Do my chickens need more weather protection?

[MegUrk]

So, what do we do?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

So, what do we do?

You can put a roost above there, but than you need to enclose stuff more to give your birds protection from the elements. Chickens generally won't hide in nestboxes. A coop should have at least 3 sides, and a roof.

 

[MegUrk]

We inherited the structure when we moved in and know it had been used as it was for many years so we assumed it was adequate. We have lots of coyotes and hawks in the area so they spend most of their time in there (unless they're carefully supervised) so we didn't want to enclose it more than we had to since they wouldn't get to see the world at all.

I guess we've got more work to do than I realized.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We inherited the structure when we moved in and know it had been used as it was for many years so we assumed it was adequate. We have lots of coyotes and hawks in the area so they spend most of their time in there (unless they're carefully supervised) so we didn't want to enclose it more than we had to since they wouldn't get to see the world at all.

I guess we've got more work to do than I realized.

Your climate will dictate how much cover they need and whether it's better to let the breeze blow through or block it.

 

[MegUrk]

Thanks for all the advice. We'll take it into account and see what we can come up with.

 

[aart]

In past years, we had wrapped the coop with plastic sheeting (ventilated, of course) to try to insulate a little overnight... but using thermometers both inside and outside the coop, didn't find a difference in temperature inside the plastic-wrapped coop.

With good ventilation, you won't see a temp diff......as long as they are dry and out of the wind, that's all that matters.