I'm very confused whether to heat my coop or not, as well as having proper ventilation.

[aggiemae]

Just think about all the birds that winter over in your ara without any problem! I would not bother with a heat lamp unless the temperature dips below zero (Fahrenheit). Aside from being unnecessary its also a fire hazard.

Recommended coop ventilation is one square foot per bird so five square feet (a completely opened 2x2.5 window) for five chickens. You can get by with 3-4 but the 3" holes drilled into the sides of many coops and probably even the opened space between the rafter is completely inadequate. Chickens give off a great deal of moisture when they breath which can make the coop damp and cause frost bite.


There are lots of helpful coop planning and building articles in the "learning Center" tab on this site including the difference between ventilation and a draft.

 

[Hokum Coco]

I knew Styrofoam is a bad idea for chickens (my pigeons have no issue they are smarter). I also however discovered ring neck pheasant are no smarter than chickens when it comes to Styrofoam (I should have guessed that however).

Good judgment comes from experience; Experience comes from bad judgment.

I since covered all the exposed areas of the cooler with veneer from an old interior bedroom door.

Guess there will be some Styrofoam filler in the pheasant poop for the next few days.

Every once in awhile my free range birds enjoy a feed of Styrofoam with out my permission.

It just sometimes comes into your life in the form of a piece of insulation that blows on to your property or a foam cup.

The birds never seem to suffer any ill effects from it over the years. I know Styrofoam definitely has some sort of carcinogen in my estimation. I would NOT recommend it as a treat for your birds; They seem to regard it as one..

 

[aoxa]

I had no idea their roosts should be flat.
I will get my husband on that this weekend. I feel so badly for them we've had it wrong this whole time.

Nikchic,

Their roosts do not need to be flat. Lots of people will say this, and if it works for them, that's fine. I use 2x2s and they can wrap their feet around it better, and have had not a single issue with frost bite. They do not like 2x4s in my experience. They naturally want to wrap their toes around the roost.


Here are the roosts I use.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

The whole ventilation thing just totally confused me, as we try to have it completely sealed and then it says to have holes in the top??? I just thought that all the heat would be escaping and I thought the whole point was to try keep them warm with an insulated coop.
Of course we are covered in snow right now, it is no longer looking green like this. See how the door opens "in", this makes it very difficult to have bedding there. I have a small layer of hay that I flatten out so the door goes over it, otherwise they would not have anything at all. So, with seeing these photos, do you still think I need the ventilation up top as well?


This is their roost I was talking about. They are much bigger chickens now, and we have 2 more. I will see what my husband can do to make it a flat 2x4 for them. Again, I would greatly like to thank everyone that responds to my questions, I have already slept easier knowing some answers you've given me. I have slowly taken out the heat lamp, I am down to only 2 hours in the morning, and tomorrow I will shut it off completely. Are they ok to be out in the snow, frost and dirt when it is so cold?
Sorry, again I have a multitude of questions. I truly appreciate all of you and to "walking on sunshine" -- thanks for the thorough answers to ALL of my questions.

Even in your house, there are vents near your roof to let air move. In fact, one of the proposed reasons that people get so sick in office buildings is that they're built air-tight so that you can't open the windows. Yes, heat will escape, but fresh air will come in and moisture and ammonia and other poo gasses will escape. A totally closed coop can allow moisture and ammonia build-up which will cause respiratory problems and frostbite.

Is your coop open under the eaves at the top peak? Right where I can see the rafters in your photo? A good way to add ventilation would be to have those spaces between the rafters open and just covered with hardware cloth. Here's my hen house, pics of the soffit vents and the vents at the peak of the roof. We also crack the windows at the top any time it whiffs of ammonia or seems a little damp in the winter:






Besides the windows you can see in the pic, there are two identical windows on the left side and two more on the back. We don't cover them up in the winter, and in fact crack them if it gets damp. We had some cold rain the past few days, and I have one front window and one back window cracked right not for more ventilation since the air has been so damp. It is currently 31 degrees F at my house, which is -1 C.

