Help!! Ice inside henhouse

[Margaid]

Brought the plastic Solway house back late yesterday, Went to clean it out at about 11am to get it ready for the birds on Sunday and there was ice on the underside of the roof. The layer of shavings on the floor was about 2.5" deep, and when we collected it yesterday there were 2 Houdans and 2 Welsummers hanging about inside

It has a circular vent about 6" diameter at the back, which can be closed, but I left it open last night and there are 3 or 4 slots at the front plus a couple of 1.5" holes we drilled to provide extra ventilation none of which can be closed. I'd taken the perch out to scrub it so there are 2 square holes each side about 2" square.

It was minus 4.6 here last night, was still minus 2 when I was cleaning it and is minus 0.6 now. The frost has gone from the outside of top of the curved roof now although the grass and all the trees are still white.

I don't really know why there should be condensation inside when there were no hens - although it was in need of a clean out, so maybe the shavings were giving off moisture. They seemed dry when I cleaned it out although the bottom layer was reluctant to brush off.

Does this mean either:

There is still not enough ventilation - if so where should I cut more holes;
Is it just too cold for the hens (fortunately it's due to warm up a bit which gives me time to sort something else)

or
am I worrying too much?

 

[Marigold]

Just because the house is cold doesn't mean the hens are. Trust their excellent feather and down insulation to keepe them warm, so long as they have plenty of ventilation to help prevent undue condensation. If the roof was damp don't worry, the hens don't roost up there. I'm getting frozen droppings in my coop but the hens are all fine, pophole and all vents open as always.

 

[Margaid]

Thanks Marigold. It's minus 0.8 outside now - it never got above freezing. I've checked the house and the roof is still icy inside with no sign of any drips on the floor. I won't put the fresh bedding in until Sunday morning, so if it thaws only the floor will get wet. Presumably with 2 birds in it they may generate enough heat to stop it freezing on the inside; I just hope they don't generate too much condensation. I'm going to the Fed both days so I can have a good look at both breeds of hen, and other bits and pieces including housing.

 

[chrismahon]

Chickens, like us, breath out wet air Margaid. For fully feathered breeds those temperatures are not a problem. Part-moulted birds, Leghorns and TNN's won't tolerate them though. Auboise will absorb excessively damp air, which is what we are using now. All ours are fine, even though there is ice on the inside of the windows and it was -6 last night.

 

[Chuck]

You will not really know the effects until you have the hens in. It doesn't matter if it freezes inside as chickens can tolerate cold very well - Leghorns too (I have White, Black, Buff and Mottled). All my drinkers have been frozen for the past three days inside the internal pens in the stables and there is frozen condensation on the inside of the roofs. Ditto the smaller outside coops. Cold kills many pathogens, it doesn't nurture them, so healthier stock.
Humans have forgotten that we lived without central heating until the 1970's when it became the must have luxury along with fitted carpets. Bedrooms were like ice prior to c.h.

 

[chrismahon]

Our bedroom was 2 degrees yesterday Chuck! Ice on the windows obviously. Our Leghorn's combs suffer. The cockerels is ridiculously large and gets frostbitten. The hens combs shrivel up. Good point about killing the nasties.

 

[Marigold]

Humans have forgotten that we lived without central heating until the 1970's when it became the must have luxury along with fitted carpets. Bedrooms were like ice prior to c.h.

Yes, Chuck isn't the only one who can remember those beautiful frost patterns on the INSIDE of bedroom windows in winter when we were kids, though we were all quite cosy in our beds, much like the chickens with their feathers keeping their feet warm when they sit down, I suppose. When I was a little girl, in a totally unheated bathroom in winter, one of my big ambitions for 'when I grow up and am rich' was to have a warm bathroom!
I think Chuck has actually hit the nail in the head here - we sometimes feel we need to provide conditions for our chickens which we would ourselves find acceptable, when actually they are happier and healthier if just given a dry, airy, relatively sheltered, safe place to roost.

 

[Margaid]

I still have frost patterns on my windows, it was 2.5 in the sitting room yesterday morning and the bathroom basin waste was frozen - but that'e life in a caravan for you. My concern was with damp air, and whether the ice was an indication of lack of ventilation. The coop has had 2 or 3 chickens roosting in it but as I wasn't there in the mornings I don't know whether condensation/too much moist air is a problem - I'll find out in a day or two.

I just had visions of the birds sitting there with water dripping on their heads!