- Feb 17, 2014
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I recently put my chicks (just 3 - one female RIR (Pearl), one male RIR (Juicy J), and one female Easter Egger (Valentine)) out permanently (they are just over 5 weeks) and they have a large coop (about 40" x 48") and a connecting tractor (about 32 sq ft). I live on Guam so the weather is almost always 82-85 degrees F with a mixture of sun and rain throughout the day. My place is located across from a wide open baseball field so the wind is almost constant and has been fairly strong the past week or so, especially at night. The way everything is set up, the tractor (which has a slanted roof with wide open/chicken wired sides) is directly across from the field and is connected to the coop (photos shown). Coop has one wide open side which is the connecting side to the tractor and the tractor has a small door (last photo) for the chickens to go into their coop. I get worried because the wind goes through the tractor really easy and I feel like maybe it creates a sort of wind tunnel effect in the coop? The nesting boxes provide wind protection I think BUT I just found out that they aren't supposed to sleep in their nest boxes... and right now there is not a roost in the coop. I guess I will be putting in a roost AND putting a little "roof" over the nesting boxes (oh the things I do not know....).
ANYWAY, after all that information... The way I have the little entrance door set up is so that it is sort of ajar yet stationary which allows for the chickens to get in while sort of curbing the wind (I hope). But I think it curbs the wind to the side of the coop that looks like a boardwalk, which is where I will need to put the roost. Will they get cold if the wind is blowing in their direction if they are on the roost? I would say that the temp, with "wind chill", is in the 70s (which seems cold for us on Guam, but not sure for chickens?)
I'm just feeling like an "empty nester" and am sad that they don't sleep inside anymore, so constantly worry at night if they are too cold. I will wake up in the middle of the night and open my window to listen for peeps just in case... have not heard anything and they don't seem uncomfortable when they wake up in the morning and go out into the tractor (no sneezing, no snotty beaks). The door is always open so they are free to come and go in/out of the coop into the tractor - they wake up around 6am I think.
Maybe everything is fine and I just need reassurance or maybe someone has a suggestion? I have considered rotating the structures so that the coop is facing the field ("window" side facing the field and wind - 2nd photo) and then the tractor following after. Maybe this would keep the wind down to a minimum, but the rain tends to come from that same direction so then it might rain into their window and get the inside of the coop wet.... AH... sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy with this stuff.
Any suggestions, advice, soothing words... would be great. Please ease my miiiiind.
PS - the nesting baskets are not just wire mesh anymore and now have pieces of plastic coated foam board (from a picket sign) sitting in them to get rid of drafts then covered with a bunch of shredded paper and the roof is covered with a plastic banner for rain run off. Coop is perfectly sealed tight against rain... just the wind I'm worried about.
(this picture shows the tractor door leading into the coop, which is where I think maybe the wind tunnel starts and wind exits out of the little circle window pictured above)
ANYWAY, after all that information... The way I have the little entrance door set up is so that it is sort of ajar yet stationary which allows for the chickens to get in while sort of curbing the wind (I hope). But I think it curbs the wind to the side of the coop that looks like a boardwalk, which is where I will need to put the roost. Will they get cold if the wind is blowing in their direction if they are on the roost? I would say that the temp, with "wind chill", is in the 70s (which seems cold for us on Guam, but not sure for chickens?)
I'm just feeling like an "empty nester" and am sad that they don't sleep inside anymore, so constantly worry at night if they are too cold. I will wake up in the middle of the night and open my window to listen for peeps just in case... have not heard anything and they don't seem uncomfortable when they wake up in the morning and go out into the tractor (no sneezing, no snotty beaks). The door is always open so they are free to come and go in/out of the coop into the tractor - they wake up around 6am I think.
Maybe everything is fine and I just need reassurance or maybe someone has a suggestion? I have considered rotating the structures so that the coop is facing the field ("window" side facing the field and wind - 2nd photo) and then the tractor following after. Maybe this would keep the wind down to a minimum, but the rain tends to come from that same direction so then it might rain into their window and get the inside of the coop wet.... AH... sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy with this stuff.
Any suggestions, advice, soothing words... would be great. Please ease my miiiiind.
PS - the nesting baskets are not just wire mesh anymore and now have pieces of plastic coated foam board (from a picket sign) sitting in them to get rid of drafts then covered with a bunch of shredded paper and the roof is covered with a plastic banner for rain run off. Coop is perfectly sealed tight against rain... just the wind I'm worried about.
