Help! Ideas needed to convert two coops

[christy7981]

Does that wire dog cage have a door on each end? Can't tell from the picture.

Yes. It's a pretty awesome chicken cage. I put it together yesterday and was impressed.

 

[christy7981]

Number of chickens and climate? ....add location to profile .

Southern Maryland, and 16 chickens.

 

[christy7981]

I have cold winters but I only have one coop. I built it big enough for all my chickens but still small enough it will hold their body heat. I suppose for this setup you could use plywood to winterize the run and heat lamps inside if you have to.

They do fine in the winter in those coops. Just trying to figure out how to make them look nice. Lol

 

[aart]

I have cold winters but I only have one coop. I built it big enough for all my chickens but still small enough it will hold their body heat. I suppose for this setup you could use plywood to winterize the run and heat lamps inside if you have to.

A bit if a fallacy this 'holding heat' theory...ventilation is far more important and makes 'holding heat' moot. Heat lamps are very dangerous, number one cause for coop fires.... and some adjacent houses/garages.

Sorry, I am trying to figure out how to make these two POS's look nice since I have been forbidden to build a real coop. I guess I can paint and add flower boxes etc. ?

Southern Maryland, and 16 chickens.

Making them pretty would be easy, making 16 birds fit into them healthily might be a bigger challenge. You could make both coop/run combos into all coop by adding plywood sides and connecting them at the run ends, even then it would be tight quarters for 16 birds. Best of cLuck!

 

[christy7981]

A bit if a fallacy this 'holding heat' theory...ventilation is far more important and makes 'holding heat' moot. Heat lamps are very dangerous, number one cause for coop fires.... and some adjacent houses/garages.



Making them pretty would be easy, making 16 birds fit into them healthily might be a bigger challenge. You could make both coop/run combos into all coop by adding plywood sides and connecting them at the run ends, even then it would be tight quarters for 16 birds. Best of cLuck!

They all sleep on top of each other right now with just 8 in there. There are 6 in one coop and two in the other. I am hoping when I add the other 6 plus two Bantam there is enough room. I had eight sleeping in the blue coop before I lost two to a fox. The eight that slept in the blue coop were Orphingtons. Hopefully theres enough room.

 

[wvchics]

Holding heat is not a mute point when you have harsh winters. We get temperatures below zero sometimes, and chickens will freeze to death. In some areas it may not matter, but here it does. Also, early in the morning on cold days it is good to give them a warm mash to help warm them up from the cold night. Just because it's summer now doesn't mean winter won't come. I think plywood would be great to cover the run. It can be easily be put up and taken down. You can paint it with latex paint to seal it from the weather, and you can paint your little coups to match. Either way you set them up you want to make sure you can protect them from the weather hot or cold.

 

[aart]

Holding heat is not a mute moot point when you have harsh winters. We get temperatures below zero sometimes, and chickens will freeze to death.

I have very harsh winters here, long stretches of freezing temps with many nights below zero, and wide open eaves all winter. Never had a bird come even close to freezing to death. They tolerate the cold very well (they are wearing down coats!) with good ventilation to get rid of the moist and ammonia laden air. A closed coop('holding heat' thus not enough ventilation) can cause many health issues, which can make them more susceptible to dying from disease or cold.

@bobbi-j has a great analogy about dressing in all your winter clothing then sitting inside your heated house for hours.

 

[wvchics]

I have very harsh winters here, long stretches of freezing temps with many nights below zero, and wide open eaves all winter. Never had a bird come even close to freezing to death. They tolerate the cold very well (they are wearing down coats!) with good ventilation to get rid of the moist and ammonia laden air. A closed coop('holding heat' thus not enough ventilation) can cause many health issues, which can make them more susceptible to dying from disease or cold.

@bobbi-j has a great analogy about dressing in all your winter clothing then sitting inside your heated house for hours.

