New chicks in Norway...

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iananderson

iananderson

Chirping
Mar 31, 2014
25
19
99
Close to the beach in Asker, Norway
Hi everyone,
Thanks for the help so far, been invaluable in getting set up for our new chicks (3 Norwegian Jærhøns and 3 light sussex).

Had chickens several times before (East Africa and New Zealand etc) but always from POL.
Got kids now so it had to be chicks didn't it lol!

First time with chickens in a cold climate too and we get a lot of snow here, but I see lots of snow in the USA from members here so I guess it's all 'doable', few challenges ahead (isn't there with everything?!

Looking forward to being around...

Should be six there....somewhere!
 
images


Welcome to BYC!

Adorable little babies you have there! Yes, lots of us deal with brutally cold winter temps. As long as your coop is clean and dry, they roost in calm air lower to the floor and you have good ventilation in your roof or eaves, the birds will do just fine.

Great to have you aboard and enjoy your new babies!
 
Quote: Thanks TwoCrows!

Actually that's interesting I always got a bit confused about the "chickens don't like drafts" and "keep coops well ventilated" Exactly how to you achieve that paradox!?

I had anticipated getting the roost as high up in the coop as was practical (I'm aiming for appx 4'x4'x4' or so for the house part..... with a double pitch roof and the roost up in the apex etc. (I'm building in 2" timber, clad inside and out with pallet wood and fiberglass in between the framing) plus a 'wind/water' membrane of some sort (stuff like that cost a bomb here, a roll of Tyvek/DuPont type stuff was $240!!!)

I wonder should I plan for the roost to be a little lower then?
Cheers
 
A draft is any air that is blowing on the birds as they roost. You are aiming for them to roost in relatively slow moving air. You want some air movement, but not fast moving either. What happens is, as the chickens breathe and poop, plus the moisture that might be in the bedding beneath them, this warm moist air wants to rise. If you have vents in your eaves, then this moisture gets trapped in this movement of positive air and heads right out your roof. If you don't have these vents moving air out in the winter, this warm moist air can fall back down on the birds causing them to get wet and frost bite on the combs. I don't like them roosting up in the rafters because this moist air that is rising from the floor is now chilled, doesn't have far to go and causes chilling and frost bite. You want the air to have to travel a distance away from the birds.

In my coop, I have vents on two opposing sides of my slanted roof. The birds roost low to the floor, the moist air slowly rises to meet my positive air flow and goes right out the roof. The birds stay dry, in quiet air and they stay incredibly warm even in sub zero temps.
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Cute chicks! Good luck with them!
Check out the BYC Coops section for coop ideas from people in cold areas, https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coops
This is a good member page on cold weather https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/winter-coop-temperatures and https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop
Another great place to check out is the BYC Learning Center, lots of good articles on all aspects of chicken keeping https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center
 
iananderson said:
Thanks, that makes sense. Apologies for the one minute sketch but I was thinking of something like this then......
Click to expand...
That looks like a nice design for good air flow. They say about 1 square foot per bird, or as close as you can come to that.

As long as the air round the roost area is relatively still enough not to suck the heat out of the birds or their area keeping their bubble of air warm, (they produce a lot of heat as well), and the warm moist air can rise high enough to get caught up in the vent air, your birds will do fine.

Good luck on the coop build!
 

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