Pulling the trigger

[Red Rhodes Island hybrid]

oh man, sounds like something I would do! I hope they forgive you!

Thank you

 

[Alagirl]

Welcome to BYC. from the NC Sandhills as a fellow inhabitant of the Steamy Southeast.

If you put your general location into your profile we can always see it and give you better-targeted advice.

Here's my article on hot climate chicken keeping: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/



Exactly what I was going to say!

Brooding out in the coop is the best way to naturally acclimate your chicks to your outdoor weather and to keep the noise, odor, and DUST out of your house.

Alabama is an excellent location for an Open Air coop -- essentially a roofed wire box with a 3-sided shelter at one end. Chickens tolerate cold easily -- down to 0F or below. They suffer in heat and need massive airflow to keep them healthy.

This is one of the reasons that prefab coops are such a bad idea. You just can't ventilate them decently.

View attachment 3073846


Open Air Coops

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/jens-hens-a-southern-texas-coop.75707/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-positive-local-action-coop.72804/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/california-living.68130/

Hoop coops are some of the easiest builds and lend themselves to the Open Air design.

Hoop Coops

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hoop-tractor.69336/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hoop-coop-brooder-with-roll-up-sides.75720/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-biddie-bordello-a-hoop-coop-run-combo.72189/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/permanent-hoop-coop-guide.47818/

Space is critical. Each adult, standard-sized hen needs:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

Your 6 hens need:

• 24 square feet in the coop. 4'x6' is the only really practical build for this given the common dimensions of lumber. If you can't walk into it, put the access door in the middle of the long side to make sure you can reach all areas of the coop because a stubborn chicken WILL press itself into/lay an egg in the back corner where you can't reach.
• 6 feet of roost
• 60 square feet in the run. 6'x10' or 8'x8'.
• 6 square feet of ventilation.
• 2 nest boxes, to give the hens a choice

Note: These numbers are usually considered minimums. In a hot climate my experience is that unless I can provide DEEP shade all day I need at least double or triple the ventilation just to keep the coop under 100F on a 90F day.

I would actually suggest that with 6 hens planned you make a 4x8 coop, which has the advantage of fitting standard dimensions of lumber and also gives you a little extra room to play with. Not just because "chicken math" is real, but because a little extra elbow room is always handy for multiple purposes.

One more question re: Ventilation
do folks put a fan in the coop to provide airflow in the summer?
It is common in other lifestock barns, even with the inherit dangers of an electrical device in a less than ideal environment.

 

[3KillerBs]

One more question re: Ventilation
do folks put a fan in the coop to provide airflow in the summer?
It is common in other lifestock barns, even with the inherit dangers of an electrical device in a less than ideal environment.

I *personally* think that a well-designed passive airflow system is better than using a fan.

First, no electric and thus you don't get the inherent dangers of electric.

Second, it's always on regardless of power failures or unexpected weather that wasn't forecast properly.

But some people *do* use fans, especially during extreme heat waves above and beyond the regional norms. IMO, if you choose to do this you should be sure to get a fan that is rated for barn use because, at best, the dust from feather dander and bedding will ruin the motor and, at worse, it will start a fire.

This installation was done to protect the fan by having it blow in rather than out. I don't like it for the reasons above, but I'm linking it for your information: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/window-fan-mount.75608/

Some people also use those "chef's hat" wind turbine vents (I'd like to get one for my brooder, which is not designed as well as it could have been).

However, I do think that any form of mechanical air movement should be considered a supplement and not depended on as primary ventilation -- especially in a hot climate where the suggested minimums are already inadequate on many days.

The fans in commercial barns and chicken houses have sophisticated controls that sense both temperature and ammonia and work as part of a complete system designed to include them.

 

[NatJ]

One more question re: Ventilation
do folks put a fan in the coop to provide airflow in the summer?
It is common in other lifestock barns, even with the inherit dangers of an electrical device in a less than ideal environment.

Hot air rises and cold air sinks.
Passive ventilation that makes use of that can work fairly well, especially with large areas of ventilation.

The smaller your openings, the more need for fans to help the air move.

Large and small are relative terms, but a whole wall is a large opening while a window can be a small opening, depending on the size of the building.

I don't know if you already looked at this article:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

The big coop shown in that article has large amounts of passive ventilation, along with some diagrams of how air moves, and it also provides good shelter from bad weather.

 

[Alagirl]

Hot air rises and cold air sinks.
Passive ventilation that makes use of that can work fairly well, especially with large areas of ventilation.

The smaller your openings, the more need for fans to help the air move.

Large and small are relative terms, but a whole wall is a large opening while a window can be a small opening, depending on the size of the building.

I don't know if you already looked at this article:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

The big coop shown in that article has large amounts of passive ventilation, along with some diagrams of how air moves, and it also provides good shelter from bad weather.

true, providing ventilation is relative (plus windows are seldom in a good spot for this.

I was wondering particularly about fans.
there is the possibility of creating drafts with unlucky vent positioning, too. Probably not an issue when it's 90 degrees out but for the in-between weather....

 

[NatJ]

there is the possibility of creating drafts with unlucky vent positioning, too. Probably not an issue when it's 90 degrees out but for the in-between weather....

That is why many people recommend the ventilation be above the birds' heads when they are sitting on the roosts. The hot air can move out, but the main air movement is above the chickens rather than blowing right on them. So they get good fresh air without sitting in the draft. (That is especially recommended for winter ventilation, because they need fresh air even then. But it does no harm in summer either.)

A general rule of thumb: if you can see the chickens' feathers being ruffled by wind when they are sitting on the perch, that is too much draft for cold weather. Above about 50 degrees, it doesn't matter.

 

[3KillerBs]

there is the possibility of creating drafts with unlucky vent positioning, too. Probably not an issue when it's 90 degrees out but for the in-between weather....

Draft-free doesn't mean no moving air at all. It just means no wind strong enough to ruffle the birds' feathers.

To winterize my open air coop I ziptied a tarp to a portion of the downhill wall -- just enough shelter that storm winds wouldn't blow directly on them (and there was sheltered corner where they *could* have gone to the floor if they'd needed to).

See my happy birds on the morning after the worst snowstorm we'd had in about 4-5 years:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/open-air-coop-in-the-snow.1508695/

 

[Alagirl]

Draft-free doesn't mean no moving air at all. It just means no wind strong enough to ruffle the birds' feathers.

To winterize my open air coop I ziptied a tarp to a portion of the downhill wall -- just enough shelter that storm winds wouldn't blow directly on them (and there was sheltered corner where they *could* have gone to the floor if they'd needed to).

See my happy birds on the morning after the worst snowstorm we'd had in about 4-5 years:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/open-air-coop-in-the-snow.1508695/

I guess I have a different idea of draft, but I have no feathers. I was considering air of greatly different temperatures being sucked through the coop, not necessarily gailforce winds.

 

[3KillerBs]

I guess I have a different idea of draft, but I have no feathers. I was considering air of greatly different temperatures being sucked through the coop, not necessarily gailforce winds.

Chickens are more weatherproof than we are. They're wearing built-in down parkas year round.

 

[Alagirl]

w3ell, bought nipples, a feeder and a waterer today. I am looking to construct the brooder here soon.
Then I need the heater thingy, feed, and the bedding.
Also corid and electrolytes.

What am I forgetting?
(Besides the hardware cloth, roofing, etc)