How big should a door/opening of a hangout structure for chickens be?

[rosemarythyme]

Your shelters are much smaller than what I thought for chicken shelters. Chickens would probably feel cozier with low ceiling! I'll think about making something like that for my chickens too!

I would aim for something bigger if I had even more space to work with, but these are small enough that I can move them around by myself as needed. For my flock of 10 birds it's about enough shelter (considering some birds stay out despite the weather conditions).

 

[JuliaSunshine]

Reminds me of a story. Our dog was laying in the front yard when it was right at freezing. Bright sunshine, very calm (no wind), and frost on the ground. My wife saw her and said, "That dog must be miserable".

The dog was not miserable. She was where she wanted to be. She could have gone through the pet door into a garage where it was in the 60's F. There were other places she could have been. She chose to be there.

What my wife was really saying is that she would be miserable if she were the one out there. Had nothing to do with the dog.


Mine only go in the coop to lay eggs. I have food and water outside so they don't need to go in to eat. I just think they like being outside. With a hawk or other predator scare they will go in the coop.

I think your purpose of providing the shelter is to have a feed and water station where the feed stays dry and you can lock it up from the rodents at night. And provide a place they can run to if they see a hawk. I would not use clear plastic on the roof, I'd want that opaque. To me the sides could just be wire as long as the feed stays dry.

I'd lock them in that shelter for a couple of hours the first day so they know there is food and water in there and that the shelter is available in case of a predator scare. Don't be surprised if they don't hang out in there during the day. Mine tend to do what they want to do, paying no mind to what I want them to do.

I agree that humans tend to project how they feel onto animals and it's true that it's more me feeling miserable when they're walking around looking wet in the cold than them.

Still, I want to make something they'd like to use. If they don't, I'll just have to change things around.
I was going to cover the top and the back side with plastic which is not super clear but still lets the light in. But as you said, something opaque will probably make them feel more hidden. Thank you for your input!

 

[JuliaSunshine]

I would aim for something bigger if I had even more space to work with, but these are small enough that I can move them around by myself as needed. For my flock of 10 birds it's about enough shelter (considering some birds stay out despite the weather conditions).

I have 10 of them too! I'm thinking of making something with pellets later which will be both a compost bin and chicken shelter but it'll be also good to have small shelters for them, too. What are yours made of?

 

[rosemarythyme]

I have 10 of them too! I'm thinking of making something with pellets later which will be both a compost bin and chicken shelter but it'll be also good to have small shelters for them, too. What are yours made of?

They're actually recycled pieces from our old prefab coop, I dismantled it into 3 sections and that's 2 of the pieces. The section with the metal roof doubles as a chick brooder. I have no real building capability.

 

[3KillerBs]

My run shelters don't have sides (unless I lean a random piece of scrap metal roofing or plywood against them).

One is a pallet up on blocks and the other is my feeder/waterer shelter shown here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/an-outdoor-shelter-for-the-feeder-and-waterer.76487/

They also have some overturned plastic lawn chairs.

Previously in the old location before we built the big coop I had a picnic fly over the little coop to provide shade and, in bad weather, protection from rain.

They use various shelters of various sizes according to the weather and their preferences.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My run shelters don't have sides (unless I lean a random piece of scrap metal roofing or plywood against them).

I need sides on mine for sure as we get severe wind driven rain storms each spring and fall, and I have no covering over the run other than netting. Makes orientation of the shelters important as well, so I turn/move them if needed to adjust for incoming storms.

 

[3KillerBs]

I need sides on mine for sure as we get severe wind driven rain storms each spring and fall, and I have no covering over the run other than netting. Makes orientation of the shelters important as well, so I turn/move them if needed to adjust for incoming storms.

Yes, one of those important "climate matters" things.

Microclimate too -- my coop is located in a sheltered nook. Down the street at my SIL's more wind protection would be needed since she's on the other face of the ridge.

 

[JuliaSunshine]

My run shelters don't have sides (unless I lean a random piece of scrap metal roofing or plywood against them).

One is a pallet up on blocks and the other is my feeder/waterer shelter shown here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/an-outdoor-shelter-for-the-feeder-and-waterer.76487/

They also have some overturned plastic lawn chairs.

Previously in the old location before we built the big coop I had a picnic fly over the little coop to provide shade and, in bad weather, protection from rain.

They use various shelters of various sizes according to the weather and their preferences.

Thank you for showing your setup! I could make some pellet+block shelters too. I'm trying to get them to hang out in the open, future chickens garden area away from my main living space and it's going to be hard as they must feel much safer around humans and big buildings.
So I want to build more shelters for them. They seem to like grass and bugs there but because it's very open and ravens and eagles are flying around, they hang out there only when someone's nearby, like when I'm gardening.

Once they look more comfortable by themselves in the new area, I'll put fencing around so they can't get out. Now they're wondering around all over 2 acres and it's inconvenient for me stepping on chicken poo all the time and also unsafe for them when they go farther into the forest where people's dogs might chase them even though it's not very likely.

 

[Eggcentric NanaJ]

Yeah I have 2 "shelters" in the run and both are completely open across the length (ignore the flooding in the photo lol). The birds seem to enjoy hanging out in them regardless of the weather, but they get used most heavily when it's rainy.

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Mine are the same with the coop - unless the weather is absolutely miserable (like cold, driving rain) - they only go inside if they have a reason to be in there. But I need to keep the human door closed (unless there's an extreme heat wave) to keep the elements out.

rosemarythyme, not sure how to ignore the flooding. Hope you and your hens are OK!

 

[rosemarythyme]

rosemarythyme, not sure how to ignore the flooding. Hope you and your hens are OK!

Haha, I could've just blacked over the flood waters in the back - the photo is from early last year so we all survived it. 2020 was worse, the chickens ended up locked in the coop for 2 days as the water was about 4" high across the yard.