post your chicken coop pictures here!

[gpeters3]

You have 21 chickens in a 4x8 coop, right? 1.5 sq.ft. per chicken is not enough room.

I like the deep bedding, clean twice a year scheme but with 22 birds in a 9x12 coop it may not work. I spent the wholenl day redesigning the water system and now the nipples are at the outer wall half of the coop and i cut a hole and covered it with hardware cloth to allow better drainage of the spilled water. I also bought the large wood flakes/shavings to see if they will stay a little less packed.

The other day i worked late in the barn and they were making a ruckus. When i checked there were a few that wanted to get on the top roost and kept flying up and landing on the others. They were all fussing and i have 17 feet of upper roost as well as 4 other levels the same length. More than enough room for all but some wanted a certain spot.

I agree, any less than what i have would be WAY too small. Im going to use leg bands to mark my good layers and cull the rest to get down to a better fit.

 

[Intheswamp]

Ed, see the post below. Then build the 8x12 if that is the max size you are considering. Life for you and the chickens is a lot easier if they have plenty of room and you can walk into the coop to do things. And then when you get more chickens, you don't have to add on.

I hear you Bruce, and I've always said/thought that a person needs to build as big as possible. I'm just not so sure at this season of my life how big I need to invest in...time, money, energy, etc.,. I'll probably go at least the 8x8 route and definitely haven't ruled out the 8x12.

Ed

 

[Intheswamp]

Give and take, I doubt you will see much temp difference out of the nipples, the water in the pipe simply does not move fast enough to draw in new cool water to counter act a hot day unless there are a lot of birds using the nipples and keeping it flowing, especially if the sun is shining on it...

Consider how fast a bottle of cold beer heats up in the sun at an outdoor party...

Not to say the ice is a waste, it might do some good especially if it's a lot, but I would just not expect it to turn great results...

Well, I'm not looking to give them brain-freeze but I figure if I can provide some water that is several degrees below body temperature and well below ambient during the heat of the day then it will help them some. I'm thinking on the 100F days (heat indexs well above that) the chickens will appreciate whatever I do to cool them off a bit.

Yes, the water definitely (whether in a cooler with ice or not) needs to be in the shade...a bucket of water sitting in the sun down here can get mighty hot. I have an outdoor faucet at my shop in town that gets afternoon sun on it...it's bedded down in cement....when it hasn't been used in a while when you turn it on it feels like it's coming out of a hot water heater!!! Definitely need the shade!

I'll experiment and see how it goes...

Ed

 

[MeepBeep]

I'm thinking that water is conductive of temperature

Not as conductive as many think... Consider your hot water in the house, unless you have a recirculating pump you probably have to run the hot water for a bit to get it hot as the hot water does't conduct all that well... Also if you have swam in a larger body of water like the ocean you can easily feel temp changes by depth...

 

[Intheswamp]

Not as conductive as many think... Consider your hot water in the house, unless you have a recirculating pump you probably have to run the hot water for a bit to get it hot as the hot water does't conduct all that well... Also if you have swam in a larger body of water like the ocean you can easily feel temp changes by depth...

Yes, I agree with you about the hot water in the house...but the hot water heater is probably 30 feet from the shower. I can grab a spot on the outlet line coming from the hot water heater that is that is at least 2-3 feet away from the heater and feel heat. The nipples will only be about a foot from the cooler...

I've swam in oceans, but also in still farm ponds which illustrate vividly what you're speaking of...that is stratification. We are talking about water that, though moving slowly, will move over a relatively short period of time. Also, being as the nipples and pvc pipe will be at the lowest point in the cooler-system the stratification may further help to cool the water in the nipples/pipe.

<chuckle> Like I said, I'll have to experiment a bit and see what I come up with.

Keep the feedback coming....it's healthy!!!

Ed

 

[Intheswamp]

I mentioned earlier about running a stainless steel rod down through the pvc pipe to possibly help cool the water in a nipple waterer via conduction. After thinking about it I think some stainless steel *cable* would be better...could snake it all the way from inside the cooler to the ends of the pipe. Just thinking...

Ed

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I am doing 24 x 24 feet.... I figure someone could use it as a kennel or a work shop later.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

I mentioned earlier about running a stainless steel rod down through the pvc pipe to possibly help cool the water in a nipple waterer via conduction. After thinking about it I think some stainless steel *cable* would be better...could snake it all the way from inside the cooler to the ends of the pipe. Just thinking...

Ed

think Heat exchanger.... same goes for chilling.... you need circulation around your temperature conductive element to tranfer heat or cold to the medium.

prime example of a heat exchanger is the radiator on your car.

deb

 

[gpeters3]

I mentioned earlier about running a stainless steel rod down through the pvc pipe to possibly help cool the water in a nipple waterer via conduction. After thinking about it I think some stainless steel *cable* would be better...could snake it all the way from inside the cooler to the ends of the pipe. Just thinking...

Ed

Has to be connected to something cold to do anything and stainless is not a good conductor. Unfortunately good conductors also tend to affect the water although copper has been used for years so may be ok for that (still has to be connected to something cold to work. If the system is in shade all day the water should not get too hot for them to drink, especially if it is totally opaque (white pvc is)

 

[gpeters3]

Well, I'm not looking to give them brain-freeze but I figure if I can provide some water that is several degrees below body temperature and well below ambient during the heat of the day then it will help them some. I'm thinking on the 100F days (heat indexs well above that) the chickens will appreciate whatever I do to cool them off a bit.

Yes, the water definitely (whether in a cooler with ice or not) needs to be in the shade...a bucket of water sitting in the sun down here can get mighty hot. I have an outdoor faucet at my shop in town that gets afternoon sun on it...it's bedded down in cement....when it hasn't been used in a while when you turn it on it feels like it's coming out of a hot water heater!!! Definitely need the shade!

I'll experiment and see how it goes...

Ed

Chickens don't need cold water but I'm sure they would prefer it like most living creatures do. That said, the simplest, cheapest solution is to keep all water in opaque containers/pipes to reduce any interaction with light and keep the whole system in the shade, all day. My barn typically is a few degrees cooler than outside so I keep a door to the barn open to allow air flow. My coop is attached to the barn and shares the roof with it and all materials and water are kept out of the sun. I added an exhaust fan to pull air from all openings to vent into the run (all wire) and the coop stays pretty comfortable. I have one more vent to open but have to get some wire to protect it. Short of running a recirculating refrigerated tube system I can't think of anything that would significantly cool the water.