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I agree. We've had the heat kill 5 of our chickens this summer and it was overnight. Two were in a barn in a coop within the barn that had with multiple openings for air and with 3 hardware cloth walls and top. 2 were in the top section of an A frame coop with the trap door open. Metal is not good for chickens due to heat and to cold. We have a box fan on the barn chickens at all time and 3 of the A frame coops have a desk clip fan in them at all times. Even during the day the chickens are going up top where the fan is.
We only close the trap doors during cold months. When we first got chickens in late summer last year, we closed it all the time but stopped sometime in April/May due to the heat coming on. We worried about the chickens over night and just had to accept they needed air. We have vents in the ends made of hardware cloth but it still very hot inside.
One of our church members keeps losing chickens to predators. I do not know what her coop looks like but from what she says it needs to be torn down and completely rebuilt predator proof. She lives in a Mountain Valley and critters are everywhere. She would have to put a wired bottom buried in the ground attached to the sides most likely to keep them out of her coop. Animals keep getting into tight gaps and digging underneath. Of course, she could be dealing with stray dogs left by all the deer hunters and those dogs are starving. Once any animal gets a taste, they will be back again and again.
Good luck! Post pics so we can see more of your coop and what your plans are.
I agree. We've had the heat kill 5 of our chickens this summer and it was overnight. Two were in a barn in a coop within the barn that had with multiple openings for air and with 3 hardware cloth walls and top. 2 were in the top section of an A frame coop with the trap door open. Metal is not good for chickens due to heat and to cold. We have a box fan on the barn chickens at all time and 3 of the A frame coops have a desk clip fan in them at all times. Even during the day the chickens are going up top where the fan is.
We only close the trap doors during cold months. When we first got chickens in late summer last year, we closed it all the time but stopped sometime in April/May due to the heat coming on. We worried about the chickens over night and just had to accept they needed air. We have vents in the ends made of hardware cloth but it still very hot inside.
One of our church members keeps losing chickens to predators. I do not know what her coop looks like but from what she says it needs to be torn down and completely rebuilt predator proof. She lives in a Mountain Valley and critters are everywhere. She would have to put a wired bottom buried in the ground attached to the sides most likely to keep them out of her coop. Animals keep getting into tight gaps and digging underneath. Of course, she could be dealing with stray dogs left by all the deer hunters and those dogs are starving. Once any animal gets a taste, they will be back again and again.
Good luck! Post pics so we can see more of your coop and what your plans are.
