My "hot weather" chicken coop

[IdyllwildAcres]

What happens if there is a power outage and the girls are not acclimated to the heat? The solar swamp cooler is nice, maybe ditch the AC and make another one for the coop? Just my 2 cents..

Gary

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Can you please share how you made the ice chest??

There are DIY vids on youtube, I saw one for a 5 gallon bucket made into a swamp cooler all 12 volt so solar would work well or you coul use a regular plug in fan.

I would be interested to see a pic of this one opened....

Gary

 

[SpaghettiJo]

Thanks, I bought the small wood w nest box, then I expanded the wood coop to make it longer, then built a first floor to make it roomier, then I finally, I bought the red coop on the other side and added a tunnel to connect it! I love tinkering and changing things for them. This is what I started with.

Wow!! Very impressive!!

 

[aart]

hahaha!!
Hope that thing is not set at too low of a temp.
I'd put a Kil-A-Wt on it to see how much power it's sucking up.

Wants to see the deets on the swamp cooler too.

 

[feather13]

Wow! Super impressive!

 

[QuicheandCo]

hahaha!!
Hope that thing is not set at too low of a temp.
I'd put a Kil-A-Wt on it to see how much power it's sucking up.

Wants to see the deets on the swamp cooler too.

 

[QuicheandCo]

I keep it on low and the fan on low and the ramp door and window are open. I don't want to freeze them out or interfere with their tolerance for warm weather, we are in the desert after all. But the unit is small and they go in and out all day. When it's super hot, they get right in front of it, normally they just walk around in there.

 

[QuicheandCo]

Can you please share how you made the ice chest??

I just picked out an ice chest with a flat top(no cup holders) and cut two holes. In one hole I installed an 18 watt hi velocity fan and in the other a pvc elbow joint. I cut a hole in a food container top to place over the fan to keep leaves out and fingers safe! I brought wires from solar panels to a solar controller then and installed a switch so I could turn it off when it wasn't needed. I made the connection to a deep cycle battery, which I have stored underground in a landscape valve box. I dug the hole several inches deeper than the height of the battery and built a wooden platform to set the battery on to protect it from rain and to keep the battery off the ground.

What happens if there is a power outage and the girls are not acclimated to the heat? The solar swamp cooler is nice, maybe ditch the AC and make another one for the coop? Just my 2 cents..

Gary

i have a temperature@lert that notifies me if the temp falls outside of my preset perimeters or if the power goes out.

 

[Kiki]

View attachment 1080192 View attachment 1080193 View attachment 1080193
I just picked out an ice chest with a flat top(no cup holders) and cut two holes. In one hole I installed an 18 watt hi velocity fan and in the other a pvc elbow joint. I cut a hole in a food container top to place over the fan to keep leaves out and fingers safe! I brought wires from solar panels to a solar controller then and installed a switch so I could turn it off when it wasn't needed. I made the connection to a deep cycle battery, which I have stored underground in a landscape valve box. I dug the hole several inches deeper than the height of the battery and built a wooden platform to set the battery on to protect it from rain and to keep the battery off the ground.

i have a temperature@lert that notifies me if the temp falls outside of my preset perimeters or if the power goes out.

Thanks!
So it's just a fan...no ice block or anything to "cool" the air?

 

[QuicheandCo]

There are DIY vids on youtube, I saw one for a 5 gallon bucket made into a swamp cooler all 12 volt so solar would work well or you coul use a regular plug in fan.

I would be interested to see a pic of this one opened....

Gary

At first I used two smaller electronic fans, but when the solar panel was partially shaded, one of them turned off. So I got a second solar panel and a more powerful fan so that's why the rectangular hole is there. Learning as I go!