I think our coop is too big. Ideas?

[aart]

So I should add a little water to it before I stir it up? The chickens were stirring it up for awhile but lately I've had to give it a stir with my pitch fork. It's not putting out a lot of heat but it is composting.

I would not attempt to do a moist hot compost in my coop, even with the right ingredients...even in summer, let alone winter.
Just shavings and poop takes a LOT of water.
I use poop boards and shavings on floor, totally change out shavings twice a year.
Put clean out one year in a compost bin with a thermometer.
I had sprinkled it with water as I layered it in...no temp rise.
I relayered and added 10 gallons of water to 13 cubic feet of shavings/poop,
the next day it was 160°F....but I couldn't maintain enough heat to break down shavings.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Even though you've been given good advice, I couldn't help but chime in.
There is no such thing as a coop that is too big. It is almost an oxymoron.
We don't keep chickens in coops for warmth. The number one reason is for predator protection. Secondary reason is for rain shelter.
Chickens can live in trees - until a predator takes them.
They need no protection from cold.

So I should add a little water to it before I stir it up? The chickens were stirring it up for awhile but lately I've had to give it a stir with my pitch fork. It's not putting out a lot of heat but it is composting.

Moisture is a bad thing for chicken housing.
Warm moist environments is how pathogens are nurtured.
Do your composting outside.
Again, chickens don't need warmth, period.

 

[WindingRoad]

No. No one is saying that. The question of this thread is "I think our coop is too big. Ideas?" The answer has been given that no it is not too big. The answer is not about how warm chickens can make a room. They can indeed make a room warm. The answer is about can chickens not make the room warm enough. The answer to that question is that chickens only need to keep themselves warm. They do not need to warm the room even though they have that ability.

I'd suggest you re read the OP all the way to the end.

 

[WindingRoad]

Even though you've been given good advice, I couldn't help but chime in.
There is no such thing as a coop that is too big. It is almost an oxymoron.
We don't keep chickens in coops for warmth. The number one reason is for predator protection. Secondary reason is for rain shelter.
Chickens can live in trees - until a predator takes them.
They need no protection from cold.

Moisture is a bad thing for chicken housing.
Warm moist environments is how pathogens are nurtured.
Do your composting outside.
Again, chickens don't need warmth, period.

Are you saying that the run is the same temperature as a close coop? If it's predator proof and keeps out the rain why have a coop?

 

[WindingRoad]

Even though you've been given good advice, I couldn't help but chime in.
There is no such thing as a coop that is too big. It is almost an oxymoron.
We don't keep chickens in coops for warmth. The number one reason is for predator protection. Secondary reason is for rain shelter.
Chickens can live in trees - until a predator takes them.
They need no protection from cold.

Moisture is a bad thing for chicken housing.
Warm moist environments is how pathogens are nurtured.
Do your composting outside.
Again, chickens don't need warmth, period.

You say they don't need protection from the cold. -22F I can leave my chickens outside. I could have a predator proof outside run and leave my chickens out in the cold. It was -14F this morning when I left home at 0610. I didn't put my chickens down in my predator proof run with a roof over it. I left them in the coop. And they laid 3 eggs at some point today. When I got home at 1500. Their eggs were not frozen nor their water up in the coop. I'm sure both would have been frozen in my predator proof run. Right along with my chickens. If chickens don't need warmth why wear a down coat.

 

[aart]

I'd suggest you

....buy a premium membership so you can add "MasterDebator' to your avatar.
Do you EVER stop?!

 

[WindingRoad]

....buy a premium membership so you can add "MasterDebator' to your avatar.
Do you EVER stop?!

I think one of the worst things to do is to ignore someone. Now that's rude.

ETA: Are you also saying I can leave my chickens out in -22F weather. According to some here they don't need warmth. Maybe I should shave them bald?

 

[WindingRoad]

....buy a premium membership so you can add "MasterDebator' to your avatar.
Do you EVER stop?!

Why would I pay money to be treated this way when I can get it for free..

 

[Chickadooo]

When we bought this house it had a coop inside an old barn (concrete floor, real walls, a ventilation window covered with hardware cloth, and two doors) I thought this was great but now looking at coop pictures on BYC I think it's too big and there is no way our chickens can keep themselves at all warm.
The interior is about 12 X 12 (maybe more) and the ceiling is about 6.5 feet. (about 900 cubic feet). That's a lot of space for 10 chickens, and when I see those smaller coops, I realize those chickens are probably much warmer at night than mine. I worry most about my two oldest girls.....The most recent repost on not spoiling our chickens just reinforces my belief. That coop is small enough for those chickens to warm the space at night.
Would it be better for our chickens to make some kind of enclosure around the roosting poles, even if it was just curtains we could close at night?

Our coop is about the same size as yours it sounds like and our hens are doing wonderful with the space. They figure out where they are comfortable and warmest. Sometimes I find them all huddled together on their roost and other times I find them scattered in other high places, not really huddled at all. They know what to do if it's cold. If it gets extremely cold, that's where I would be concerned.

 

[Cryss]

I'd suggest you re read the OP all the way to the end.

Yup. OP thinks coop is too big, wants ideas, they offer their own idea of curtains. The majority of the replies offer the idea that no coop can be too big.
Yup.