Worried about humidity in the coop this winter

[3cravns]

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I guess I didn't explain the screened part too well! The coop roof is built with trusses and covered with shingles just like a roof on the house. The screened part I was referring to is actually in the ceiling not the roof. It is screened in on the inside of the coop and only open to the "attic" for lack of a better term. We insulated the "attic" except for the part that is screen. We left that open so that when the exhaust fan comes on it can pull the air out from inside the coop and turn it over. If anything I think we may have gone a little too air tight. Thanks for the input! It has been and continues to be a learning experience. This forum is the best thing in the world for learning from people who have experience!

 

[3cravns]

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I did check that out, thanks. I guess I am too soft, I worry too much about the cold. I'm trying to get over that! It is not an easy thing for me, I like to be warm so I think everything else should be too. Guess that's why we have a 50 lb. dog sleeping in bed with us most nights

 

[3cravns]

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By leaving the door open during the day do you mean a chicken size door or a big people size door? I would feel pretty confident following your lead, our winters would seem pretty comparable with the exception being that you probably get way more snow (gotta love that lake affect!) I'll crack the window and see how that works. The other thing my husband suggested is switching out the soffets (sp?), we currently have just solid plywood soffets under the eaves on either side of the coop and of course insulation in the eaves. Are you seeing a pattern here? We may have gone a little overboard with the insulation at my insistance of course, not my husbands. We have some left-over soffets from when we built our house they are tin or whatever they are made of with little ventilation holes built right in. I bet we could cut those to size and that would create some passive ventilation. We did buy a smaller vent that we thought we would cut into the back of the coop up at the peak and just didn't get it done before hunting season set in! Thanks for contributing, I can see I have a lot to learn.

 

[Judy]

Removing you soffits and covering the holes with hardware cloth would help your ventilation a LOT.

 

[3cravns]

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That is a thought. Leave the insulation or remove it do you think?

 

[True Grit]

Wow you're getting lots of good advice.

Re frozen eggs, I was sure mine would be frozen when I got home tonight as the high only got to 24 degrees but I cracked one open for the dogs and it was fine. Of course I could have gotten one laid at 4pm and not 9 am.

My chickens stayed out all day I assume as they were just heading to bed when I got home. They seemed fine. Temp in the coop this morning was 16 and humidity was in the 60's. Now it is 27 degrees and 58% humidity. Outside it is about 18 degrees.

 

[Turkeyrangler]

I live just outside of Duluth close to Proctor and have an 8X12 old playhouse converted into a coop. It is for the most part uninsulated. The soffits are rather old and leak a good bit of air. Since there is no direct wind blowing into the coop this works well for pretty good ventilation. I haven't noticed any frost in the coop or on the windows. I also use the deep litter method, DE and a water heater. No other heat source right now, but I plan on installing a light out there this week on a timer so my hens lay a bit more. I think I'll be following Jim S in using a heat lamp when it gets into the double digits below zero. I have 6 turkeys, 3 peafowl and 5 chickens for a total of 14 birds. So far everyone is good. I don''t have a pop door and I keep the people door open enough everyday to let the birds run in and out as they please. I'm sure there will come a time this winter when I'll be keeping them locked in when the temps get really low or the snow just gets too deep in the 12x24, 2x4 welded wire covered run. Right now I have about 10 inches of snow. The turkeys don't seem to care how cold it gets, the peafowl surprisingly are about the same. The chickens which are a bunch of small combed EE mutts do come out every day for most of the day, but are the first to roost at night. I think your coop should be fine. Like others have said, the humidity will drop way down as the temps drop. I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[3cravns]

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So your turkeys, chickens and peafowl share the same coop in harmony? Cool! Do the turkeys top the pecking order or does every species have its own pecking order? We have a couple of EE mutts (they are my fav's), 3 light brahma, 2 RIR, 2 brown leghorn, 2 SL wyandotte and 2 black sex link. Funny bunch to watch.
I am surprised everyone is leaving the big doors open. I need to RELAX!!! Thanks!

