Coop questions for a newbie.

[J3SVan11]

Hello. I am new to the site and have never owned chickens. My family would like to get a few (5-8) chickens but I want to get the coop build before we get them but I have a couple of questions.
First lets start with where we live. We are located in the Southern Tier of New York where the summers can get really hot and the winters really cold. So, first, how do I heat and cool the coop for the chickens to stay comfortable. The coop will only have direct sunlight for about 2 hours a day. Second, do Ineed to have electricity in the coop. Where I would like to put my coop would be a long distance from a power source and would like to get away without running power to it. Third, any advice on what breed of chickens to get would be helpful. We have to young boys (11and 6) that would love to hold and pet them. we also have to small dogs that I think would not be an issue.

Thank you for your help!

Jason

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’ll give you a homework assignment. I suggest you read these, then follow the link in my signature about space. I think they will help you. Pat lived in Ontario so she should have some credibility with you in your climate.

Pat’s Cold Coop (winter design) page:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-winter-coop-temperatures

Pat’s Big Ol' Ventilation Page
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-VENTILATION

Pat’s Big Ol' Mud Page (fixing muddy runs):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-fix-a-muddy-run

You cool the coop by providing shade, which you say you have, and plenty of ventilation; high, low, and in between during the warm weather months. It doesn’t matter if a breeze hits them or not.

You don’t heat the coop. Chickens come with a down coat. Just like the wild birds you see outside during the winters, they can handle cold really well. Wild birds are smart enough to seek shelter during really bad weather, which mainly means they get out of the wind. Staying dry helps. The shelter chickens need keeps rain off of them and keeps direct breezes from hitting them, especially when they are roosting. Think wind chill. If the wind is hitting them they can get cold. If they are awake they will seek shelter if they need to.

Chickens also need decent ventilation in the winter. Decaying poop gives off ammonia. Ammonia is dangerous to their respiratory system and is lighter than air. Ventilation over their heads allows the lighter-than-air ammonia to escape. Problem solved. If the poop is frozen it won’t give off ammonia, but watch out for when it thaws.

Your biggest risk with chickens in the cold is not them freezing to death. One valuable member on this forum has written about chickens sleeping outside during the northern Michigan winters. It’s hard for some people to believe, but chickens really can handle cold with just a little help. Your risk in cold weather is frostbite, combs and wattles especially. High humidity in the coop adds greatly to the frostbite risk. The moisture comes from their breathing and their poop when it is not frozen. Warm air holds more moisture than cold air and rises, so again ventilation above their heads when they are roosting is what you are shooting for. If the openings are over their heads, direct breezes won’t hit them on the roosts.

Electricity in the coop is very convenient, but plenty of people kept chickens in your area before electricity was available. It’s not something you have to have, but it really is convenient.

Which breeds you get is very subjective. We all have our favorites for our own reasons. Plenty of people in climates colder than yours keep single combed chickens and even Mediterranean breeds which are not generally regarded as cold weather breeds, but remember that the biggest danger in cold is frostbite. Smaller combs like rose, walnut, and pea are safer against frostbite than single combs. Buckeyes in Ohio and Chanticleers in Canada were specially developed for cold weather, so these will work for you. Wyandottes and Dominiques are a couple of other breeds that immediately come to mind. You can look through Henderson’s Breed Chart at breed traits, then look through Feathersite to get some nice photos of those breeds to help you decide.

Henderson’s Breed Chart
http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

Feathersite
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html

I don’t treat mine as pets so I won’t get into how to train them to be handled. But you do need to watch the dogs. Even small dogs can be a threat to chickens, young or old. I suggest you train your dogs starting when you get the chicks so they know not to harm them. Some digs have a real strong prey drive and can never be trusted, but if you show the chicks to your dogs and try to teach them they are not to be harmed you stand a lot better chance of not having a disaster. Some dogs will learn to treat the chickens as part of the pack, protect them and share personal space with them, some will learn to tolerate the chickens and leave them alone, but some will kill chickens regardless of training. With any living animal, you don’t get guarantees.

 

[Judy]

There is lots of material here to help, in our learnig center and of course the threads. I'll give you a couple of links to some good articles about keeping chickens in the north, written by a Canadian.

Briefly, you should not need heat. If your ventilation (which is about humidity escaping from the coop) is sufficient, they shouldn't get frostbite, and their feathers are good cold protection. Give them a wide enough roost that they can cover their feet with their abdomen, and they should be good to go.

Chickens have a lot more trouble with heat than cold, even in most northern areas. 100F canbe lethal for them, so of course they are uncomfortable well below that. You will see this when they breathe with their mouths open and hold their wings a bit away from their bodies. Shade and breeze are necessary.

Electricity is handy but not necessary. For you, you would probably make the most use of it with something like a heated dog waterer, to avoid dealing with frozen water daily or more often. It also makes it simple to brood in the coop rather than the house -- something most people who have any number of chickens eventuall switch over to. You might find that the cost of having power installed is not that great -- the materials certainly are not a lot, and it's not difficult to do, for someone with a little basic knowledge.

Most of the dual purpose breeds would be fine. You might want to avoid birds like Leghorns, with their large, thin comb and wattles which are more subject to frostbite. Large fowl probably handle cold better than bantams, but I'm no expert on that. You might want to talk with the people in your state thread to see what is around and what they like best (see below.)


https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/winter-coop-temperatures

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/231485/ny-chicken-lover/36860_20

 

[J3SVan11]

Thank you both, and I will do my homework.

Two more questions.

Do I need to have a nesting box for each chicken?

How large does the coop need to be for 8 chickens?

ihave a wooden box that is about 5'x5' 5' high that I was going to use. I was then going to add the nesting box on the side of that.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A general rule of thumb is one nest for every four chickens, but that depends on how big the nests are. I suggest an absolute minimum of 12” x 12” for full-sized hen but personally made mine 16” x 16” for various reasons. My 16” stud spacing made them easier to build, there is more room for multiple hens to lay at the same time, and the larger nests are better if a broody hatches with the flock.

Part of your homework is following the link in my signature. That talks about space. There are so many variables in how we manage chickens that there is no one magic number that works for all of us. I understand someone just starting out needs some guidelines. You will find many different rules of thumbs on this forum talking about how much room a chicken needs. They are all correct but those different numbers are talking about different situations. One guideline talking about a flock of only hens the same age in an urban or suburban back yard is 4 square feet in the coop with 10 square feet in the run per chicken. For most people in that situation that is overkill, more than the absolute bare minimum space they could get by with. But I find the more I crowd them the more behavioral problems I have to deal with, the harder I have to work, and the less flexibility I have to deal with things that happen. To make my life easier I like to give them more than the absolute bare minimum but that is a personal choice. In that article, I tried to give you things to think about to help you make that choice, but I know there will be some uncertainty for you until you actually do it and see how it works out for you and your unique management style.