UCDavis report- Can someone help me understand this report

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colette peters said:
I open the windows every day but at night I close everything. So I guess that would be NO I do not have permanent ventilation. Here are some pics.
Click to expand...
I would leave the open...all the time or add permanent vents up high on the coop walls.
 
@aart Did you write the ventilation article?


@colette peters give me a few minutes to log back in on my computer and I'll find something for you to read.

I am 99% sure that by keeping them in an unventilated coop is going to result in continuous problems/losses for you.
 
colette peters said:
How big should the ventilation be?
I worry they would get cold with permanent vents? Especially when it drops to freezing in the winter months.
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Would be good to start a new thread with pics of your coop to discuss ventilation and get ideas. Good discussion linked in my signature to read too.

Texas Kiki said:
@aart Did you write the ventilation article?
Click to expand...
Nopw.
 
colette peters said:
Wow will do. Thank you. I need to figure out the deep litter method too.
so much to learn!! :barnie
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Beekissed said:
When creating a bird habitat, think of where the wild fowl live....in the forest. Recreate that floor and you'll start to see and smell a huge difference in where your chickens live and they will be healthier and more content. Leaves, twigs, bark, small amounts of straw or hay~small, mind you, pine needles and cones, wood chips, etc. As deep as you can build it. No more mud, no more bad smells or flies. The litter pack acts like a big sponge, wicking moisture down, leaving the top springy and dryer. It keeps the soil under the run from becoming too compacted, thus allowing the rains to take the excess nitrogen of the manure down to the worms that will ascend under the litter for that nutrition. Try to avoid too much of any one material unless it would be leaves...that's mostly what you will find decaying on the forest floor. A lot of people want to use wood shavings but they are expensive and all one particle size, not letting air into the pile. Wood chips would be a better option than shavings, if you can get them as they have varying particle size and contain leaf matter.

You create food, activity and healthier footing for your chickens in one, cheap, easy to maintain move. You can then throw lawn clippings, garden refuse, kitchen scraps, weeds, etc. into that litter pack and what the chickens don't eat they will bury and the worms will consume it. They will be living on a living compost pile instead of a slick, muddy, poopy moonscape filled with little pools of putrid water.

And you can do the same thing in your coop:
Click to expand...
 
Swear to gosh Colette, are you for real...people could live in that coop. You are one kindred spirit, sister.
Agreed with aart in starting a new thread in Coops forum, hes my go to guy for Deep Litter method, and ventilation.
Ive read a lot of aarts posts and he likes ventilation up high, he might tell you to cut a few ventilation grates up at the very top of the coop. I have a vent at the very top of my coop I leave open (except during the winter CA cold which aart would laugh at, 35 degrees!), or raining, but I have one roost and a poop board I clean every two days. I have sand in the coop, which I dont love (its hard to manage), but definitely is sterile.
Ventilation would help, but thats a lot of room in that coop. I think you have mold in your bedding from all of the droppings, and the droppings need to be picked out once a week. You can pick out the droppings with a pitchfork out of the straw. Straw is terrible for the deep litter method. Koop Clean is heat treated, which makes it way more mold resistant than straw. What Kiki is saying is that, if you have mold in those droppings and straw, as the birds sleep, the mold is drifting up and the birds are breathing it. Ventilation gives the spores somewhere to go...out.
Aart I personally think DLM is a lot of work, and by gosh mold can completely grow in dlm, so I dont know if I would personally recommend dlm in the coop as someone who has DLM. Just me.
Top reasons for aspergillus growth: Poor ventilation, dusty conditions, moldy droppings, locality to trees giving off spores, plants that are giving off spores, molding bedding or moldy food, or eating food off the ground which is moldy, or eating mold spores themselves.
Also, usually aspergillosis doesnt kill birds, but if it does its usually young birds 1 and under or chicks.
The hens dont have access to a compost pile, right?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3150149/
If you do find a source of the mold, ncbi likes tea tree oil to kill it. Although I remember reading if poultry ingests tea tree oil it can be toxic. But I cant find a good reference for that.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4483703/
https://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2016/09/potentially-harmful-toxic-herbs-for-chickens.html
https://www.americanveterinarian.com/news/essential-oils-as-a-disinfectant-in-poultry
 
Last edited:
Kathy Golla said:
Swear to gosh Colette, are you for real...people could live in that coop. You are one kindred spirit, sister.
Agreed with aart in starting a new thread in Coops forum, hes my go to guy for Deep Litter method, and ventilation.
Ive read a lot of aarts posts and he likes ventilation up high, he might tell you to cut a few ventilation grates up at the very top of the coop. I have a vent at the very top of my coop I leave open (except during the winter CA cold which aart would laugh at, 35 degrees!), or raining, but I have one roost and a poop board I clean every two days. I have sand in the coop, which I dont love (its hard to manage), but definitely is sterile.
Ventilation would help, but thats a lot of room in that coop. I think you have mold in your bedding from all of the droppings, and the droppings need to be picked out once a week. You can pick out the droppings with a pitchfork out of the straw. Straw is terrible for the deep litter method. Koop Clean is heat treated, which makes it way more mold resistant than straw. What Kiki is saying is that, if you have mold in those droppings, as the birds sleep, the mold is drifting up and the birds are breathing it. Ventilation gives the spores somewhere to go...out.
Aart I personally think DLM is a lot of work, and by gosh mold can completely grow in dlm, so I dont know if I would personally recommend dlm in the coop as someone who has DLM. Just me.
Top reasons for aspergillus growth: Poor ventilation, dusty conditions, moldy droppings, locality to trees giving off spores, plants that are giving off spores, molding bedding or moldy food, or eating food off the ground which is moldy, or eating mold spores themselves.
Also, usually aspergillosis doesnt kill birds, but if it does its usually young birds 1 and under or chicks.
The hens dont have access to a compost pile, right?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3150149/
If you do find a source of the mold, ncbi likes tea tree oil to kill it. Although I remember reading if poultry ingests tea tree oil it can be toxic. But I cant find a good reference for that.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4483703/
https://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2016/09/potentially-harmful-toxic-herbs-for-chickens.html
https://www.americanveterinarian.com/news/essential-oils-as-a-disinfectant-in-poultry
Click to expand...
Wow thank you and thank you for all the detailed info.
Like I said Ive got some learning to do. I will start a coop thread as I have many questions to ask. I’ll tag you. I’ll try this weekend. Thanks for everything.
 
colette peters said:
Wow thank you and thank you for all the detailed info.
Like I said Ive got some learning to do. I will start a coop thread as I have many questions to ask. I’ll tag you. I’ll try this weekend. Thanks for everything.
Click to expand...
Wow that is one gorgeous coop set-up.

I’d ditch the coop kleen. I know it’s treated so less susceptible to mold but straw is the worst for mold growth. Have you ever bought a bale for Halloween decorations? They get moldy from the inside out. Moisture from the air and droppings will cause mold to grow. I use sand in my coop and clean it daily with a kitty litter scoop. Only takes a minute. I also sprinkle zeolite on the sand in the winter to absorb excess moisture. I change the sand every 6 months or so - you can generally tell when it’s time.

I use shavings in the nesting boxes and replace it if it get soiled.

You also mentioned DE. This is controversial. I’ve ready about it weakening respiratory tract. You won’t need it with the sand.

I use wood ash and sand for a dust bath as well - no DE.

Oxine (certified for use in organic production) is recommended to eliminate virus/mold/fungus in the coop. I just lost a chicken to Marek’s so I’m drenching the coop this weekend.

So sorry for your loss. They are sweet little animals which makes it so hard. Best of luck to you.
 

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