Will my chickens/ducks get confused.....

[keyt1969]

Ok, I have two coops. One is like a small house, about 5'x4' and it's what most of them used for the summer. Recently we converted a garage (garage-size, but it's always been used for chickens and we only use about half of it for chickens now) and it's more room for everyone to stretch out. There are only 2 windows, both of which are brand new and sealed so no leaks. It's also very nicely covered in straw. The much smaller coop has no windows, but it forces everyone to be closer together.

I live in Michigan and our weather can get pretty wicked. Some nights can be -20 or more, some of the daylight hours as well. Very windy too.

My question is, would it be too confusing if, let's say it's a very windy and cold day out if we left everyone in the big coop/garage all day, but had them sleep in the smaller coop at night? This will be my first winter with them so I want to make sure no one literally freezes to death in their sleep!

There's nothing wrong with the bigger coop really, however, if anyone has anything else besides straw that they use I'd love to hear about it. It's only Sept. and I'm already freakin' out!! lol

 

[dawnchick]

Any reason they can't sleep in the garage as well? No windows in the smaller building could be a problem, unless there is other ventilation. You could stack a few bales of hay around a spot in the corner to make a smaller room that holds heat better, for example. I have read on here of people in Canada doing this. I would think they would find switching buildings confusing, and would resist.

You might try researching some posts in the coop section by patandchickens, the guru of coops; she lives in Canada, I believe.