This is the first winter we have had chickens. And thanks to many of you, I have a lot of great information. My father is getting old, and set in his ways. He talks to a lot of famer folk around us for his ideas. I am trying to make him understand about a air vent or exhaust fan in the coop. I do not have the demenions, but its half my dads shop and half coop. I am trying to make him undrstaand that the Isa Browns will not freeze if they have a vent/exhaust fan. It gets too warm in their now being Novemeber, with the warm streak this week. And one day it really smelled strong. I don't know what to say to him. And the girls need a place to roost. He made a ladder up to the window. None of them have got on it cause they do not climb like we do. So they have no where to roost. And I would like to find a thermo cube and also know if Tractor Supply would carry a non lit warming bulb. We have the lit up heat lamp, and two light bulbs in there. I know it can get cold in northern Indiana, but I would really appreciate it if some could give me a gentle way to tell him what we need to do. Everyone keeps telling him (back in the ols days) We never did that with our chickens. Thank you!
I don't know how old your father is but I'm 72 and I remember a lot of "back in the old days". Back in the old days in southern Minnesota my aunt kept her chickens with no heat but in a well vented coop and had a roost about 3 feet off the floor that ran the full length of one side of the coop. She kept food and water in front of them 24/7 and, since she had electricity, had a light on for part of the night/morning so they had 14 hrs of light. The only thing we have now that she didn't have then was an electric water heater, so if their waterer was frozen the birds had to make do either by eating snow or getting to the stock tank when the ice was broken. Oh yeah, they went out every day, rain sleet or snow. The floor of the coop was covered, initially, with hay but as the year progressed it became solid manure until someone, usually a nephew spending the summer, shoveled it out. Today we use pine shaving that are not only cleaner but keep the coop a bit less ripe. Hope this helps. If there is anything else he needs to know from the good ole days, PM me.
