Prefab Greenhouse Ideas Anyone?

[goosemama]

Been thinking of buying a prefab greenhouse for my husband's garden seedlings and to use it for a duck & goose shelter in the winter. Anyone have any ideas of where to find an inexpensive unit? We do have a gas well so could heat it if necessary. Thanks All!

 

[patandchickens]

You are likely to have problems using it for birds in the wintertime, unless you can open up a considerable fraction of one or more walls (not just vents and door - more than that). The problem is that it will warm up quite a lot during the day, evaporating soil moisture into the air, and then it will cool down pretty close to ambient outdoor temperatures at night (there is next to no insulating value in plain glass/plastic greenhouse walls, and not too darn much even if they're fancier double- or triple-walled materials). Not only does this mean you are getting no meaningful nighttime heating, more importantly it means that most of the time (incl. all night) the structure will be at essentially 100% humidity. Which is Not Good for animal health.

In principle you could heat it, but IMHO if you're going to heat something, why not heat something more appropriate for animals to live in i.e. something better-insulated and less humidity-producing.

I was under the impression that ducks and geese don't need more than good wind shelter for wintertime? Which is pretty uncomplicated to provide. Also it will spare your greenhouse from physical damage due to poultry inhabitants, and prevent you from having to clean up a winter's worth of horrible mess before planting, and let you start your plantings in late winter without having to evict unsuspecting waterfowl

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Freeholder]

I was told by the ag. extension agent in Fairbanks (Alaska) that geese can handle down to one hundred degrees below zero (F), and ducks down to eighty degrees below zero. They really don't need anything more than a three-sided windbreak unless you live in Antarctica, LOL!

Kathleen

 

[Oopoo]

Out on the big wide net there are plans for hoop houses or hoop greenhouses. Put one of those easy peasy things together over a rock or sand base and you got a great greenhouse that holds heat overnight. They also tell you about add black painted milk jugs full of water on the south side to absorb heat all day and release it at night. You could open the ends for winter and let the "birds" take a break when it's real cold