Greenhouse Coop and run

[gwrulzmylife]

Wanting to start a coop based out of two 10x16 sheds I have and connect them with a run that will double as a greenhouse. The run will be made from corrigated polycarbonate.

Thinking since the run will be about 16 foot by 10 foot also, maybe run like a dozen seramas or BB reds.

Greenhouse will have the automatic vents, but will still get hot during summer.

Any issues I haven't thought about?

 

[JackE]

Chickens need to be out in the fresh air. I would not trap my birds in a hot stuffy greenhouse, no way.

 

[TalkALittle]

Access to a greenhouse during the winter would be awesome though.

 

[junebuggena]

Besides the greenhouse getting way too hot for chickens, if you tried to grow anything in there the chickens would eat it all.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I agree that it would not be a good place for them. The humidity would also pose disease encouraging issues IMO.

 

[gwrulzmylife]

I believe that most misunderstood my original post, or I did not explain correctly. I am not going to be running a tropical jungle in the greenhouse (ie not a "hot house") and during warm/hot months the garden is outside. During the winter I will be growing, but it's a simple matter to protect what I do not want grazed upon by my Seramas (I have 4 currently).



This will be between two 10x16 mini barns, Only real changes are I am having automatic vents added along the ridge line which will be screened in. I also have several solar fans, so there will be no stale air. This will still sit on the ground, I expect the birds to remove all the grass/weeds soon enough lol.

 

[junebuggena]

Greenhouses get really hot on sunny days. It doesn't matter if it's winter or summer. Sun hits the clear panels and the temps start to rise. The whole point of a greenhouse is to trap heat. With some modifications, the structure would be great for chickens, but those modifications would make for a lousy greenhouse. If you still want your chickens in there, remove the panels on the roof on one side and replace them with hardware cloth, making one half a cover run, and the other half open air.

 

[TalkALittle]

Perhaps we did all misunderstand. Each person's opinion will be based on their individual experiences with greenhouses. I'm sure those experiences may be varied. Perhaps a more quantified description would help. What would the average temperature and humidity levels be in the proposed greenhouse during the different times of year? How do those values compare to those in the coops and to those outside?

One of the problems I foresee is that your birds will be exposed to potentially very different temperature and humidity levels when in the greenhouse vs. when they are in their coops. I wouldn't think that drastic temperature/humidity fluctuations would be good for their health and I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't cause an increased chance of illness. But again, that is only based on my admittedly limited experience walking in and out of certain greenhouses at different times of the year.