EDUCATIONAL INCUBATION & HATCHING CHAT THREAD, w/ Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs

[daxigait]

If by 'modified' you mean 'frozen to the floor', then yeah.
The chickens keep it just warm enough that if it gets up to 25*F or so the snow that blows inside will melt and get everything soaking wet. Of course, it's never warm enough to thaw it completely. Next year, I am going to build a pop door. And more window blocks. Screw ventilation, I'm tired of wet bedding. Also, I am building the ducks their own coop. See prior remark about bedding. At least this way those messy little things are only giving themselves worms, not the chickens too. They're lucky I love them so much...

I ventelated mine up at the top of the wall between the roof boards so it is under the eaves.

 

[Pensmaster]

@BantyChooks @Pensmaster
So what are you up to for Christmas?

Christmas is with daughter this year.
How about yours?

 

[BantyChooks]

I ventelated mine up at the top of the wall between the roof boards so it is under the eaves.

Ditto, but what's there isn't enough to make the "ventilation experts" stop harping on me.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Like me?

 

[daxigait]

N

Christmas is with daughter this year.
How about yours?

Nothing much. Family is too far away. I will spend some time riding with a friend today. I am not sure I want to go to her husband's family with them tomorrow. I may just stay home.

 

[daxigait]

Ditto, but what's there isn't enough to make the "ventilation experts" stop harping on me.

Yes, but you have to balance between ventilation and damp wet and considering your climate brutal winds.

 

[BantyChooks]

Like me?

Well, I wasn't going to name names.
Seriously, though, not you. You share knowledge, not shove it in people's faces and demand they follow it. I find the latter approach most irritating and often attempt to find a way to do it dead opposite out of spite. Thankfully, I don't think any of those people are on this thread.

 

[BantyChooks]

Yes, but you have to balance between ventilation and damp wet and considering your climate brutal winds.

You're right. On a related tangent, I've seen some really interesting things with a friend's coop that have made me wonder if the ventilation should-do's are different up here. I don't doubt they are helpful guidelines when you frequently go between above and below freezing, it makes logical sense then, but I can't shake this little doubt in my head that's telling me to go experiment with some things. Being me, I can't just say "it's good enough" and continue on as is, so I am going to try a new thing every year... and probably fail spectacularly in the process. I'm going to be getting maybe 20 Leghorns next year, so they'll be part of my tests.

One thing that took me an extraordinarily long time to realize is that even the peeps on here that say they have cold weather rarely have it to the length and extent that I do. Things are different, and there's not very much solid data that can be applied.The more southwestern places have very cold dips, but from what I understand, it warms up a lot in between. The sustained cold really makes things different.

I'd also like to know if there are any other factors that have an impact on how much frostbite happens. What I would be overjoyed to see is a study with everything from temperature to barometric pressure measured and night-by-night photos of the combs affected by the conditions.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

... I ...often attempt to find a way to do it dead opposite out of spite. ....

Truthfully, I do tend to push for ever bigger openings.
Most of my buildings have huge windows on east and west walls allowing the prevailing winds to blow right through. My oldest building is a repurposed garden shed. With a ridge vent and only one small window, I have a box fan on the window sill blowing right at the roost 12 months out of the year. Some of the hens tend to vie for a spot where the cold air blows right at the roost.

 

[Pensmaster]

Ditto, but what's there isn't enough to make the "ventilation experts" stop harping on me.

I’m using a fan through the door on very low and trying to keep wet stuff to a minimum. This is on the closed up coop. The rest has plenty of air but I don’t have snow issues either.