coop heat and ventilation?????

[pollitohenhouse]

my coop seems to have no ventilation,,,,its an old storage barn. The dust and moisture builds up very quickly!! I have two hanging heat lamps, yet one rooster got frostbite. not insulated. what can I do for heat and ventilation to help get my chickens survive these harsh maine winters?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Lose the heat lamps and cut some big windows in there. Cover them with hardware cloth and frame them up.
The moisture is worse than the cold for frostbite.
Much worse than the frostbite is the lack of fresh air. A chicken can live in a tree (till a predator gets it) but it can't live without fresh air.

What breed of rooster in your avatar?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Lose the heat lamps and cut some big windows in there. Cover them with hardware cloth and frame them up.
The moisture is worse than the cold for frostbite.
Much worse than the frostbite is the lack of fresh air. A chicken can live in a tree (till a predator gets it) but it can't live without fresh air.

What breed of rooster in your avatar?

X 2 - a common trap to fall into is to look at the heat/insulation of a coop from a human perspective when the needs and abilities to weather climate of the animal we are trying to help are quite different from our own. A cold, dry coop is much better for them than a humid, warmer coop - even in temperatures below zero.

 

[pollitohenhouse]

ok...thanks a ton....and my avatar is a minorca

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Cool. I used to have White Minorcas. Their eggs are huge.

 

[pollitohenhouse]

nice...I just got the one black roo. He's a big fella tho lol

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'm pretty sure Minorcas are the largest of the Mediterranean breeds. The blacks are the biggest, followed by white, then buffs. Both of which are extremely rare in the US.

 

[pollitohenhouse]

yeah....I got him from murray mcmurray hatchery....I ordered the assorted rare breed. they sent me 15 chics....the Minorca is one of three that ive been able to identify lol