How dumb are they really???

[Abrustuen]

First time chick owner here. They are four weeks old tomorrow. We have had a stretch of 90 degree days and so I moved their chicken brooder pen out to the coop (which has a window but it 100% closed off- dimensions are about 6x8 and 5 birds). For the last 2 days I have taken the pen away and given them the run of the coop but the brooder is still set up inside. It got cold last night. Temp in the coop this am was 60 and their feet felt cool. Yet none of them were under the brooder. Are they smart enough to go under the brooder if they are cold? Is the rest of the coop just too interesting that they don’t care? (Ps-I plugged in a heat bulb in place of the light bulb now to get the temp a little higher in the whole coop)

 

[DobieLover]

First time chick owner here. They are four weeks old tomorrow. We have had a stretch of 90 degree days and so I moved their chicken brooder pen out to the coop (which has a window but it 100% closed off- dimensions are about 6x8 and 5 birds). For the last 2 days I have taken the pen away and given them the run of the coop but the brooder is still set up inside. It got cold last night. Temp in the coop this am was 60 and their feet felt cool. Yet none of them were under the brooder. Are they smart enough to go under the brooder if they are cold? Is the rest of the coop just too interesting that they don’t care? (Ps-I plugged in a heat bulb in place of the light bulb now to get the temp a little higher in the whole coop)

They are way smarter about being chickens than any guideline states.
They clearly don't need ANY heat source. I would remove all of it and let them be.
I would also open up as much ventilation in the coop as you have. Can you post pictures of your setup?

 

[Abrustuen]

They are way smarter about being chickens than any guideline states.
They clearly don't need ANY heat source. I would remove all of it and let them be.
I would also open up as much ventilation in the coop as you have. Can you post pictures of your setup?

 

[DobieLover]

Take the lamp out and open the window for them.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

What chickens think is cold, and what we think of as cold, are two radically different temperature ranges. Even at 4 weeks, they have far more down coat than we will ever have, absent a trip to the camping store.

Ventilation is the number one way to keep chickens in the coop happy and healthy. Needs to be draft-free on the birds, and allow warm, moist, ammonia laden air out, to be replaced by air that is (hopefully) drier, but more importantly, not loaded with ammonia.

Frostbite in birds is often from moisture in the air, trapping it in the coop by closing the window in an effort to keep them "human warm" is a common mistake. Similarly, chickens respiratory system is surprisingly sensitive - but living out of doors for most of their existence, then was no need for them to develop the sort of lungs that, say, bats possess.

Venting is your friend and theirs. As @DobieLover said above, open that window! (and kill the heat).

/edit and they are pretty stupid. Just not about temperature. Put food out, then put a fence between them and the food. Most birds will try and go thru it, or over it, but not around the fence. Day after day. Some are smarter, and lead the others - but if anything breaks line of sight, they won't go around that way, and even the smart ones will return to trying over and thru. Eventually, they get it. Mostly. Sort of. Enough to follow the smarter birds.

 

[Abrustuen]

What chickens think is cold, and what we think of as cold, are two radically different temperature ranges. Even at 4 weeks, they have far more down coat than we will ever have, absent a trip to the camping store.

Ventilation is the number one way to keep chickens in the coop happy and healthy. Needs to be draft-free on the birds, and allow warm, moist, ammonia laden air out, to be replaced by air that is (hopefully) drier, but more importantly, not loaded with ammonia.

Frostbite in birds is often from moisture in the air, trapping it in the coop by closing the window in an effort to keep them "human warm" is a common mistake. Similarly, chickens respiratory system is surprisingly sensitive - but living out of doors for most of their existence, then was no need for them to develop the sort of lungs that, say, bats possess.

Venting is your friend and theirs. As @DobieLover said above, open that window! (and kill the heat).

/edit and they are pretty stupid. Just not about temperature. Put food out, then put a fence between them and the food. Most birds will try and go thru it, or over it, but not around the fence. Day after day. Some are smarter, and lead the others - but if anything breaks line of sight, they won't go around that way, and even the smart ones will return to trying over and thru. Eventually, they get it. Mostly. Sort of. Enough to follow the smarter birds.

The window sadly is permanently fixed shut. There is a vent (maybe 10x10) with shutters and mesh in each side of the coop. I tried a little solar fan on there also but it didn’t catch enough sunlight to really do anything. I was wondering if this was enough ventilation especially since I plan on doing the deep litter method this winter (Minnesota). Thoughts??

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I think a sledge hammer will fix your window problem. Much better to have too much ventilation that too little - even in winter - assuming the window doesn't direct a draft onto your birds while they roost or nest - i've concerns about the location of yours.

Can you add ventilation above the tidy cat boxes, then hardware cloth some protection and plan on leaving it open 24/7? Closer to the roof line is better. That would expose the side of the cabinet there to potential water damage, but everything is a trade off.

10x10 venting is about .8 sq ft, before accounting for restrictions like louvers or mesh - meaning they provide just 1.5 sq ft +/- free ventilation. The thumb rule is 1 sq ft 24/7/365 venting per bird - so no, I would say its not enough.

 

[Abrustuen]

I think a sledge hammer will fix your window problem. Much better to have too much ventilation that too little - even in winter - assuming the window doesn't direct a draft onto your birds while they roost or nest - i've concerns about the location of yours.

Can you add ventilation above the tidy cat boxes, then hardware cloth some protection and plan on leaving it open 24/7? Closer to the roof line is better. That would expose the side of the cabinet there to potential water damage, but everything is a trade off.

10x10 venting is about .8 sq ft, before accounting for restrictions like louvers or mesh - meaning they provide just 1.5 sq ft +/- free ventilation. The thumb rule is 1 sq ft 24/7/365 venting per bird - so no, I would say its not enough.

Ok. Here’s a pic of the one vent and the other is on the other side by the cabinet which I saved from my neighbors burn pit so no worries there. Thanks for the formula. Does the chicken coop door to the run count in the ventilation formula once that’s open during the days?

 

[Brooks_]

Does the chicken coop door to the run count in the ventilation formula once that’s open during the days?

It would let air in, but "I" wouldn't count it towards the total.

 

[AOrchard]

Ventilation and deep litter is based on how many birds for the space. My less ventilated 5x9 coop handled deep litter and 7 birds fine. The next winter I had 15 sleeping in there at night (lots of nice outdoor space during the day) and the ventilation was majorly insufficient. 5 birds in a 6x8 is barely anything. Ventilation is always good, but you can get away with much less when you have a small flock in a big coop.