Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Fred's Hens]

Roof vents and ridge vents can indeed get snowed over during a week or two or three each winter. That said, most folks experience a couple of factors which help clear those vents.

1.) Bright sunshine. The dark colors of the roof and the vent metal act in a way to absorb even winter sunlight and will eventually "self clear".
2.) The air rising or attempting to rise through the vents can be 10 degrees warmer than the ambient air and this also can help contribute to clearing.
3.) A thaw. Nature itself provides breaks. It is pretty rare that snow that falls in December is still up on your shed roof in March, just saying.

The over all benefit of having roof vents as opposed to not having roof vents is a positive trade-off. Far better to have them.

Yes, our barn was constructed so as to have ventilation that cannot be plugged or covered with snow. Those things were factored into the pre-build design.

 

[unkadan]

Snow in Indiana isn't like in the snowbelt of WI or NY, it doesn't usually stick around for months on end

you need to open the soffit and measure that area, figure the total square inches, then use the same amount of sq inches for higher vents be it gable end or roof vents if applicable

refer to Fred's excellent picture, what you want to do is create that "flow",,,think up and out

I have a 12'X24'-70 yr old coop here at the farm, instead of any vents they built long open ended boxes 8"X8"X 8' to the outside along the bottom of the rafters at the peak (stove pipe effect) these draw the warm/moist air to the outside, this is a non-insulated batten on board structure, lot's of leaks that suffice for allowing fresh air to be draw in. At one point they had 100+ layers, there are windows on the south wall, open in the summer, hinged down for winter,,,no heat,,,waterers came in at night and out at daylight. They did have a small oil burner used in late winter for the center brooder area. It's common to see a few nights of -30ºF with day time temps around 0,,,,,,I walled off a 8'X12' section to house 25 birds and installed a heated waterer,,,,works like a charm. This fall I am opening up the rest and building some separate areas for some breeders total birds this winter 40-50

 

[therapydoglady]

Bruceh:
I actually have been reading up on the Marans. I love the brown eggs!.
I hate to keep referencing "my mother-in-law" but she is my only personal reference to things of this nature. That said, she always kept some white egg layers even though she loved the brown eggs, too. And she never had the colored egg layers. She said she had trouble selling them, and that there are people here who bought her eggs that would not eat/buy a brown one! People are just crazy! Anyway, when we buy hens for the "egg production" we will buy a variety, but they will not be our show chickens. I personally would love some Marans. A bowl full of fresh eggs sitting on the counter just makes me smile...

About the venting...Her coop has a slanted roof, tall side facing south, and it has a turbine vent up there that spins and draws air up and out. We had a good rain last night, with quite a lot of wind, but the coop is high and dry this morning. Not a drop inside. Would something like that work in the snow country? W almost never get snow here, and when we do, it's only a couple of inches that is gone in a day or two. Brie

 

[Leahs Mom]

About the venting...Her coop has a slanted roof, tall side facing south, and it has a turbine vent up there that spins and draws air up and out. We had a good rain last night, with quite a lot of wind, but the coop is high and dry this morning. Not a drop inside. Would something like that work in the snow country?

We did consider adding one of those to our henhouse. Builders...what's your take on those? (Indiana Snow).

 

[Fred's Hens]

We did consider adding one of those to our henhouse. Builders...what's your take on those? (Indiana Snow).

Unkadan will have an opinion, no doubt. I've come to really like this guy!

There's nothing wrong with a turbine and they are used, even up here. Still, and this is my old fashioned take on things. You simply cannot beat passive ventilation. The turbine would be just ideal for the plains states. In many places, the winds are calm and still for days and days. Plus, with snow and ice, the turbine can freeze up, but not often. In Texas, the heat is a much, much bigger issue for chicken keepers. It is deadly, in fact. You'll lose far more birds to heat than you ever will to cold "up north".

I have no idea why folks here on this forum so fear winter so much. Folks, the chicken has a down coat, sleeps covering it's feet and has survived worse for centuries. I've no idea why folks feel the need to button up coops in the attempt to "keep them warm".
Just my little soapbox from which I'll now step down.

Remember, I'm a beloved livestock, farmer-type guy, and so that's my orientation.

 

[Zanna]

This may have gotten lost in the beautiful coop pics Wondering if anyone knows about feeding dried peas. Should they be cracked or can they be fed whole? They are smaller than the whole corn kernels I feed in the winter.

 

[Kansas Prairie]

Unkadan will have an opinion, no doubt. I've come to really like this guy!

I have no idea why folks here on this forum so fear winter so much. Folks, the chicken has a down coat, sleeps covering it's feet and has survived worse for centuries. I've no idea why folks feel the need to button up coops in the attempt to "keep them warm".
Just my little soapbox from which I'll now step down.

Remember, I'm a beloved livestock, farmer-type guy, and so that's my orientation.

I'm a Fred fan! Love, love, love reading him!!

 

[Fred's Hens]

This may have gotten lost in the beautiful coop pics Wondering if anyone knows about feeding dried peas. Should they be cracked or can they be fed whole? They are smaller than the whole corn kernels I feed in the winter.

Certainly, dried peas easily split, all by themselves, as the birds peck at them anyhow. Great source of nutrition!!! Like all things, some birds balk at anything that is new. Then, they get hungry and eat them. Yawn.... nothing new.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I'm a Fred fan! Love, love, love reading him!!

Blushing

 

[Zanna]

Certainly, dried peas easily split, all by themselves, as the birds peck at them anyhow. Great source of nutrition!!! Like all things, some birds balk at anything that is new. Then, they get hungry and eat them. Yawn.... nothing new.

Thank you so much!! I could not think of a reason why but everything I read says to crack them. I live in the heart of the Willamette Valley and DH works in farm irrigation so we bought several barrels this year of dried peas, wheat and corn for the chickens and personal use. The Farmers really depend on him so we were able to get some deals!