 

[Turkeyrangler]

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So your turkeys, chickens and peafowl share the same coop in harmony? Cool! Do the turkeys top the pecking order or does every species have its own pecking order? We have a couple of EE mutts (they are my fav's), 3 light brahma, 2 RIR, 2 brown leghorn, 2 SL wyandotte and 2 black sex link. Funny bunch to watch.
I am surprised everyone is leaving the big doors open. I need to RELAX!!! Thanks!

Yes they do. The pecking order is a mix of birds, not by species. At the top is my EE rooster, Mr. Roo if you please...

. He runs the show followed by my 3 year old Domestic Eastern Wild tom named Evil Bas@#%d by his previous owner. Then an EE hen that looks somewhat like your favorite EE. She brooded one peachick and two of the turkey poults I have this year. She gives no quarter and takes none in return( one tough lady). Followed by the mix of turkey poults and the peafowl that create way too much drama. Last are my three EE hens that look like Barred Rocks but lay green and pinkish brown eggs. Actually they are pretty settled into their pecking order and very few things change except as the young turkeys get bigger they jockey for position with each other and the peafowl. I like my EE's best as well. The dominate roo and hen are my favs. You can relax a bit. They are a lot tougher than you think. If you acclimate them to the cold they so so much better.

Right now I'm feeding them layer pellets that are 16% protein mixed with cheap dry cat food that is about 27% protein for the turkeys and peafowl. They also get some scratch every day in the morning and before they roost to keep them warm. I use apple cider vinegar in the water with a bit of electrolytes and vitamins as as well. I got a number of these bird from a guy who uses nothing more than generic dog food and cracked corn all winter to feed them so I'm spoiling them now.

 

[3cravns]

Quote:
So your turkeys, chickens and peafowl share the same coop in harmony? Cool! Do the turkeys top the pecking order or does every species have its own pecking order? We have a couple of EE mutts (they are my fav's), 3 light brahma, 2 RIR, 2 brown leghorn, 2 SL wyandotte and 2 black sex link. Funny bunch to watch.
I am surprised everyone is leaving the big doors open. I need to RELAX!!! Thanks!

Yes they do. The pecking order is a mix of birds, not by species. At the top is my EE rooster, Mr. Roo if you please...

. He runs the show followed by my 3 year old Domestic Eastern Wild tom named Evil Bas@#%d by his previous owner. Then an EE hen that looks somewhat like your favorite EE. She brooded one peachick and two of the turkey poults I have this year. She gives no quarter and takes none in return( one tough lady). Followed by the mix of turkey poults and the peafowl that create way too much drama. Last are my three EE hens that look like Barred Rocks but lay green and pinkish brown eggs. Actually they are pretty settled into their pecking order and very few things change except as the young turkeys get bigger they jockey for position with each other and the peafowl. I like my EE's best as well. The dominate roo and hen are my favs. You can relax a bit. They are a lot tougher than you think. If you acclimate them to the cold they so so much better.

Right now I'm feeding them layer pellets that are 16% protein mixed with cheap dry cat food that is about 27% protein for the turkeys and peafowl. They also get some scratch every day in the morning and before they roost to keep them warm. I use apple cider vinegar in the water with a bit of electrolytes and vitamins as as well. I got a number of these bird from a guy who uses nothing more than generic dog food and cracked corn all winter to feed them so I'm spoiling them now.

Interesting how they work out the pecking order. We haven't added anything to the water. Haven't used the electrolytes since they were chicks. Would that same mix we used then be appropriate now? What does the ac vinegar do for them? We do tend to spoil ours as well. We are feeding layer crumbles with a good scratch mix to boot. I have given them suet balls to peck on and once in awhile I bring them tuna (talk about creating a frenzy!) I go sparingly on the tuna though because I don't favor tuna flavored eggs which I hear can happen. They would eat grapes by the tons if they weren't $2.49/lb so we go sparingly on those as well, for the chickens anyway! Thanks again for the input.