A suggestion: I keep only the highest vent open (so 1 of the 3) Southside. (Must be above their heads ) It prevents wind travel and drafts. Summer is a great time to have as many open as possible. Reason is the Ammonia needs to have a open vent at all times and humidity from from the chickens breathing leaves the top part to prevent frost bite.
Been watching Coop Builds about 4 years. Haven't had chickens since a kid and can't just yet, but will. One thing I've learned I'll incorporate in my build with the roost's are making them round vs flat. It's the natural way chickens roost and are better on the feet. I have Bamboo here... Central Alabama, and will likely use it. Also if I can find Hemp rope, I'll wrap it. Hemp is the best for discouraging bacteria growth. Round gives good hold to the natural shape and more comfortable on the feet. Reducing stress for the chicken. The rope wrap creates air flow, further reducing bacteria growth. Lastly, I'll make them removable. That way, I can take them out for a good wash when needed. Great Build Guys. Thanks for sharing. Bless you and yours🙏🏼
Thank you! I like the idea of hemp. I have read that it is better to have a flat roost so their toes can be relaxed. It also helps in the winter to keep their toes warm when they roost over them. We are not experts though so I can't say for certain what is better in a roost and their feet position while roosting.
In the winter it can be a good idea to staple clear plastic on the side where the wind hits to keep the snow and the bitter winds out. If you do this they will spend more time in the run which occupies their minds and discourages picking on each other. From the look of the amount of poop that was in that coop vs what was in the run, it looks like they are spending a lot of waking time in the coop because the run is so cold/windy/snowy.
I really Enjoy your vids a great deal. Your birds would be happier with a 2.5 to 3 inch round roost. If you have a rural forest you can cut one or two roosts easily. Obviously you are experiencing success so nothing urgent. You could also add lights to the coop in the winter to increase the daytime hours to 12 along with your runs to give them something to do. Bright enough for them to see to scratch around. You can also throw in a shovel full of dirt and they will gleefully scratch through it. I use my mature compost and they love it. Thanks again.
Had chickens for years when my kids were little. We would wrap the outside run in plastic to keep the heat in, leaving some top areas open for ventilation. Also had 2 sliding windows for extra summer ventilation. The walls & floor had insulation covered with plywood. Had a light on a timer so they layer eggs in the winter. Had to close small coop door every night cuz we had raccoons. You’re videos brought back many happy memories.
I have that same 2 gallon water feeder that plugs in , it worked great for me last winter, I my self am a new chicken owner going on a year and a half I love it, best of luck to you, God bless
I think you could have both the dog bowl and heated water unit put side by side and they would get used to it Might help get them trained on it, and also provide peace of mind to know they have water available.
Great update video - nice to see the work to clean, done so well. I'm in the country so will have much more to consider regarding predators but I like your style! I commented in part 1 about the hemp from Carolina Coops - apparently it easily lasts a year or more between changes, and their neat idea to wrap their roosts in rope - looks neat and they like it. About the water system - if you have power for that great idea heated dog bowl, how about getting an in-tank heater for your summer system and connecting it to a thermostat. I have a huge one in my water tote but they make them in all sizes both physically (smaller hole to drop it in) and larger wattage output models. Then your very-neat summer design is an all-season model (can remove the heater once frost is done and clean it and make ready for fall install)? And as I said being in the country I think I'll add what comes out of the coop into a compost bin setup and recycle that rich nitrogen once safe. Love the upcycled milk-crates (going to make mine rear-access for their comfort). Great job.
Have been binge watching chicken videos to "steal" ideas for our chicken coop. Will use your ideas for how to water and feed the chickens after watching your first video and this one. Fortunately, we only get a couple months where the temperature gets down to freezing and seldom get snow here in southern Virginia so your methods will work really well for us. Our chickens will be free ranging for the most part since we live on an acre and half property that is zoned agriculture. I do have a solar panel that is mounted on a pole that I would like to figure out a use for it. I originally was using it to run a fan in my cattle fence greenhouse so it probably could keep the chicken coop cool in the summer if I added insulation to the walls. When I get time I will be watching your solar videos to learn more about the technology.
