fan speed some more. I would appreciate any ideas someone may have to help acclimate the chickens to the fan. They will need the fan when we reach our normal summer high temps.

Thanks

Ted

 

[Judy]

That's just chickens being chickens. Give them a little time. Anything new can be scary, even a delicious treat. I run a box fan all summer, although mine blows in. I'm sure they appreciate the breeze; they even use the coop in the heat of the day becuase it si shady and maybe a little cooler with the fan's breeze.

 

[4 the Birds]

I think that they will get use to it. Most animals notice changes in their environment and react cautiously. I suppose that you could add a board below the fan to hide it somewhat. I like the idea of a rheostat to lower the speed. At low speed and you may be able to leave it on and churning slowly as opposed to a noisy high speed. The fan kicking on may scare them a bit but they should settle down after awhile.

 

[tedln]

I think that they will get use to it. Most animals notice changes in their environment and react cautiously. I suppose that you could add a board below the fan to hide it somewhat. I like the idea of a rheostat to lower the speed. At low speed and you may be able to leave it on and churning slowly as opposed to a noisy high speed. The fan kicking on may scare them a bit but they should settle down after awhile.

I talked with a guy who used to install ceiling fans. He said the compatibility of a rheostat with a fan motor depends on the type of fan motor used. When I told him the barn fan had one of those pull chains to change speed, he said a rheostat could cause that type of speed changing circuit to overheat causing the fan motor to burn out or catch on fire. I think I will use a timer on the fan so it will turn on at about noon, turn off in the evening at roost time, and turn back on until about midnight when the air usually cools some. Hopefully, the chickens will become accustomed to the little bit of humming the fan makes and I can leave it on most of the time when it's hot.

Ted