Rabbit Hutch to Coop - good idea?

[rowanpi]

Just curious. You are south of the equator so your seasons are the reverse of mine. Do you call your warm months winter or summer? Do you follow the calendar or the season?

What is the coldest you will see in your cold season, whatever you call it? I'm not talking about a normal day, the extremes are where you can get in trouble. When I looked it up I saw +7 C which is about the mid-40's F. That is not cold for chickens. With their down coats they can handle it.

What is the hottest you will see? When I looked it was in the +40's C, I don't remember exactly. That's over 100 F. That is what is dangerous to your chickens. They need shade and ventilation. If you can, try to position it so it is in shade and the open side is faced away from your strongest cold winds. If you close off that wire front that thing has horrible ventilation, it will turn into an oven in the sun.

Yes, we are entering Spring now. We still follow the calendar in this part of the world . Although some African countries do have their own calendar which is different to the western calendar we use. We in South Africa. Just for info, I live somewhere in that red circle, not bad hey! . More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muizenberg



Thanks for doing your research. You are spot on. Our oceans have a moderating effect on the climate, but February can get very hot, sometimes, but very rarely in the 40s (celsius). Low to Upper 30s are more common. I was only thinking of closing half of the wire, but will take your advice. Perhaps I can have something temporary to close off the front in bad weather etc.

 

[rowanpi]

you will need only one nest for egg laying.
I had 40 layers and ten nests, they used only 3 nests out of the ten.
I found 4 hens in one nest with none in the other nine..

Thanks.

 

[rowanpi]

Here is my chicken coop in the run. It proved tricky with the pvc pipes because we don't have the furniture 3 way 90 degree bends here in this part of the world. so had to make a plan.

 

[jvls1942]

Here is my chicken coop in the run. It proved tricky with the pvc pipes because we don't have the furniture 3 way 90 degree bends here in this part of the world. so had to make a plan.

where is "this part of the world"?
you can order most fittings from Amazon.

 

[rowanpi]

Cape Town, South Africa. I should have added "without the need to ship the parts". Didn't want to pay so much extra for a few little plastic things

 

[jvls1942]

Cape Town, South Africa. I should have added "without the need to ship the parts". Didn't want to pay so much extra for a few little plastic things

Oh, I see..