No heat in the coop and dead bird

[BantyChooks]

I don't have silkies, but I would guess that they are more susceptible to cold since they don't have actual feathers. I don't know if they grow down or not. Could any silkie owners enlighten us?

I have owned a few. They are remarkably tough and I rarely have to bring them in. I did bring my current Buff Silkie cock in last week, but that was because he slept under the roosts for some reason and got his wing glued to his back with frozen poop.

 

[buckabucka]

I have some frostbite going on (especially the large-combed birds). It may be that I need more ventilation, but this has been a really severe stretch! Thursday night -30, Friday -27, Saturday -24.9, Sunday -31.9, with highs never above 5. We have never had this kind of sub-zero stretch before. I'm kind of surprised the birds are still alive.

 

[Altfrizzle]

Right. I do have 2 cocks with pretty large single combs and they haven’t got frost bite. Can we still say it’s a ventilation problem?

 

[WhatAboutBob?]

I am confused. I think we might be missing some critical information. To get this straight, you have a dead 5 month cockerel, and a 7 month cockerel in terrible condition. Then in addition you have 2 large combed roosters that are fine? What is the distribution of your flock? No one can say for certain, but there are basic fundamentals that remain basic fundamentals. Is it “possible” the 5 month and 7 month old are/have been under stress from Flock dynamics? That would make them more susceptible to any other stressors/illnesses....

 

[WhatAboutBob?]

How does one adjust humidity inside a coop?

Ventilation and not keeping water inside the coop at night, as well as clean litter.

 

[nightowl223]

Keep in mind size of vent openings don't mean a lot unless you know if it's a passive or convection venting system. Now think about this, if you have a vent or two vents at same height then they are passive venting. Small exchange of air and relative to size of hole as to how much air circulation/exchange you get. On the other hand there is convection venting where vents are lower on one side and higher on other. In this way smaller area of vent holes are needed as the air is sucked in low end and blown out hot/high end. It creates a natural pumping of air that is much larger flow of air than passive venting.

The real number for venting of poultry is 0.5 cubic feet of air per minute per bird. So it doesn't really matter how you attain that, passive or convection venting, but the bottom line is you need that much air exchange per bird per minute to keep your coop dry and clean air quality. A classic passive system is Woods style coop where the entire front of coop is wire, for that to work the coops are 10 or so feet deep to keep drafts off bird roosts at back wall. Convection it opening area along the eave albeit holes or 2 inches along entire length to draw air in and push coop air out top eave or out the gable vents. It's vastly more efficient, requiring far less vent area.

Best explanation I've seen in quite awhile for proper ventilation. Very well done!

 

[junebuggena]

Grr, I’m so frustrated with this winter coop. I brought my silkies in the garage because they were feathers were matted on top with frost and the water wouldn’t stay thawed. I have 8 Silkies in this 8’ wide x 16’ long ceiling is 6’ slopes to 5’.
View attachment 1223606
I have plastic up on all of it except the area above the door about 3’x2’ and directly across from it a little smaller. I’ve been told it’s too much ventilation I’m letting too much humid air in. In the spring I’m modifying with an add on to the east end a small enclosed insulated area just for laying and night. But what can I do in the meantime, I want to get them back out but afraid they will die. I’m in northern ny temperatures been -20F. I Put a heat lamp up over the area where the water is but not sure if being 4’ above it will help much and frankly I’m afraid to use it.

Yeah, that's more of a run than a coop. And closing it all up with plastic is just going to have a greenhouse effect. Plastic doesn't breath and will trap moisture inside. You need to find the right balance of sheltered from wind/rain/snow and still providing airflow.

 

[Altfrizzle]

5 mo old was dead. 7 month old was fine but huddling in nesting box. I think for warmth. He’s a frizzle.

It’s possible stress was a factor, although these guys aren’t/weren’t getting picked on.

I have one vent lower than the other so should have convection ventilation but did also open other vents today.

 

[junebuggena]

5 mo old was dead. 7 month old was fine but huddling in nesting box. I think for warmth. He’s a frizzle.

It’s possible stress was a factor, although these guys aren’t/weren’t getting picked on.

I have one vent lower than the other so should have convection ventilation but did also open other vents today.

Ventilation is a factor, but we need to know where the roosts are in relation to the vents. Yes you need airflow, but roosts need to be positioned away from that airflow. A high vent and a low vent aren't going to help if your birds are sitting right in between getting air blown on them.

 

[nightowl223]

it’s dark now and I don’t have good pic.s but will do tomorrow. It’s about 4’x8’, sloped roof about 4 1/2’ on high side. Vents are along both long sides, so about 8’x 4” or so which the problem, right? With 4 it was ok, but with 8 plus this severe cold, not so much. The vents are on the E and W sides. We could add some on the upper parts of the N and S or put more on the 2 sides that have it now. Prevailing winds seem to come out of the W/NW. We have a protective line of evergreens along the W side.
We also have 2 doors (on S and N) with smaller one on S side but they’re both low obviously. Bad idea to leave the smaller one open? (this is where the draft vs. ventilation comes in)

You could leave the one on the south side open, unless for some weird reason the wind was very strong and coming from the south, which really doesn't ever happen in the winter that I know of. For the same reason, you could safely add some ventilation along the top of the south side, as well. Just make sure the roosts are not up at the same level as the vents, but down lower where any stray drafts are not hitting the birds.

Now, with 8 birds, you have enough sq ft for all 8 in a 4' x 8' coop, unless there is a lot of the area inside used up by other stuff, but not so very much that it's too big, so that shouldn't be the issue. So, it almost certainly, again, comes down to ventilation. Which is why I'm trying to draw a mental picture of what your coop's layout actually is. Are these vents you're calling 8 ft worth of 4" vents a total, of both long sides? As in, 4 ft worth on one long side and 4 ft worth on the other long side?

Ideally, you should have the eaves open along both long side, which (making assumptions about your building's construction) would make nearly 8 ft worth of nearly 4" (3 1/2" is a 2 x 4's height) tall ventilation along the E side, and just as much along the W side. Not counting the small door, that is about 4 1/2 sq ft of ventilation, if my math is correct (which isn't a given this evening). With one side being higher than the other, it should offer SOMETHING other than passive, so we'll go with that. Using that, it allows for 4 - 5 birds. Which means you would need something around 3 1/2 sq ft more in ventilation. That could be a couple of those louvered vents lower on the E or S side, or even a little 120V powered vent which would make up for a LOT of lack of other ventilation.

Now that I've rattled on and on, I hope at least some of it was helpful.