Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[wannahomestead]

 

[WestMIchick]

Hello to my Michigan Friends! I have finally overcome my fear of posting! Not sure if this is the right spot for a question, but here goes....

Can a coop be too big to keep the birds warm during a Michigan winter?
Here's a little background: I am new to chickens. Last year my SO & I bought a place that came w/ a small coop, huge chicken yard, 2 hens and a roo. Needless to say, I fell in love and as of this spring, have 25 chickens! I have constantly checked the BYC site to guide me through, and everything has gone perfectly!!! My 1st group (13 hens, 19 weeks) just started laying, the 2nd group of hens (13 weeks) is in a smaller brooder/ coop within the big yard and intermingling with minimal supervision. I have the original rooster & one surprise new bantum rooster, they are respecting each other well. No problems!!! I am starting to get worried...

So, the flock is separated into 2 groups that coexist, each with it's own rooster. Part of the reason we bought the property was the large cinder block barn that we are not using, equip with electric & running water. We would like to partition off some of it to build a new coop to house all chickens. So it would be a coop within the barn. The barn is around 25'x40'. Ventilation is great- one fan blows air out of the barn & 2 hanging fans. The chickens are in the yard all day, even seemed to go most days during last winter.
So my questions is, how big can the coop be within the barn for 25 birds? It will be in a corner to utilize 2 existing walls, with wood floors. We will not be doing any heat/ extra light during winter. Also, do the two walls we are building need to be solid walls or can we use chicken wire? My SO thinks the cinder block barn will retain a lot of heat so we will need only chicken wire walls.... I am leaning towards closing the whole thing in within the barn. Right now we are looking at maybe 12'x25', but I am worried the chickens won't be able to keep warm in a space that large.
Last thing to consider is that we really love raising chickens. If things continue to go well this year and we are able to sell some of the eggs, we may consider getting more or possibly breeding. So building as large of a coop as possible at this point will be ideal.
I know there are a lot of seasoned experts out there, so thanks in advance for your advice!!!

 

[snowflake]

What time do your chickens go to bed at night? Mine don't seem to want to go back to the coop until 9:30ish.I have to go out and coax them in. Will they eventually learn on their own? And how old are they before they start roosting? Mine are about 10 weeks and they all still just pile up in a corner.

What they said, when I was working and wanted to go to bead early, they stayed out till 9:30 or 10, now I am retired and it doesn't matter so much, they go in around 8. young seem to take the hint from the older ones. some times I think some go in early to get the best place on the roost

'''''''''''' I may put some vitamins in the water tomorrow, this heat is a killer, Was gone all last week camping, DH stayed home and took care of the critters, but I think they may need some extra, help with this heat. ... 6 broody hens, don't know how they can sit in the box with all the heat,

are those bats coming out of your house? . think I would call some one to take care of that. don't mind bats, but not in my house.

RAZ, you are supposed to be taking it easy, cutting wood does not come under "taking it easy"



congrats on the pullet egg

 

[snowflake]

Yup, had a bit of it here a couple hours ago. Fortunately, the breeze remains and the sun remains hidden.

Btw, hello fellow Michiganders. I'm new to the thread and BYC. Northern lower peninsula, specifically traverse city.

Welcome, always nice to have new folks

Got a lot of stuff done today. cleaned out the closet in the mud room and got a layer of dirt out of that. and sorted out some old coats and snowmobile suites to drop them off to Goodwill. With Mom's hip replacement on Wednesday, she's been on a cleaning tear here and we've been getting things ready for that. Got the new nest boxes all set up in the new coop and even had one of the girls use one of them today. And my brother and I cut down an old dead ash tree that was out in our pothole without dropping it on our heads. Always a plus there. Cut some of those branches off and got them into the coop for the roosts in there.




Kinda debating about putting something in under the sawdust in the nest box. somebody was kicking out/tossing out the sawdust while she was in there.


One of Candy and Brett's Iowa's working in the new nest box. Thinking with Mom's surgery on Wednesday, I'm just going to use that day to lock them into that tractor as nobody is really going to be home all day with that.

like your box, and pretty hen, I put feed bags cut to fit, incase an egg breaks, easier to clean

I look for those spongy place mats on clearance and use those for extra padding.

I like that idea too,

funny we were camping at the rifle river rec area, last week, a good 3 hrs away,, never been to the double R, about a 15 min. drive.

 

[snowflake]

Yup, had a bit of it here a couple hours ago. Fortunately, the breeze remains and the sun remains hidden.

Btw, hello fellow Michiganders. I'm new to the thread and BYC. Northern lower peninsula, specifically traverse city.

