Nesting Boxes, Cover, and Heat

[dreamerofdreams]

After losing my first hens to the heat, I'm ready to start out again. I brought home two Delawares today, but I want to get some advice on a few things so that I do better by these hens. I've made some changes already but I did want advice on something.

My current concern is the coop/nesting box. My first hens died because they went into the coop to lay during the heat. If I just close off the coop when it is hot, do I need to provide an alternate nesting site for them? Would an open box (with no roof or anything) work? I have a small coop and could just take the top half off to make it not an oven. I know they like privacy, but it seems like privacy=heat!

 

[lindsay297]

Do you have any ventilation in the top of your coop?? When you think about heat rising it can escape and not build up if you have roof venting or gable venting of some sort. I have the entire gables open to venting and covered by the covers that I bought at my local hardware store.

I also have made a door cover for my man door on the coop. I used hardware cloth with 1"x2" holes and cut it the size of the door frame. I then put in nails and "hang" the cloth on the open door during the afternoon. This keeps the girls in and the predators out. But lets in ALOT of air on those really hot and humid days.

The cover for the door is alot less work then cutting more holes in your coop and seems to work really well for me. Hope that these suggestions will work....

Good luck!!

 

[Den in Penn]

Yes you would have to provide an alternate nest. But consider this they sleep in the coop and if it doesn't have an air flow during the day hows it going to cool off at night? Find a way of opening up the coop for more ventilation. Lindsay297 gave a few good ideas to start with.