Humidity-sometimes ya just can't beat it.

[aart]

Aart, how do you check a chicken's crop?

Just feel for it on the right side of breast. Usually pretty obvious (one girl felt like she ate a tennis ball the other night!), most others are not quite so full but still easy to feel.

aart, if I check crops I do it in the morning to make sure its empty. What specifically are you looking for by checking at night?

To make sure they are filling up before roosting.
If I need to check for crop function, I crate them at night with water but no feed, then check in morning to make sure crop is empty and can see condition of poops, which can be telling. Pic here of how crate is set up with tray underneath to catch poops without it being stepped on(mostly).

 

[aart]

Bedding is drying out nicely, or seems to be anyway.
Might be hard to tell with ~15F temps. Humidity ~60's%.
Headed for another thaw on Friday, 3 days/nights of 28-48F with rain.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

That wood stove has some merit. With our humidity I never add water to incubator except once for lockdown. I started hatching again. First batch went great but the second I had one of my worst hatches ever. I figured it out. We're heating with wood and it has sucked the humidity out of the house so my last hatch didn't have near the humidity they needed. I'm adding water every day now and its still running a bit low.

I have my mealworms in the same room as my woodstove. The air is so dry that they devour a carrot within about two days to stay hydrated.

 

[aart]

Another chapter in my humidity thread....after the last thaw temps dropped back to the teens/twenties, got about 6" inches of snow...then came Thaw2.
Last 2 days in the 40F's and 90's% humidity with drizzle and rain and fog(steaming snow).
It feels pretty damp in the coop, can feel it when I stir the shavings, but not near as bad as the last thaw, and because much less snow on roof(it melted off the first day) NO condensation on underside of roof.

 

[PetesChicks]

Good news, aart!

We had a thaw and rain, no snow left. It was a little damp in the coop yesterday when I was in there, but not bad. My litter was mostly dry as a bone down to the floor.

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

Another chapter in my humidity thread....after the last thaw temps dropped back to the teens/twenties, got about 6" inches of snow...then came Thaw2.
Last 2 days in the 40F's and 90's% humidity with drizzle and rain and fog(steaming snow).
It feels pretty damp in the coop, can feel it when I stir the shavings, but not near as bad as the last thaw, and because much less snow on roof(it melted off the first day) NO condensation on underside of roof.

I just remembered something we did years back in our old garage. It would "rain" in there. We took 5 gal buckets. Drilled holes in the bottom and sides of one bucket, then place the strainer bucket into another bucket without holes. Then filled bucket with rock salt. Water would accumulate in bottom bucket. Just dump out water as needed.

 

[aart]

I just remembered something we did years back in our old garage. It would "rain" in there. We took 5 gal buckets. Drilled holes in the bottom and sides of one bucket, then place the strainer bucket into another bucket without holes. Then filled bucket with rock salt. Water would accumulate in bottom bucket. Just dump out water as needed.

That's interesting.....I assume the garage was a separate building, metal or wood roofing? This was also in PA?

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

That's interesting.....I assume the garage was a separate building, metal or wood roofing? This was also in PA?

Yes, in PA. Stand alone garage. Front part was a wood and shingle roof, back half was a tin roof. It was old and I believe it started out as a shed (front part) and back part added on at some point. We tore it down about 20 years ago...but I remember those rock salt buckets. Maybe it would work for you?

 

[aart]

Maybe it would work for you?

De-humidification, of any sort, in an open vented building is futile.
Am just observing, as the ambient humidity really can't be avoided.
The salt thing is interesting tho, would love to experiment just to see it in 'action'.

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

De-humidification, of any sort, in an open vented building is futile.
Am just observing, as the ambient humidity really can't be avoided.
The salt thing is interesting tho, would love to experiment just to see it in 'action'.

Give it a whirl! Lol