Читать книгу Hobby Farm Animals - Chris McLaughlin - Страница 48

Access, lighting, ventilation, insulation, and flooring all need to be carefully considered as you plan your coop. For example, how do you provide sufficient lighting and ventilation without compromising the effectiveness of your insulation? Which flooring materials are both sturdy and easy to clean? You must also think in terms of easy access for you and your flock—but not for predators.

Access

Your coop will need at least two doors: one for you and one or more for your birds. If your coop is low and close to the ground (a good design in northern climes, where body heat is wasted in taller structures), your door might simply be a hinged roof. With this kind of simple opening, you can easily feed and water your birds, tidy the coop, and gather eggs. If the coop is a standard, upright model, the roof should swing inward so chickens are less likely to escape when you open it.

Cut a chicken door (or more than one), 14 inches tall by 12 inches wide and 4–8 inches from the ground, in an outer wall. Use the cut-out piece of wood to make a ramp. Affix full-width molding (for traction) every 6 inches along its inside surface and then hinge it at the bottom so that the ramp doubles as a door that swings out and down. Fit it with a secure latch so you can bar the door closed at night. If raccoons are a problem in your area, choose a fairly complex latch—if a toddler can open the lock, then a raccoon can unlock it easily.

Floor Space Requirements The minimum amount of floor space needed per chicken depends on several factors, including bird type, the presence of indoor roosts, and the size of the outdoor run. Free-range chickens and chickens with adequate outdoor runs and indoor roosts: Heavy breeds: 5 square feet per bird (2 square feet if slaughtered before sixteen weeks of age) Light breeds: 3 square feet per bird Bantams: 2 square feet per bird Confined chickens without access to outdoor runs: Heavy breeds: 10 square feet per bird (6 square feet if slaughtered before sixteen weeks of age) Light breeds: 8 square feet per bird Bantams: 5 square feet per bird

Lighting and Ventilation

Light is essential to chickens’ health and happiness. Natural lighting is better than bulbs and lamps, but if you want your hens to lay year-round, you must wire your coop and install fixtures.

Sliding windows work best for lighting and ventilation because chickens can’t roost on them when they’re open. Every window must be tightly screened, even if your chickens can’t fly. If predators can wriggle their way around or through those screens, they will. You’ll need ½- to ¾-inch galvanized mesh to keep wee beasties, such as weasels and mink, at bay.

If you live in frigid winter climes, large south-side windows are a must; they admit lots of winter light and radiant heat. In general, allow at least 1 square foot of window for each 10 square feet of floor space. If you live where temperatures rarely dip below freezing, install even more windows. It’s hard to let in too much light.

Extra windows also create cooling, healthful cross-ventilation when summer heat is an issue. Install the extra windows on your coop’s north wall and possibly the east one, too. Your coop must be properly ventilated. Chickens exhale up to thirty-five times per minute, releasing vast amounts of heat, moisture, and carbon dioxide into their environment.

Faulty coop ventilation quickly leads to respiratory distress. Where large windows (and lots of them) aren’t possible, saw 6-inch circular or 2-by-6-inch rectangular ventilation openings high along one or more nonwindowed walls. Unplug these vents when extra air is needed, and close them tightly when it’s frigid outside. Chickens can weather considerable heat or cold when their housing is dry and draft-free, but they don’t do well in smelly, damp conditions. If your nose smells ammonia as you enter or open your coop, it is not adequately ventilated. Fix this problem immediately.

Insulation

To get your chickens through winters as unforgiving as those in northern Minnesota, their coop must be well insulated. If money is scarce, you can insulate only the coop’s north wall and bank outside by using hay or straw bales stacked at least two deep. Another trick: bank snow up against the coop by shoveling or pushing it as far up the sides as you can. If it’s still too cold inside the coop, you’ll need a heat lamp. But remember: fallen heat lamps can, and often do, spark fires, so install it in a reasonably safe location and use it only when really needed.

Chickens can die in temperatures higher than 95° Fahrenheit. Situate your coop and outdoor enclosures in partial shade—or plant vegetation around your chickens’ lodgings to partially shade it. Insulation helps repel daytime heat, and fans generate badly needed airflow. Opt for light-colored or corrugated metal roofing and paint external surfaces a matte white color to reflect the heat. Allow additional space for each of your birds; overcrowding leads to higher indoor temperatures and humidity.

Flooring

Your coop’s floor may be constructed of concrete, wood, or plain old dirt. Concrete is rodent-proof and easy to clean, but it’s comparatively expensive. Wood must be elevated on piers or blocks; it looks nice, but it can be hard to clean and periodically needs replacing. Well-drained dirt floors work fine. However, if a dirt floor is poorly drained or allowed to become mucky, you’ll have a sheer disaster on your hands.

Deep bedding nicely insulates a coop floor, it is simple, and it works! For the best-bet deep-bedding system, blanket your floor of choice with a cushy layer of absorbent material to keep things tidy and fresh. Chopped straw (wheat straw is best) or wood shavings are ideal, and rice or peanut hulls, sawdust, dry leaves, and shredded paper work well, too. Line the floor 8–10 inches deep; remove messes and add more material when necessary. Once or twice a year, strip everything back to floor level and start again.

Strips of wood or molding give the chickens traction on a ramp.