Thoughts on my coop and frostbitten hens - pictures included

[Intheheartofit]

First year over-wintering chickens and having issues with frostbite on their combs. Pictures below, should be eight in total, I'll keep editing till they're there.

Initially was leaving the coop door open and had a vent hole under there roosting bars with an additional 4 square foot hole in the roof. They started getting frostbite on their combs and they had/have slightly frosty backs. We're averaging about -35C/30F right now at night in the backwoods of Northern Ontario.

The coop is 64 square feet, 17 hens living in it. Was doing deep bedding but it freezes solid now and have poop cones forming and throw pine shavings over them every couple days. By morning every poop is frozen solid at these temps.

The other day cut another hole in the side just below the roof and started closing the coop door and boarded up the vent hole under their roosts. Leave the windows closed in the winter. Also threw some straw bales in and took out the back top 2x4 roost to keep them lower below the top vents.

All together it's about 6 square feet of venting with the roof holes.

What are people's thoughts on this? The chickens have frosty backs, my windows are fine though, no frost. They definitely are pretty much all frostbitten on the combs, some worse than others.

Cut in more venting? Chop out the poop each morning? Other ideas?

Thanks

 

[Intheheartofit]

Here's the rest of the photos since didn't see the edit button.

 

[junebuggena]

Take out the ceiling. Open up all those eaves. You built a great house that a person could live in, but it's a lousy coop for chickens. Coops need a lot more ventilation than what most people are accustomed to seeing in structures. You need a minimum of 1 sq ft per bird of permanent (open all year long) ventilation.

 

[bjmoose]

31 below zero Fahrenheit is fricken' cold...

I'm just a FNG without much experience. So I'll ask questions based on what I've read, rather than pretend I can provide any real answers... The best answers would come from someone raising chickens in your climate zone.

Does the pop hole create a draft onto the chickens? EDIT: You say you "close the door" but I'm not sure you mean the human door or the pop hole door...

Do you have enough ventilation up high? The guideline is 1 sq ft per chicken, but when it's really cold I do get the impression folks don't always use all that and close some of it off... though I can't be sure. Perhaps you could open some windows/vents during the day, and close them at night?

31 below zero F is *very* cold. Should you consider insulating the coop or adding a bit of electric heat?

 

[bjmoose]

What someone suggested to me early on was to add location information to my profile, so that it's easier for folks local to me to recognize and respond to posts...

 

[junebuggena]

Do you have enough ventilation up high? The guideline is 1 sq ft per chicken, but when it's really cold I do get the impression folks don't always use all that and close some of it off... though I can't be sure. Perhaps you could open some windows/vents during the day, and close them at night?

That 1 sq ft of ventilation per bird is for year-round. Good air flow through the coop is just as important in winter as it is in the middle of summer.

 

[kumquat]

Thinking about the challenges of dealing with -31F temps got me rereading the original post, and it looks like the OP mentioned temps of 30F (-31C). So, their nightly temps are cold, but not extreme.

We're averaging about -35C/30F right now at night in the backwoods of Northern Ontario.

 

[bjmoose]

Thinking about the challenges of dealing with -31F temps got me rereading the original post, and it looks like the OP mentioned temps of 30F (-31C). So, their nightly temps are cold, but not extreme.

Uh, I may be new to chickens. But I've got temperature conversion down.

30 degrees F == -1 Celsius. That's "A little chilly... Brrr.... You want to cover up a bit.... Folks from California think they're dying" type weather.

To convert C to F, multiply by 1.8 (or 9/5) and add 32.

So:
-35C is VERY cold and equivalent to -31F. That's stupid, ridiculous, uncomfortable, unsafe if not prepared type cold.

 

[Eggcessive]

It looks like you have ventilation all around your eaves. If that is correct, I would close the doors. Pop door, and windows, and cover any openings most of the way up. Canada and very cold temps may cause frostbite anyway. But if poop and everything on floor is fozen, your humidity is probably low, so temps are probably causing your frostbite.

 

[junebuggena]

It looks like you have ventilation all around your eaves. If that is correct, I would close the doors. Pop door, and windows, and cover any openings most of the way up. Canada and very cold temps may cause frostbite anyway. But if poop and everything on floor is fozen, your humidity is probably low, so temps are probably causing your frostbite.

Look closely. All the eaves except for one or two are closed up completely.