Got a lot of stuff done today. cleaned out the closet in the mud room and got a layer of dirt out of that. and sorted out some old coats and snowmobile suites to drop them off to Goodwill. With Mom's hip replacement on Wednesday, she's been on a cleaning tear here and we've been getting things ready for that. Got the new nest boxes all set up in the new coop and even had one of the girls use one of them today. And my brother and I cut down an old dead ash tree that was out in our pothole without dropping it on our heads. Always a plus there. Cut some of those branches off and got them into the coop for the roosts in there.




Kinda debating about putting something in under the sawdust in the nest box. somebody was kicking out/tossing out the sawdust while she was in there.


One of Candy and Brett's Iowa's working in the new nest box. Thinking with Mom's surgery on Wednesday, I'm just going to use that day to lock them into that tractor as nobody is really going to be home all day with that.

I look for those spongy place mats on clearance and use those for extra padding.

Yup, had a bit of it here a couple hours ago. Fortunately, the breeze remains and the sun remains hidden.

Btw, hello fellow Michiganders. I'm new to the thread and BYC. Northern lower peninsula, specifically traverse city.

Welcome , always nice to have new folks, join in

Got a lot of stuff done today. cleaned out the closet in the mud room and got a layer of dirt out of that. and sorted out some old coats and snowmobile suites to drop them off to Goodwill. With Mom's hip replacement on Wednesday, she's been on a cleaning tear here and we've been getting things ready for that. Got the new nest boxes all set up in the new coop and even had one of the girls use one of them today. And my brother and I cut down an old dead ash tree that was out in our pothole without dropping it on our heads. Always a plus there. Cut some of those branches off and got them into the coop for the roosts in there.




Kinda debating about putting something in under the sawdust in the nest box. somebody was kicking out/tossing out the sawdust while she was in there.


One of Candy and Brett's Iowa's working in the new nest box. Thinking with Mom's surgery on Wednesday, I'm just going to use that day to lock them into that tractor as nobody is really going to be home all day with that.

like your box, and your pretty hen, I use cut to fit feed bags, easy clean up if an egg breaks

I look for those spongy place mats on clearance and use those for extra padding.

thats funny, we were camping at the Rifle River Rec Area, about 3 hrs away, and have never camped at the Double R, about 15, min. away,

 

[1muttsfan]

Hello to my Michigan Friends! I have finally overcome my fear of posting! Not sure if this is the right spot for a question, but here goes....

Can a coop be too big to keep the birds warm during a Michigan winter?


Also, do the two walls we are building need to be solid walls or can we use chicken wire? My SO thinks the cinder block barn will retain a lot of heat so we will need only chicken wire walls.... I am leaning towards closing the whole thing in within the barn. Right now we are looking at maybe 12'x25', but I am worried the chickens won't be able to keep warm in a space that large.
Last thing to consider is that we really love raising chickens. If things continue to go well this year and we are able to sell some of the eggs, we may consider getting more or possibly breeding. So building as large of a coop as possible at this point will be ideal.
I know there are a lot of seasoned experts out there, so thanks in advance for your advice!!!

Hi and welcome to BYC and the Michigan thread

Actually, a cinder block building would retain cold in the winter - they radiate cold inwards. If you incorporate your coop inside the building, you might consider insulating the walls. Generally, you want to provide 4 square feet of space in the coop, and 10 square feet of run space per bird. I would probably wall off an area so that you can reduce drafts, chickens can tolerate very cold temps but need a relatively draft-free (but well ventilated) area in cold weather.


Snowflake - catching up?

 

[bigmrg74]

Hello to my Michigan Friends! I have finally overcome my fear of posting! Not sure if this is the right spot for a question, but here goes....

Can a coop be too big to keep the birds warm during a Michigan winter?
Here's a little background: I am new to chickens. Last year my SO & I bought a place that came w/ a small coop, huge chicken yard, 2 hens and a roo. Needless to say, I fell in love and as of this spring, have 25 chickens! I have constantly checked the BYC site to guide me through, and everything has gone perfectly!!! My 1st group (13 hens, 19 weeks) just started laying, the 2nd group of hens (13 weeks) is in a smaller brooder/ coop within the big yard and intermingling with minimal supervision. I have the original rooster & one surprise new bantum rooster, they are respecting each other well. No problems!!! I am starting to get worried...

So, the flock is separated into 2 groups that coexist, each with it's own rooster. Part of the reason we bought the property was the large cinder block barn that we are not using, equip with electric & running water. We would like to partition off some of it to build a new coop to house all chickens. So it would be a coop within the barn. The barn is around 25'x40'. Ventilation is great- one fan blows air out of the barn & 2 hanging fans. The chickens are in the yard all day, even seemed to go most days during last winter.
So my questions is, how big can the coop be within the barn for 25 birds? It will be in a corner to utilize 2 existing walls, with wood floors. We will not be doing any heat/ extra light during winter. Also, do the two walls we are building need to be solid walls or can we use chicken wire? My SO thinks the cinder block barn will retain a lot of heat so we will need only chicken wire walls.... I am leaning towards closing the whole thing in within the barn. Right now we are looking at maybe 12'x25', but I am worried the chickens won't be able to keep warm in a space that large.
Last thing to consider is that we really love raising chickens. If things continue to go well this year and we are able to sell some of the eggs, we may consider getting more or possibly breeding. So building as large of a coop as possible at this point will be ideal.
I know there are a lot of seasoned experts out there, so thanks in advance for your advice!!!

