Pictures of roost "huddle boxes" please......

[tdgill]

feathersnuggles,
just went to your site and really enjoyed your pics and happy story for mirage!

now the picture of mirage on the roost in the coop is a good example of no need for a huddle hover box, looks cozy. i was thinking about raising my roosts up higher to achieve huddle hover effect. or does that trap moisture from the breathing..and frostbite

 

[tdgill]

just getting a refresher from Patandchickens page. just what i needed to read. As I said, I like goodly amounts of ventilation - my shed just feels colder inside than outside when its closed up!!! was like that before chickens too. Have tried to narrow down possible sources of humidity like the splash up from the concrete when it rained, low spot in the yard, but for now and trying my darndest to keep as much air circulating as possible, while hoping to make it cozy and draft free. yes, i will be adding more chickens too.

"And yes, insulation is quite useful even with vents open (for some reason this issue comes up often); would you think it pointless to wear a winter coat just 'cuz you had no hat on?

What insulation does is reduce heat loss from the coop so that you can afford to admit more cold air without making the place too cold."

 

[feathersnuggles]

Quote:
LOL tdgill, you went through all those pics! thanks for checking out Mirage, btw. Last time I visited him he was still doing great, and is REALLY big.

Yes, my flock roosts fairly high to the ceiling. I do a daily poop scoop, to be sure all those wet dropping are gone - removing potential moisture from the coop. Their water is in the coop. Last night the temps dropped to 34 F, but I checked early early this morning and the coop temp was 38 F and it didn't feel humid in there either. So, even with fairly thin plywood on the coop, no insulation, and an open pop door to the run, the birds did fine. Our coop is a salvaged one; a neighbor with chickens moved to Oregon last spring. She was going to take her coop to the garbage dump. But we grabbed it, added the run and got ourselves some chicks. Next year, I think we'll improve with insulation because Seattle occasionally has a nasty cold winter snap. But for now, it's working okay.

 

[feathersnuggles]

Quote:
Went to the website & sent an email request for the book price. Thanks, DawnSuiter, for the recommendation!

 

[DawnSuiter]

Your welcome. I've purchased a few different books, and am very happy with how this one reads. Truth be told I've had to read it over and over though as bits sink in here and there into my head.

It's sitting right here to my left, always within reach

 

[BayCityBabe]

Gabby - I think you should leave the roosts "as is." The birds will huddle together & stay warm. You could possibly box off the end of that platform to keep their heat nearer to the roosts. Also, the window seems like your biggest threat. Unless you are certain that it is super-tight, I would recommend boarding it over when the worst weather hits.

 

[DawnSuiter]

Well I started a couple of the boxes this week.. it's warmed up enough to begin working outside for a few days. I'll finish those two today hopefully and have some pics for you guys.

 

[DawnSuiter]

Here are the spaces we did:
Breeding Pen #'s 2 & 3

And this is what we worked out. Using cardboard sheets from the feed store (they are put onto the pallet before loading the stacks of feed bags to keep the bottom bags from shredding & breaking during transit. Every delivery day my feed lady has dozens of these to toss out)
I disassembled everything, and reused all the pieces to create this basic frame. Since only chicken wire seperates these two coops at this height, I thought it would be BETTER if I could get all the chickens into ONE box setup. Instead of having one box with 3 chickens, we now have one box extending between two coops with 6 chickens (even though they are still separate from eachother)
The frame for the poop board is one solid piece, I cut enough of the wire to pass the 2X4 through to the other side & mounted it on a vertical 2X4 on this side and the back side is where a 4X4 sits anyway for the coops structure.

Using staples & cardboard I closed it in on the top & sides

The view from the other side of the wall too

and a closed in front

It's stapled to the rafters, and we bent it across the bottom so that we can flip that all up and get in there to pull the paper & poop out. It is not attached across the bottom to allow that. Instead I just stapled a piece of scrap cardboard scrap along the front of the frame to create a "lip" to keep the cardboard front in place when the chickens bump against it from the inside of the box.

This style won't work in all our coops, so I'm working on a corner unit too for my main hen house which current holds 2 breeding pairs instead of a flock of layers. I have one more open breeding pen too, still to do as well. 3 more to go. Then I think we'll be ok for the winter. Unfortunately, most of the damage has already been done to my roo's combs since our first unexpected deep freeze, but it's going to be a LONG cold winter, so better late than never.

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

I made this one for the hoop coop out of a shipping container from a local tech co.

This shows the box with the man door out for easy access and cleaning. I will be adding the roost poles within the next week. The pullets are still doing the dog-pile thing so I really haven't worried about the roost's.

 

[DawnSuiter]

Nice job marty!