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Post by Beerwiser on Nov 9, 2022 21:30:41 GMT -6
Looking for some advice on the new coop. It is 12x16 oilfield shed panels. Never had to worry about ventilation on every coop since a kid as they were all old grain bins or log buildings. This one is considerably more air tight and even at -19 today after five minutes in there I could feel the dampness. It is a single slope roof and I started drilling a 5" hole on the high end which is the SE corner so I shouldn't have direct wind blowing on it. I ran out of battery after the outside panel and I figured I will wait until a bit nicer weather to finish it and keep them a bit warmer inside. I am thinking of using a dryer vent to put in the hole, but I am not sure if that is enough ventilation. Also looking for ideas for a water setup. Last year I was using a old roaster, but with a few more birds it needs to be a bit bigger to fill only once a day. Still want it easy to remove for cleaning once and awhile. I haven't seen and water bowls that are easy to heat and big enough. I am set up with a 55 gal tank but I would rather not have to heat that too, it is more for a summer setup. Not ruling that out though. Any ideas are welcome as I still have to finish the electrical work.   |
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Post by OptimallyDismal on Nov 9, 2022 21:59:21 GMT -6
That looks like an awesome chicken house.
We just moved this year's hens in with our original 10, not sure but I think there are 32 in total now in a 10x12 wooden bin that is insulated with 4" of Roxul.
Last year we did have condensation problems so I put a 4" hole with a dryer vent and used a reducer to neck down a 6" duct fan to 4".
Not sure how well this will work, it seems to have a blow back effect going on, it is exhausting, but air circulation is good too, so I am running it that way for now. Wondering about getting a 4" duct fan and changing but I had the 6 on hand.
I am running the fan all the time, maybe when it gets colder I will have it on the light timer.
We are using the heated 2 gallon drinker (Princess Auto SKU: 8937070), ON SALE right now a massive $5 discount at $60!!!! I paid $28 last year, should have bought 2. These are available everywhere for $75 it seems. I put a hook in the ceiling and have it hanging on a chain. There are bigger units as well.
I am thinking they are too crowded but I have 22 roosters in outside pens that need to go in the freezer right away, then I will see about thinning the flock inside.
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Post by kevlar on Nov 9, 2022 22:02:37 GMT -6
Looking for some advice on the new coop. It is 12x16 oilfield shed panels. Never had to worry about ventilation on every coop since a kid as they were all old grain bins or log buildings. This one is considerably more air tight and even at -19 today after five minutes in there I could feel the dampness. It is a single slope roof and I started drilling a 5" hole on the high end which is the SE corner so I shouldn't have direct wind blowing on it. I ran out of battery after the outside panel and I figured I will wait until a bit nicer weather to finish it and keep them a bit warmer inside. I am thinking of using a dryer vent to put in the hole, but I am not sure if that is enough ventilation. Also looking for ideas for a water setup. Last year I was using a old roaster, but with a few more birds it needs to be a bit bigger to fill only once a day. Still want it easy to remove for cleaning once and awhile. I haven't seen and water bowls that are easy to heat and big enough. I am set up with a 55 gal tank but I would rather not have to heat that too, it is more for a summer setup. Not ruling that out though. Any ideas are welcome as I still have to finish the electrical work. I’ve tried a few different water systems for my chickens over the years and so far the best I’ve found is the bottom of a five gallon pail. I cut it off 4-5 inches high. Just add more for more chickens, right now I’m down to 9 birds and one does them a day easily. In the winter I fill one with snow and one for water, my coop isn’t heated so it freezes solid, in the morning I just take it outside and bang it on its side and break the ice out of it, once I cracked the side of it, so the best part is they are pretty much free! I find most of the time in the winter they seem to prefer snow for some reason. Are some of those Rhode Island Red’s? |
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Post by SWMan on Nov 9, 2022 23:26:46 GMT -6
Nice setup!
Those heating pads you set a chicken waterer on never worked for us, we just use heated dog dishes now. But that might not be the type of capacity you are looking for.
