Coop Questions

[RottenFlower]

Hey, y'all.

Our five girls are right at 3 weeks old, and just moved to their outside brooder today. We're steadily working on their big girl coop, knowing that they'll be ready to move in in just a couple of weeks.

That being said, I have a couple of questions about what should be inside of the coop. As you can see in the linked photo, we repurposed a children's playhouse. There are two nesting boxes (for a total of 5 individual boxes) that we've built, and a pop door. The inside is lined with hardware cloth and we are double checking everything before they go outside. There is one little window that has shutters that we'll put a latch on and close at night, and one other large window with no shutters. If we keep the shutters open, should that provide enough ventilation and cooling during the day? (I can post updated photos of their coop if need be.)

Also, do I need to put a feeder and waterer in the coop with them once they're adults? I know they'll need it while they're still babies and locked in, but I didn't know about when they get older and are outside foraging during the day and sleeping at night.

Lastly, we are not planning to have electricity running to their coop. Will this be problematic? I live in central NC; summers can get hot, and winters can be cold, but we planned on just throwing a couple of tarps over the coop for the winter...

Thanks for all of your advice.

 

[Judy]

Summer heat will always be much more of an issue than winter "cold," wich will not really be cold enough for the to call it winter. They will requre a good breeze and shade all summer, includng a breeze at night. If the coop is at all warmer than the outdoors in the summer, they will want to sleep outside.

They don't need food or water in the coop at night, but they wil be up at the crack of dawn looking for both. Also, keeping food dry when outdoors is difficult, what with rain blowing in from the side, etc. I keep both inside because I'm lazy and it's convenient, but I have a laarge coop.

You can do fine without electricity. You certainly don't need it for heat. It would be a mistake to heat their coop. They need good, high bentilation for the nimidity warm moist air and ammonia to eschange with the outside air, but they don't need heat. If the humidity stays down, they should not get any frostbite even below freezing. As for getting cold, they grow their own winter coat. If you heat a coop, they become acclimated to it, and when the power goes out, this is stressful for them. Be sure tarps don't interfere with ventilation. The rule of thumb is 1 sq ft of ventilation per bird, best at the highest point of the coop.One method used in very cold climates is to put squaare bales of hay around the outside of a coop.