kcal
Chirping
I have a couple different questions regarding our winter coop. My husband and I were both around chickens growing up, but this is our first flock and first coop we have set up.
We are located in northwestern IL. Our winter has been very mild up until the last 5-7 days. We got our first accumulating snow and temps dropped quite a bit right after (negatives at night and single digit days for two days). They’re back up to the mid 30’s but expected to drop again in 2 days. With the colder temps, I started noticing that it seems our ventilation cut outs may be too low and acting more as a draft allowing air to blow on the girls. I know those temps are bitter, but they’re acting like it’s affecting them quite a bit. Here’s some photos - they’re old (from before our girls were living in it full time) but I won’t be able to take new pictures until later. They should give an idea of what I have going on.
The coop is a 12x8 shed. It faces west, run (shared with two goats) is to the east. We have a large post frame building to the south - the west end is even with the west side of the coop, and it runs the entire length of the coop and run + about 10 feet more. They weren’t there yet in these photos, but where I’ve drawn the red boxes are two top-hinged pop windows covered with hardware cloth. Our nest boxes are inside, but you can see the outside access for the rollaway box on south end.
Here’s the back, there’s now two long, top-hinged pop windows there as well.
Inside - roost area is on the north end
And nest boxes on the south end.
Our chickens all roost on the top, and the top roost is pretty high. So I know some air is coming in on them. I’m wondering - is there somewhere else I can put ventilation that won’t cause drafts over the chickens while they roost? There’s pretty much no over hang on the gable ends, so I was thinking cutting vents in the soffits on the east and west side. We have 16 chickens - I know that affects how much ventilation is needed.
Also - our temps are going to dip into the negatives again starting tomorrow night -6F tomorrow night, then only get to 5F Thursday and will go as low as -10 to -15F Thursday night. With those low temps, should I add some supplemental heat? I know heat can be controversial. I haven’t supplemented them with heat since they’ve been in the coop, so not sure the best way to do it safely. I have a low watt heat bulb, but I only want to set that up as a last resort because of fire risk. I have the ability to check the coop throughout the day and night if necessary.
One thing to add (sorry, I know this is long) - my husband is currently out of state, 3.5 day drive, for work with an unknown return date. I likely can’t cut new ventilation and predator proof on my own while wrangling our toddler in the next 1 or 2 days before the cold hits, so I could really use both short term and long term ideas for keeping the girls comfortable without restricting airflow and risking them getting sick.
Thanks in advance if you made it this far and can offer any suggestions for short term and long term solutions!
We are located in northwestern IL. Our winter has been very mild up until the last 5-7 days. We got our first accumulating snow and temps dropped quite a bit right after (negatives at night and single digit days for two days). They’re back up to the mid 30’s but expected to drop again in 2 days. With the colder temps, I started noticing that it seems our ventilation cut outs may be too low and acting more as a draft allowing air to blow on the girls. I know those temps are bitter, but they’re acting like it’s affecting them quite a bit. Here’s some photos - they’re old (from before our girls were living in it full time) but I won’t be able to take new pictures until later. They should give an idea of what I have going on.
The coop is a 12x8 shed. It faces west, run (shared with two goats) is to the east. We have a large post frame building to the south - the west end is even with the west side of the coop, and it runs the entire length of the coop and run + about 10 feet more. They weren’t there yet in these photos, but where I’ve drawn the red boxes are two top-hinged pop windows covered with hardware cloth. Our nest boxes are inside, but you can see the outside access for the rollaway box on south end.
Here’s the back, there’s now two long, top-hinged pop windows there as well.
Inside - roost area is on the north end
And nest boxes on the south end.
Our chickens all roost on the top, and the top roost is pretty high. So I know some air is coming in on them. I’m wondering - is there somewhere else I can put ventilation that won’t cause drafts over the chickens while they roost? There’s pretty much no over hang on the gable ends, so I was thinking cutting vents in the soffits on the east and west side. We have 16 chickens - I know that affects how much ventilation is needed.
Also - our temps are going to dip into the negatives again starting tomorrow night -6F tomorrow night, then only get to 5F Thursday and will go as low as -10 to -15F Thursday night. With those low temps, should I add some supplemental heat? I know heat can be controversial. I haven’t supplemented them with heat since they’ve been in the coop, so not sure the best way to do it safely. I have a low watt heat bulb, but I only want to set that up as a last resort because of fire risk. I have the ability to check the coop throughout the day and night if necessary.
One thing to add (sorry, I know this is long) - my husband is currently out of state, 3.5 day drive, for work with an unknown return date. I likely can’t cut new ventilation and predator proof on my own while wrangling our toddler in the next 1 or 2 days before the cold hits, so I could really use both short term and long term ideas for keeping the girls comfortable without restricting airflow and risking them getting sick.
Thanks in advance if you made it this far and can offer any suggestions for short term and long term solutions!