Just wanted to give an update. I decided on Justin Rhodes Chickshaw 2.0 mobile chicken coop. I bought portable fencing and gate and built a portable/adjustable platform on wheels for my solar panel that attaches to my Ecoflow River 2 Pro power station that runs one fan A/C and another fan on DC. So far it is working out great. I store all of their food in my greenhouse that is covered with a shade cloth to keep the temperatures down. I came back here to get ideas on what I am going to do for keeping them warm this winter. I forgot to mention that we have a 10 x 10 Gazebo with a beach umbrella propping it up in the center. We added sawhorses and a 2 x 4 x 8 across them so they can stay in the shade. The rest of the time they spend underneath the chicken coop since it is high enough for them to go under. My granddaughter lets the chickens out each night and lets them free range. They love it and look forward to it each evening. They go back in the chicken coop at about 8:30.
This will be my first winter with chickens and I've been worried about what to do for their warmth now that cold Temps are here for me. But so far I think they will be good with my set up. 🤞
Nice setup. I love chickens. They`re fun pets to keep for eggs. We used to fill a freezer with young chickens and the meat was superior to what`s in the stores just like the eggs. Somebody tried to give me a pet cat but my next pets will be a few hens that produce food and fertilizer. I have a colony of Anole lizards living here and a cat would get them all.
I had a flock of several dozen tiny Bantham chickens that lived in the yard and roosted in the trees in the early 90s. I started with far less but the flock grew like crazy.
Try adding a light on a timer in their coop to get them laying eggs through the winter. If they have more light, they should produce eggs all year. Thanks for giving us a glimpse into your life!
Is it just me... or are we all wondering about a solar-powered chicken coop? And, wouldn't it be amazing to have a spreadsheet to rate chicken coop solar systems?
It also has to do with the loss of light. Fun fact I recently learned as our daylight went down: "Chickens need light to lay because their reproductive cycle is triggered by the natural photoperiod, or light-dark cycle. Chickens have a pineal gland, which is found in the brain and is activated by light." "Research shows that chickens lay best when they receive about 15 hours of light daily. In the northern United States, natural daylight drops to under nine hours at the end of December."
i guess that means if you want more eggs in the winter, add timed lights, so the chickens get the 15hrs of light a day. probably some inexpensive led lights that can come on early in the morning, 6am? and stay on till say 10am, then come on again at 4pm and stay on till 9pm? that'll get you the 15hrs of light, maybe a programable light so it slowly brightens in the morning and slowly darkens in the evening.
@@user--PM one other thing that is interesting is the more eggs a hen lays the shorter the lifespan. Laying eggs is hard work for them. We have chosen to keep things "natural" for now so they don't have the extra work and stress during the winter. I haven't added lights and I'm not sure if we will. Maybe we will consider changing that in the future.
I’ve heard that adding spice such as red pepper flakes to their feed might encourage egg production in the winter. Also maybe you can hang a little heated lamp for the winter days.
That might be a good option, there are so many different ways to handle animal water in the winter. The heated water dog bowl uses very little power and isn't too inconvenient.
Great video ❤ love the family all working together. Love your set up 😊👍🏼 After my son and I went to buy eggs the other day ,almost a dollar and egg 😮 really considering again having chickens. It’s very popular where I live, but, I refuse to “dispatch “ them. My husband says I’m crazy he will do it. So, no chickens yet. Does anyone just keep them?
We are worried about that day where we have to "dispatch" them. We are thinking of just keeping them around until they pass on from old age and introducing other hens in the flock that lay. I'm not sure how humane that is if they are suffering.
We will never cull them just because they are no longer laying. We will keep them until their quality of life is no longer good whether that be due to age or illness. Our girls are too attached to these ladies to just get rid of them. I agree though, that is the hardest part about having chickens - making the decision of when it is time.
By buying a coop and building the run instead building all of it, do you think we’d save or lose money? I don’t want to spend too much on chickens, being first time chicken owners.
We have two 'Buff Orpingtons' and two 'Black Sex-Links'. We picked them up from our local farm supply store. We also used to have a 'Barred Rock' chicken but she passed away.
Yeah, not my normal content. My previous chicken coop video picked up 250,000 views in the last bit so I need to feed the RUclips masters LOL.... Why can't that be a 'solar / battery' video with that many views...?!
