Should I close the vent or coop door?

[Anonymous]

Hi all

I'm in need of some more advice I'm afraid! My three ex-batts have a coop that is within a large enclosure, completely safe. Since they arrived on Saturday, I've been leaving the vent in the coop open at night, but closing the door to keep them tucked up and safe. Having trawled the net for info on optimum temperatures for your hens, I thought I would ask you all the following:

1) Should I bother to close the door or is it better to let the girls come and go as they please?
2) Would it be advisable to close the vent when the weather gets colder?
3) What temperatures can the girls cope with before I need to heat / cool the coop?

I've just purchased a remote thermometer so I can put the sensor in the coop and keep a watchful eye on how chilly it gets over winter. I am probably worrying unnecessarily, but as they have only spent their lives in a warm shed, I don't want them to catch cold!

Thank you all

Helen

 

[Lucylou]

Hi Helen,

I also have a coup inside a secure (I hope) run, & this is what I do.

I always close up the coup at night even when its very warm, I prefer to do everything I can for security having lost some chooks to a fox. I don't have a closeable vent, mine has year round ventilation holes & it has been fine, at least the cooks haven't complained :lol:

During that bad weather we had last winter with all that snow, I was really worried they'd be warm enough but I just gave them extra wood shavings on the floor & some corn in the afternoon & they were fine. Apparently chooks are warm creatures & fluff their feathers up & snuggle together & are lovely & cosy, its more of a worry that they get too warm rather than the other way around.

In the summer/warmer weather the opinion from the more experienced ones on here was that they'd be fine temperature wise if they weren't shut up at night, as long as they are secure. Most close the coup without fail because of predators whatever the weather.

Hope that helps

 

[dawn]

Hi Helen, I always used to shut the coop up at night, it has a permanantly open vent. My chickens went all through the very cold nights last winter with no cold problems but got frostbitten combs, particularly the rooster. Someone told me this could have been because they were so warm in the coop compared to outside that condensation formed and then froze on the combs when they went out.

I started to leave the door open in the very hot nights last month, the run is (hopefully) secure. I did that after one morning when I opened the door and a wave of very hot air hit me. I've kept it open since, and they pootle around happily until I let them out of the run when I get up.

A lady I know never shuts the coop door, and she keeps ex batts. I think I'll start closing it again when the weather gets colder.

 

[Anonymous]

When I got my three hens (18 weeks old) in June, I shut the coop hole door at night. But after they got used to their new home and the nights were warm I started leaving it open. They take themselves off to bed around 08:30 or earlier depending on light conditions. They wake around 05:00 and wander down the ladder to their enclosed run which is secure.

I have been thinking about the winter nights and will probably during the coldest nights shut the door and then set my alarm to get up and open it in the early hours of the morning.

I will probably leave the ventilation shutter open, the side with the ventilation holes face a wooden fence so they should be protected from any cold winds etc.