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Post by Beerwiser on Nov 9, 2022 23:53:52 GMT -6
I don't remember what the reds are, they are the wifes chickens. I just do the work, but they came from the Hutts and I am pretty sure they are not Rhode Island. With the snow, yeah they love snow. Boots are cleaned before I finish picking eggs and they prefer snow over the frost which is surprising. May have to bring in a pail just for snow too. OptimallyDismal, do those nipples leak at all and have they froze up yet? I have the vertical mounted ones, they are fine in summer outside but they leak to much for winter use. I found those nipples on amazon and was thinking of using a 5 gal pail with a sinking heater since I have all that already. You will be fine or space OD, we had 35-40 in that size of coop for a few years with no problems. I think we are sitting around 60 in the new coop. And if you are really concerned about space you can get them helmets and a xylophone. Plenty of stupid shit to buy on amazon, sadly I think the wife is going to order the xylophone lol.   Link to the nipples if anyone is interested, www.amazon.ca/Automatic-Chicken-Drinker-Feeders-Waterer/dp/B08B3CRBWJ/ref=sr_1_16?crid=8EPO9D5KZAU4&keywords=chicken+waterer&qid=1668058750&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI2LjU2IiwicXNhIjoiNi4xNSIsInFzcCI6IjUuNzcifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=chicken+%2Caps%2C547&sr=8-16 |
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Post by kevlar on Nov 10, 2022 0:14:18 GMT -6
I tried some nipples I got from a feed store, they always leaked a little bit and for some reason my chickens wouldn’t drink from them. Are those all layers or are some for meat? That’s a lot of eggs!
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Post by bob123 on Nov 10, 2022 11:43:17 GMT -6
How cold do you guys let your chickens get? Mine are still in their 3 sided chicken tractor and egg production goes down 75% by the time it gets close to freezing
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Post by kevlar on Nov 10, 2022 11:57:19 GMT -6
My coop isn’t heated so it gets cold, I shovel snow all around it, it’s the chop bin on the side of the barn. Have a few windows to the south and one on the east side. I put a heat lamp in there and turn it on when it’s cold so they have a place to warm up but I’ve yet to see them go near it. I put it above the roost once and none of them slept on the roost that night. They kick off a lot of heat, I just make sure to feed them well and keep fresh straw in there for them. They are a tough bird.
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Post by Beerwiser on Nov 10, 2022 13:39:43 GMT -6
Never had anything but a heat lamp for chickens even as a kid when we were running around 400 birds and the heat lamp was more to keep the water thawed. I have yet to run any heat with the chickens we have had here, but they are enclosed non insulated last few years. It got pretty damn cold in there. This will be the first year of having a properly insulated building. One thing that helps them in the cold is whole corn, makes their digestive system work a bit harder and keeps them warmer. With the egg production, it is completely normal for them to drop. Firstly they have been laying hard all summer so they do need a bit of a break plus some will start to molt. Lack of light also really screws with them. I am finding that out right now as I don't have a window installed yet. Typically by 11am they were done laying. Now with me manually turning on the light they are laying much later and production is dropping. It will be interesting to see what happens to production when I put the light on a timer, going to try for 12-14hrs of light/day and see. Honestly they are now much different then cattle, in the dead of winter you get next to no production and they like to be on a routine.
Kevlar, those are all layers. Summertime production is around 25doz/week, today 4 eggs so far lol.
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Post by OptimallyDismal on Nov 10, 2022 17:48:08 GMT -6
Right now the coop is +3-+5C, I like to keep it above freezing, egg production is very low just now, like 6 a day, I guess there is a bit of turmoil with the merging of the tribes, we should be 10 as the new ones are starting to lay.
I have not had any freezing problem with the drinker, every now and then there is a nipple leak, so I have to take it apart and clean out what ever got caught in the seal and maybe stretch the spring a bit so it seals again.
I got some pail bottom nipples but then found the side of the pail ones at Total Farm Supply in Brandon, I like them better, had one leaker that I had to replace.
My wife got the xylophone months ago, they don't seem too impressed with it, also some bells that they don't bother with either, haha. I am not going to show her the helmets.
She grabbed the wrong rooster out of the spring bunch so we swapped last night, this morning was a rooster contest but they seem to have sorted it out now, I was curious to see how that went, they are both pretty calm so that should have helped.
The heater in the pail should work, same principle, more capacity?
I just changed my light timer to on at 8 off at 7, so 11 hours a day, I have no windows either, I have a screen door that we used all summer and until Tuesday, so I tried to keep the timer adjusted to close to real daylight hours.
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Post by Beerwiser on Nov 10, 2022 21:13:31 GMT -6
My wife got the xylophone months ago, they don't seem too impressed with it, also some bells that they don't bother with either, haha. I am not going to show her the helmets. I got some bad news for you Optimally Dismal, the helmets are probably on they way🤣. These chickens are weird, they would probably like that xylophone. There was a gallon pail upside down their run this summer, they would bang on that thing like a drum for weeks. Certainly screwed me up when I first heard it. |
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Post by OptimallyDismal on Nov 10, 2022 21:37:53 GMT -6
Now I have to find some corn.
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