Hi, this is Jason's wife. As long as your coop isn't too drafty, you shouldn't need a heat lamp for your chickens. They are pretty hardy and can keep themselves warm. I would avoid using a heat lamp.
My Father had hobby layers. He had a friend that had a large production complex in South Jordan and he came and instructed my Father on everything. He said to put a lightbulb ( it wasn't LED or CFL ) in the coup to add some heat and promote egg production and my Father swore by adding those wooden eggs to each of the chicken's nests. I don't have layers because I don't like the taste of eggs.
You can view our other popular chicken coop video HERE: ruclips.net/video/yR6TD4tAoUk/видео.html
A suggestion: I keep only the highest vent open (so 1 of the 3) Southside. (Must be above their heads ) It prevents wind travel and drafts. Summer is a great time to have as many open as possible. Reason is the Ammonia needs to have a open vent at all times and humidity from from the chickens breathing leaves the top part to prevent frost bite.
Been watching Coop Builds about 4 years.
Haven't had chickens since a kid and can't just yet, but will.
One thing I've learned I'll incorporate in my build with the roost's are making them round vs flat.
It's the natural way chickens roost and are better on the feet.
I have Bamboo here...
Central Alabama,
and will likely use it.
Also if I can find Hemp rope, I'll wrap it.
Hemp is the best for discouraging bacteria growth.
Round gives good hold to the natural shape and more comfortable on the feet.
Reducing stress for the chicken.
The rope wrap creates air flow, further reducing bacteria growth.
Lastly, I'll make them removable. That way, I can take them out for a good wash when needed.
Great Build Guys.
Thanks for sharing.
Bless you and yours🙏🏼
Thank you! I like the idea of hemp. I have read that it is better to have a flat roost so their toes can be relaxed. It also helps in the winter to keep their toes warm when they roost over them. We are not experts though so I can't say for certain what is better in a roost and their feet position while roosting.
In the winter it can be a good idea to staple clear plastic on the side where the wind hits to keep the snow and the bitter winds out. If you do this they will spend more time in the run which occupies their minds and discourages picking on each other. From the look of the amount of poop that was in that coop vs what was in the run, it looks like they are spending a lot of waking time in the coop because the run is so cold/windy/snowy.
I really Enjoy your vids a great deal. Your birds would be happier with a 2.5 to 3 inch round roost. If you have a rural forest you can cut one or two roosts easily. Obviously you are experiencing success so nothing urgent. You could also add lights to the coop in the winter to increase the daytime hours to 12 along with your runs to give them something to do. Bright enough for them to see to scratch around. You can also throw in a shovel full of dirt and they will gleefully scratch through it. I use my mature compost and they love it. Thanks again.
here in western Ky, we use heat tape on water lines you could wrap that around your blue water jug, and it wouldn't freeze.
great recommendation! If you already have some around and it doesn't use that much power, might be an excellent solution.
You may want to move the dust box out from under the roost in the run. Love the run and coop.
Had chickens for years when my kids were little.
We would wrap the outside run in plastic to keep the heat in, leaving some top areas open for ventilation.
Also had 2 sliding windows for extra summer ventilation.
The walls & floor had insulation covered with plywood.
Had a light on a timer so they layer eggs in the winter.
Had to close small coop door every night cuz we had raccoons. You’re videos brought back many happy memories.
No plans for this build?? I'd love to use your plans
I have that same 2 gallon water feeder that plugs in , it worked great for me last winter, I my self am a new chicken owner going on a year and a half I love it, best of luck to you, God bless
Hi, this is Jason's wife Katie. That's good to hear it worked for you. We will try again this winter. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I put plastic sheet in front for stopping the wind in cold Canada weather.
Chickens require 16hrs of sunlight to lay. If you add a light inside the nest and place it on a 16 hr timer they will lay in the winter as well.
I must say those are some blessed chickens with such great caregivers..
Might try to put an aquarium heater inside the water container you already have! Thanks for the video.
I think you could have both the dog bowl and heated water unit put side by side and they would get used to it Might help get them trained on it, and also provide peace of mind to know they have water available.
Great update video - nice to see the work to clean, done so well. I'm in the country so will have much more to consider regarding predators but I like your style!