I do have an idea about your door and your bedding. I'm trying to figure out how to explain it. Might have to get out the camera if it doesn't make sense! Open the door until it sticks into the hen house as far as it can. About 1" past that, install a 2x8 board on it's skinny side, so it's standing high. You can install it by fastening two strips of board to the wall on either side as cleats, and sliding the 2x8 down in there, like making a board sandwich. Does that make sense at all? Then the board is easily removable for cleaning the hen house. Then the bedding stays behind the board, and you don't have to worry about it. PM (private message) me if that doesn't make sense to you and I'll get you some pics. You could also rehang the door so it opens out.

You can also cut your door down so it's a 8" shorter and add a board at the bottom like I described. My hen house has a feed storage room, so the door you see opens into a non-bedded area. Then there's an interior door that's above that 2x8 I was describing above, so it's always above the bedding even though it swings inwards. Again, PM me if you need pics.

Also, as far as hens out in the snow:


Let them out! It's good for them to run and play and dustbathe, whether it is cold out or not. My hens are not fond of snow, and won't go out at all when the snow is deep, but as long as they can see bare dirt they are out and chickening around. Trust the birds' instincts. They'll go in when they want to warm up.

Good luck. Don't worry. Chickens are EASY. Really. <hugs>

 

[RavenWood]

I would just hinge the door the opposite way or section off the floor area in front of the door so that you can have bedding on the other side that doesn't interfere?

You may wish to read this article here on BYC: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

 

[Judy]

You may wish to read this article here on BYC: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

And here is another excellent article by the same author, who lives in Canada:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/winter-coop-temperatures

 

[nikchic]

Thanks very much for your input and for the links. I found them very useful. I've taken out the styrofoam we had over the windows so the sun can shine in. I also cleaned under their perch as it was accumulating quite high. I got confused as people say to use the deep bed method but then I read to be sure to get their poop out for many reasons. My big issue is that we need to get more ventilation in our coop so hopefully my hubby will get that done tomorrow as well as a poop board. That is a great idea.

 

[SuziCue]

I have 6 hens. Then hen house is about 4' x 4' x 4', with 3 nest boxes attached to one of the sides. All my ventilation is on the one wall oposite from the nest boxes, which is also the side most protected from wind. I have one window that's about 10" tall x 30" wide, at the top of the wall, and the door is about 10" x 12" on the same wall, and the door remains open 24/7. There is also a little ventilation where the slanted roof meets the walls on the window side, and on the nest box side. Also, the roosts are right at the height of the window. Does this sound like enough airflow? Sometimes I think maybe not, but then sometimes I think it's fine since they're always roosting by the window.

And then sometimes I worry that setup is too drafty for them. I live in California, so our temperatures rarely get down to freezing at night. We've had a cold snap lately, but I've been told if the chickens get really cold, they'll huddle together in the nest boxes or in a corner. In the summer they spread out on the two roosts, but I've noticed in the winter they huddle together on one.

OK, I'm finally on my home computer instead of my smartphone, so here are the pictures of the henhouse as I described it above. Does this look like enough ventilation for now? With the roosts being right by the window, I worry about putting in more holes and making it too cold in there.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Hokum Coco]

Canada! No heat; No light; No insulation; No problems.
Know your birds; Do what you will.
Simple advise: Simple problem.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Thanks for telling your story Suzi, I've got a similarly sized coop for 5. This is our first winter too and (speaking of knowing your birds, Hokum C) it's been a big waiting game to see what the girls will tolerate here in central Wisconsin. So far there's been a low of 8 degrees one morning last week and so far so good. Subzero temps overnight tonight expected and for the next several overnights. No heat and everyone's hanging in.

I think I need to add more ventilation too... which for the newbies like us seems crazy... especially for our dinky 4x4x4.5tall coops and 5-6 birds. The one square foot per bird rule still stands for these small coops, right experienced chicken wranglers?

The info on this thread has been outstanding thus far everyone! Can't wait to have this winter under my belt and have the experience to feel more assured of their welfare!

Thanks a lot peeps!

I'm not sure where you heard one square foot per bird. The standard requirements are 2 square feet per bird for bantams and 3-4 square feet per large fowl inside coop space, and 10 square feet per bird for outside run space. I believe that most problems with pecking/feather pulling/cannibalization are caused by too little space. Your girls will be OK in the small space as long as they only sleep there, and have plenty of space to run in during the day.

It's 6 degrees and windy outside here in Ohio this morning, and my chickens are all outside scratching for whatever they can find. They were fine last night in a coop with six very large, somewhat drafty windows and no heat, too.