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I have stadium seating roosts in the corner. They're 2x4 lumber with the 4" part horizontal. (It gets cold in MN.) The top roost is shorter than the others. It's about wide enough for 2 chickens but 4 of them cluster up there. They're so crowded they can't even turn around. Hilarious. There's a 5th chicken... should I take down the top roost so the one isn't always by herself? I realize this is a suburban-type chicken concern but I want the girls to be happy, lay lots of eggs, and not freeze to death. What should I do?
Hinotori, thanks for the advice. I thought a few days would be enough but I'll extend that to a week or so. That'll give me time to work on other stuff, like an automatic door. And a light on a timer, a heat lamp, heater for the nesting boxes.
Have a question about ventilation. Bear with me. The coop has a single-pitch roof framed with 2x6 lumber. It basically sits on top of stick-build walls, so there's considerable space up there. The eves are 1/4" hardware cloth. The first thing the chickens did was hop up there and look at me from the eves. So I put a chicken wire ceiling up. So imagine a 2x6 sandwiched between shingles (on the top) and chicken wire below. It's find but we do get a lot of wind, being up on a ridge and it blows through the coop freely, probably too freely for the winter months. How can I ensure adequate ventilation but minimal drafts? Should I make a tyvek cover for the ceiling? For the eaves? Or maybe I'm worrying about something that's not really an issue...
Hinotori, thanks for the advice. I thought a few days would be enough but I'll extend that to a week or so. That'll give me time to work on other stuff, like an automatic door. And a light on a timer, a heat lamp, heater for the nesting boxes.
Have a question about ventilation. Bear with me. The coop has a single-pitch roof framed with 2x6 lumber. It basically sits on top of stick-build walls, so there's considerable space up there. The eves are 1/4" hardware cloth. The first thing the chickens did was hop up there and look at me from the eves. So I put a chicken wire ceiling up. So imagine a 2x6 sandwiched between shingles (on the top) and chicken wire below. It's find but we do get a lot of wind, being up on a ridge and it blows through the coop freely, probably too freely for the winter months. How can I ensure adequate ventilation but minimal drafts? Should I make a tyvek cover for the ceiling? For the eaves? Or maybe I'm worrying about something that's not really an issue...
