Coop Temperature Control - Nebraska

[ourlilfarm2015]

Hello!

I will need to add some photos so people can a better idea at what I'm dealing with. I am tweaking an old grain storage shed into a chicken coop.

Is anyone else on here from Nebraska? I am wondering how you keep your coop temperature under control with such a varying climate. If you do not live in Nebraska I feel a few key points are that it is typically quite humid in the summer and that our temperatures typically range from -30F with wind chill up to 110F with heat index.

Thanks!

 

[lutherpug]

I'm just south of you in Kansas so we have very similar weather. I worry about the hens far more in the summer than I do in the winter. They do winter just fine on their own as long as your coop isn't wet or drafty. They do not need supplemental heat. In the summer I try to provide plenty of areas of shade and a cool place to take a dust bath-mine is a 6x6 sandbox in a shady location. Make sure the coop is well ventilated. Ventilation and drafty are not the same thing. You want air to be able to flow through the coop at a level higher than the chickens roost. This is true even in winter as it allows the humidity they create from their body heat and breathing to escape as opposed to collecting as condensation. Pictures of your setup would help but keep these things in mind and you'll be well on your way.

 

[adickenscoop]

You will need to insulate it and add heating in the winter.

 

[lutherpug]

You will need to insulate it and add heating in the winter.

Chickens do not need heat in the winter. The vast majority of us do not provide heat and this includes our friends in Michigan, Maine, Minnesota and other places that get much colder than Kansas or Nebraska. My chickens have been out scratching around and begging for treats in temperatures well below zero degrees. I've never had an issue related to cold. Chickens can and do, however, easily succumb to heat stroke.

These are my old girls at -10 degrees, wind chill approaching -30. They were out and about as soon as the door opened.

 

[ourlilfarm2015]

This is the outside. Whatever doesnt already have tin is getting tin. Which I worry is going to make it a literal hot box but hoping to counteract that with proper ventilation. Also planning to put one of those automatic timer doors for the girls so they'll actually be able to roam the farm during the day so maybe they'll find somewhere else to hang out during the heat of the summer days. Theres a door on top originally for filling the shed but was considering screening it and propping that open during the summer. Want to put gable vent/s in as well. Still figuring out the "human door".

 

[ourlilfarm2015]

Not sure proper terminology for this area (one picture from inside one from outside) there is already some ventilation here.

 

[ourlilfarm2015]

As for them getting cold with my past chickens I felt it was more difficult keeping them cool in the summer vs warm in the winter. I had chickens a few years back in the property's original coop but we just tore that down due to it being so run down it was impossible to properly critter proof it.

 

[jthornton]

There is a Nebraska thread here that looks pretty active.

That soffit vent might be ok in the winter but would not be enough in your 110°F heat index. Also note that without hardware cloth covering all those openings raccoons and the like will climb right in and have chicken dinner.

For the man door just frame it with some 2x4's and make a 2x4 door covered with hardware cloth.

Here is the door to my run, where they sleep is covered with HC. The door is just 2x4's with some brackets and screws to hold it together.


JT

 

[lutherpug]

That is going to be a cool coop when its all done! You'll love the automatic door-I have one and it the best thing we purchased. If it were me, I would cover the existing openings with hardware cloth and do the door as suggested above. As far as additional ventilation, why not just cut some holes in the sides and frame in some large "windows"? I did that in my first coop and it worked great. I could open them in the summer (they were also covered with hardware cloth, obviously) and shut them up in the winter. Additionally, you're probably right-they likely won't spend much time in the coop during the day if they have the option of being outside, provided there are shady places around for them to enjoy. That's actually what I'm working on today-additional shade in the run so they have more options when the coop gets too hot.