Newbie Needing Help

[BukBukMama]

Hey everyone! I've read a lot, but apparently not enough. I guess this puts me ahead a bit, knowing that I don't know everything. :/
I recently moved to my current location, which is a small farm. my husband and I got some chickens, (well, maybe more than some, we have 50 all together) and are working on our coop quite a bit, it's not up to par. We've rennovated an old tack shed, about 15'x15', into a coop.

As of right now, I have 20 adolescent leghorns, 15 giant australorpe chicks, and my husband has 15 pheonixes. The chicks are in an open air run, they have a light but don't really need it right now. The leghorns are in the coop, though I do free range them when I can.

The first thing I know I desperately need is ventilation. Our coop has nowhere near enough. The tack shed is up off the ground, it sits one end level with the hillside, the other end is about 3.5 feet off the ground. We still have to build a run, this is why I let the leghorns range. We're working on a very limited budget, most of our coop is reclaimed wood, etc.

What is the ideal temperature range for these breeds? How hot is too hot? It gets pretty hot here in WV, up to 110 F. It also gets very cold, down to 10 below. This has put me in a bit of a bind, I need to figure out how to keep it cool enough, AND warm enough.
There are a ton of predators here in the mountains, including coyotes, bears, mountain lions, etc. So, the coop has to be strong enough to withstand them too.

I don't even know where to start with asking questions. Any advice you guys can offer me will be much, much appreciated.

 

[fiddlebanshee]

I wouldn't worry about the cold. Chickens can tolerate a lot of that and if you need, you can treat the combs with vaseline to prevent frostbite. As to predator proofing -- I'd say cover every conceivable opening, however small, with 1/2" hardware cloth attached with washers and screws. If the coop is not within a secure run, have locks on popdoor and people door that a raccoon cannot figure out.

For bears the only thing you can do really is to surround everything with an electric fence. That's what I did. I'm on a mountain in MD so I have the same kind of predator issues as you do. Electric fencing doesn't have to be very expensive if you just run a couple of wires to keep, coyotes, dogs and the big cats and bears away from the coop. Make sure you have a charger that delivers at least 8000 volts to deter the bears.

For the heat -- make sure you create some cross ventilation in the coop. Can you plant something close to it so that it is shaded during the hottest part of the day?

 

[BukBukMama]

Thankfully, the coop is under many trees, and on a part of the hill that catches a nice breeze in the summer. My husband plans to fence in the entire property, hopefully that will deter the big cats and the bears. I'm going to go out and get a roll of hardware cloth and some saw blades for the power saw today, make some windows. that's a good start...
I'll have to get some pics and put them up.

 

[BukBukMama]

There's one of the adolescent leghorns in my avi pic, she loves the tire swing.
My husband was talking about putting a wood stove in the coop, after reading on the forums here, I'm seeing that that's not necessary. Are the large infrared lights (I got from tractor supply) enough to keep them warm during the winter?

 

[fiddlebanshee]

I would not worry about heat in the coop in the winter. Putting a woodstove in a coop is asking for a fire to start because you will not be there 24x7 to monitor it. Heatlamps can also be a fire hazard. And from all I have read it is more detrimental than that it helps. I would insulate the coop if you are really worried but other than that I would not do anything. Make sure that there is adequate ventilation at all times, even if it is 10 below.

During cold spells too much warmth and too little ventilation causes frostbite as the humid air in the coop (from their breathing) condensates on their combs. Just make sure they have wide perches like a 2x4 on its wide side so that they can cover their toes when they sleep.

 

[BukBukMama]

I went out and cut 3 huge windows today, much airier, they seem to like the new digs Trying to talk to the husband about everything I'm learning, I think he's going to do it his way... :/