I commented in part 1 about the hemp from Carolina Coops - apparently it easily lasts a year or more between changes, and their neat idea to wrap their roosts in rope - looks neat and they like it.
About the water system - if you have power for that great idea heated dog bowl, how about getting an in-tank heater for your summer system and connecting it to a thermostat. I have a huge one in my water tote but they make them in all sizes both physically (smaller hole to drop it in) and larger wattage output models. Then your very-neat summer design is an all-season model (can remove the heater once frost is done and clean it and make ready for fall install)?
And as I said being in the country I think I'll add what comes out of the coop into a compost bin setup and recycle that rich nitrogen once safe.
Love the upcycled milk-crates (going to make mine rear-access for their comfort).
Great job.
12:13 great watch! Really love your setup.
Thank you!
I always like rake parties 🙂 Very peaceful part of Creation.
Have been binge watching chicken videos to "steal" ideas for our chicken coop. Will use your ideas for how to water and feed the chickens after watching your first video and this one. Fortunately, we only get a couple months where the temperature gets down to freezing and seldom get snow here in southern Virginia so your methods will work really well for us. Our chickens will be free ranging for the most part since we live on an acre and half property that is zoned agriculture. I do have a solar panel that is mounted on a pole that I would like to figure out a use for it. I originally was using it to run a fan in my cattle fence greenhouse so it probably could keep the chicken coop cool in the summer if I added insulation to the walls. When I get time I will be watching your solar videos to learn more about the technology.
Just wanted to give an update. I decided on Justin Rhodes Chickshaw 2.0 mobile chicken coop. I bought portable fencing and gate and built a portable/adjustable platform on wheels for my solar panel that attaches to my Ecoflow River 2 Pro power station that runs one fan A/C and another fan on DC. So far it is working out great. I store all of their food in my greenhouse that is covered with a shade cloth to keep the temperatures down. I came back here to get ideas on what I am going to do for keeping them warm this winter. I forgot to mention that we have a 10 x 10 Gazebo with a beach umbrella propping it up in the center. We added sawhorses and a 2 x 4 x 8 across them so they can stay in the shade. The rest of the time they spend underneath the chicken coop since it is high enough for them to go under. My granddaughter lets the chickens out each night and lets them free range. They love it and look forward to it each evening. They go back in the chicken coop at about 8:30.
You might consider composting the manure and the bedding for your garden :)
A family video! Loved it! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and here's hoping we all have a Happy New Year! Thanks for the video, Jason and Katy!
Thanks SandiRose!
This will be my first winter with chickens and I've been worried about what to do for their warmth now that cold Temps are here for me. But so far I think they will be good with my set up. 🤞
A very informative and well done video!!
Nice setup. I love chickens. They`re fun pets to keep for eggs. We used to fill a freezer with young chickens and the meat was superior to what`s in the stores just like the eggs. Somebody tried to give me a pet cat but my next pets will be a few hens that produce food and fertilizer. I have a colony of Anole lizards living here and a cat would get them all.
Really well done. It’s amazing how easy they can be, and the eggs are great. Thanks for sharing.
It's been nice to teach our girls some good worth ethic, the home grown eggs are nice as well!
We can't have chickens here but Like to watch .
I had a flock of several dozen tiny Bantham chickens that lived in the yard and roosted in the trees in the early 90s. I started with far less but the flock grew like crazy.
Wow! That would be something cool to see!
A well maintained and arranged system 👌
Thanks!
Try adding a light on a timer in their coop to get them laying eggs through the winter. If they have more light, they should produce eggs all year. Thanks for giving us a glimpse into your life!
So much info! Thank you🐥🐣🐓
Is it just me... or are we all wondering about a solar-powered chicken coop? And, wouldn't it be amazing to have a spreadsheet to rate chicken coop solar systems?
Love it! I should make a spreadsheet! Haha 🤔
Over think it.
Make the update video and add rooster 🐓 for baby chicken 😁😁😁😁
interesting tid bits, hardly any eggs when it's cold and they loose their feathers as it gets colder.
thanks for sharing
It also has to do with the loss of light. Fun fact I recently learned as our daylight went down: "Chickens need light to lay because their reproductive cycle is triggered by the natural photoperiod, or light-dark cycle. Chickens have a pineal gland, which is found in the brain and is activated by light."