Considering that you're looking to do chickens for a long time, I would suggest you go with hardware cloth to fence in your birds as there are a lot of predators that can get into a barn and tear through chicken wire and kill off your flock. Rats, raccoons, weasels. Hardware cloth has small enough openings that weasels can't slide through, and is strong enough to stop coyotes and large dogs from breaking through it as well.

 

[WalnutHill]

Hello to my Michigan Friends! I have finally overcome my fear of posting! Not sure if this is the right spot for a question, but here goes....

Can a coop be too big to keep the birds warm during a Michigan winter?
Here's a little background: I am new to chickens. Last year my SO & I bought a place that came w/ a small coop, huge chicken yard, 2 hens and a roo. Needless to say, I fell in love and as of this spring, have 25 chickens! I have constantly checked the BYC site to guide me through, and everything has gone perfectly!!! My 1st group (13 hens, 19 weeks) just started laying, the 2nd group of hens (13 weeks) is in a smaller brooder/ coop within the big yard and intermingling with minimal supervision. I have the original rooster & one surprise new bantum rooster, they are respecting each other well. No problems!!! I am starting to get worried...

So, the flock is separated into 2 groups that coexist, each with it's own rooster. Part of the reason we bought the property was the large cinder block barn that we are not using, equip with electric & running water. We would like to partition off some of it to build a new coop to house all chickens. So it would be a coop within the barn. The barn is around 25'x40'. Ventilation is great- one fan blows air out of the barn & 2 hanging fans. The chickens are in the yard all day, even seemed to go most days during last winter.
So my questions is, how big can the coop be within the barn for 25 birds? It will be in a corner to utilize 2 existing walls, with wood floors. We will not be doing any heat/ extra light during winter. Also, do the two walls we are building need to be solid walls or can we use chicken wire? My SO thinks the cinder block barn will retain a lot of heat so we will need only chicken wire walls.... I am leaning towards closing the whole thing in within the barn. Right now we are looking at maybe 12'x25', but I am worried the chickens won't be able to keep warm in a space that large.
Last thing to consider is that we really love raising chickens. If things continue to go well this year and we are able to sell some of the eggs, we may consider getting more or possibly breeding. So building as large of a coop as possible at this point will be ideal.
I know there are a lot of seasoned experts out there, so thanks in advance for your advice!!!

I take a slightly different approach with my birds. I raise them in what looks like a party tent...tarp type material on the roof and sides over a steel pole frame. We erected the frame and cover on raised plywood decks and installed a gable vent fan in each, plus the front, back, and one end wall roll up in each coop.

We house up to 250 chickens or 50 turkeys in each coop. All year round we leave both sides rolled up. We roll the back down only when brooding babies or when strong storms from the north are blowing in or when temps are below 10F. We roll the front (facing south) down so rarely I can't remember the last time we did.

The birds can sunbathe and dustbathe inside the coop, as the pole sides are covered with welded wire. The area we partitioned off as a brooder also has chicken wire inside the welded wire.

We have never had injury from cold temperatures to birds that can roost on wood well above the ground. The biggest dangers are ammonia buildup and moisture buildup. An open sided coop ventilates well enough to keep dry.

 

[aart]

I take a slightly different approach with my birds. I raise them in what looks like a party tent...tarp type material on the roof and sides over a steel pole frame. We erected the frame and cover on raised plywood decks and installed a gable vent fan in each, plus the front, back, and one end wall roll up in each coop.

We house up to 250 chickens or 50 turkeys in each coop. All year round we leave both sides rolled up. We roll the back down only when brooding babies or when strong storms from the north are blowing in or when temps are below 10F. We roll the front (facing south) down so rarely I can't remember the last time we did.

The birds can sunbathe and dustbathe inside the coop, as the pole sides are covered with welded wire. The area we partitioned off as a brooder also has chicken wire inside the welded wire.

We have never had injury from cold temperatures to birds that can roost on wood well above the ground. The biggest dangers are ammonia buildup and moisture buildup. An open sided coop ventilates well enough to keep dry.

Pics of 'coops'?
Didn't see any in your photo albums.

 

[RaZ]

RAZ, you are supposed to be taking it easy, cutting wood does not come under "taking it easy"

Well the blasted chainsaw wouldn't start.