You keep talking about propper ventilation, but I'm not sure you understand. If it is properly ventilated, it should hold heat in the winter and stay cool in the summer. Ventilation is for air flow. That's funny that you say about winter clothes maybe when it's ten below zero you should put all your gear on and see how warm you are, because I have done it before and even being active with extreme amounts of winter wear the blood starts to leave your extremities within seconds. I am way bigger than a chicken and my body reacts instantly when it's that cold. Freezing is 32 F. That feels warm after some of the winter days we have, but I am certain that the chicken coop will not be 70 all year round as most people keep their houses. If my horse got cold I have no reason to believe the chickens won't. My chickens don't start yo pant until about 85-90 and I know it won't be that hot in the coop when it's below zero. Others have had chickens freeze to death, and I'm not going to let that happen to mine. I clean my coop regularly to take care of any ammonia smells and check for any other problems, but I also have my coop properly ventilated and shingled. It is necessary to properly ventilate any structure including your house. Without it you will not get airflow causing it to be stuffy or have hot and cold spots. Your roof will sweat and begin to fail in the summer and freeze and crack in the winter. Most people just don't realize. They think proper ventilation means a lot of Windows but the ventilation should be at the top of the structure just like a house.

 

[bobbi-j]

You keep talking about propper ventilation, but I'm not sure you understand. If it is properly ventilated, it should hold heat in the winter and stay cool in the summer. Ventilation is for air flow. That's funny that you say about winter clothes maybe when it's ten below zero you should put all your gear on and see how warm you are, because I have done it before and even being active with extreme amounts of winter wear the blood starts to leave your extremities within seconds. I am way bigger than a chicken and my body reacts instantly when it's that cold. Freezing is 32 F. That feels warm after some of the winter days we have, but I am certain that the chicken coop will not be 70 all year round as most people keep their houses. If my horse got cold I have no reason to believe the chickens won't. My chickens don't start yo pant until about 85-90 and I know it won't be that hot in the coop when it's below zero. Others have had chickens freeze to death, and I'm not going to let that happen to mine. I clean my coop regularly to take care of any ammonia smells and check for any other problems, but I also have my coop properly ventilated and shingled. It is necessary to properly ventilate any structure including your house. Without it you will not get airflow causing it to be stuffy or have hot and cold spots. Your roof will sweat and begin to fail in the summer and freeze and crack in the winter. Most people just don't realize. They think proper ventilation means a lot of Windows but the ventilation should be at the top of the structure just like a house.

Aart understands very well what proper ventilation is all about. (Check out the link in her signature line.) If you have chickens freezing to death in your climate, there is a problem somewhere. I don't know your setup, though, so I'm not going to try to diagnose it. What I will say is, when chickens are able to acclimate to the changing temperatures, and are kept in a properly ventilated coop that allows moisture and ammonia to escape, they should have no issues with freezing to death. Especially in a climate like yours. I live in MN where it's not uncommon to have several days and nights in a row of temps in the -10's to -20's. I do not insulate my coop, nor do I use a heat lamp, yet I have never had a chicken freeze to death. I usually keep the pop door open until it hits the mid-teens below zero, so the air movement coming in can help push the moisture up and out the eaves. The key to good ventilation is to keep air moving without creating a draft.

My winter clothes analogy is this - when it's cold outside, put on all your winter gear - for me that's either my insulated coveralls or heavy coat, ski pants, boots, hat, gloves and scarf (if your gear is adequate, it will keep you warm even if it's 10 below). Now go outside until you start to feel just a little chilled. Go back inside, but leave all your gear on. See how long it takes before you're too hot. For added effect, put on some water to boil while you're outside to add the humidity factor when you come back in. You are able to take all those warm clothes off. Your chickens aren't. Somewhat even temps are easier on them than going from warm to cold and back to warm again.

When chickens are acclimated, they grow more downy feathers to insulate or "hold the heat" in their bodies. Another thing to think about: when they become dependent on heat lamps to keep warm in the winter, they don't grow their down coats to keep warm. What happens if you lose electricity during a cold spell? Not everyone has a generator to keep that heat going. At the very least, it's going to cause them discomfort. In a truly cold climate, it could kill them.

 

[Leighe]

Sorry, I am trying to figure out how to make these two POS's look nice since I have been forbidden to build a real coop. I guess I can paint and add flower boxes etc. ? I live in southern Maryland.

LOL....I was actually thinkin...Just paint them! Make them the prettiest things and they'll look brand new. The hens don't care as long as they're clean but I've seen some beautiful artwork on coops on BYC. I, on the other hand, can barely make paint look good on anything, lol. Sooo creative, some people are. Go for it.