"Research shows that chickens lay best when they receive about 15 hours of light daily. In the northern United States, natural daylight drops to under nine hours at the end of December."
i guess that means if you want more eggs in the winter, add timed lights, so the chickens get the 15hrs of light a day. probably some inexpensive led lights that can come on early in the morning, 6am? and stay on till say 10am, then come on again at 4pm and stay on till 9pm? that'll get you the 15hrs of light, maybe a programable light so it slowly brightens in the morning and slowly darkens in the evening.
@@user--PM one other thing that is interesting is the more eggs a hen lays the shorter the lifespan. Laying eggs is hard work for them. We have chosen to keep things "natural" for now so they don't have the extra work and stress during the winter. I haven't added lights and I'm not sure if we will. Maybe we will consider changing that in the future.
I’ve heard that adding spice such as red pepper flakes to their feed might encourage egg production in the winter. Also maybe you can hang a little heated lamp for the winter days.
Birdbath heater or acquarium heater for water freezes
I wonder if a small submersible aquarium water heater would help the water from freezing inside the blue 5 gallon container in cold season.
That might be a good option, there are so many different ways to handle animal water in the winter. The heated water dog bowl uses very little power and isn't too inconvenient.
Could you share the build plans??
Great video ❤ love the family all working together. Love your set up 😊👍🏼 After my son and I went to buy eggs the other day ,almost a dollar and egg 😮 really considering again having chickens. It’s very popular where I live, but, I refuse to “dispatch “ them. My husband says I’m crazy he will do it. So, no chickens yet. Does anyone just keep them?
We are worried about that day where we have to "dispatch" them. We are thinking of just keeping them around until they pass on from old age and introducing other hens in the flock that lay. I'm not sure how humane that is if they are suffering.
@@Jasonoid 😊👍🏼 to me they bless you with gifts of food I’ll let them hang around 😊
We will never cull them just because they are no longer laying. We will keep them until their quality of life is no longer good whether that be due to age or illness. Our girls are too attached to these ladies to just get rid of them. I agree though, that is the hardest part about having chickens - making the decision of when it is time.
Thanks for the winter update! What state are you in? You mentioned desert in another video.
We live in Northern Utah, we got so much snow this year.
you might consider wearing a respirator when you rake up the coop so you're not breathing in airborne chicken poop.
By buying a coop and building the run instead building all of it, do you think we’d save or lose money? I don’t want to spend too much on chickens, being first time chicken owners.
That would work great, just make sure the coup you go with is efficient, that's the best thing you can do.
Can you please do a video on the breed of chickens you have?
We have two 'Buff Orpingtons' and two 'Black Sex-Links'. We picked them up from our local farm supply store. We also used to have a 'Barred Rock' chicken but she passed away.
Can you help to have a heated water bowl in winter?
By any chance do you have plans available for this coop
Curious...........I wonder if you could use those Swimming Pool Solar panels to keep this warm in the winter time?
Hmmmmm, might be an option for keeping the water from freezing.
What do you use for the chicken run, is it rock or sand?
Sandy loam mix.
Just here to play thr video in the background and commenting for the AL G Rhythm ha
Yeah, not my normal content. My previous chicken coop video picked up 250,000 views in the last bit so I need to feed the RUclips masters LOL.... Why can't that be a 'solar / battery' video with that many views...?!
@@Jasonoid I wish I could have Livestock in my area.
Can I put a heat lamp on winter time?
Hi, this is Jason's wife. As long as your coop isn't too drafty, you shouldn't need a heat lamp for your chickens. They are pretty hardy and can keep themselves warm. I would avoid using a heat lamp.
Omg do you have GFCI ?
Yes
What is the width of your coop & run?
The run is 16'x5' and the coop is 4'x5'
My Father had hobby layers. He had a friend that had a large production complex in South Jordan and he came and instructed my Father on everything. He said to put a lightbulb ( it wasn't LED or CFL ) in the coup to add some heat and promote egg production and my Father swore by adding those wooden eggs to each of the chicken's nests. I don't have layers because I don't like the taste of eggs.
👍🐓👍🐝