It's definitely getting colder and you may be thinking your hens are feeling the cold just as much as you are.
That's true, but it doesn't mean the best thing for them is to snuggle down inside a warm coop behind closed doors.
In most climates within NZ, a hen house should keep a hen dry and out of the wind and cold drafts, but it shouldn't be kept completely closed up. The open door of a smaller hen house may provide enough ventilation if you have just a few birds, but larger hen houses with a lot of birds may need more than that, such as windows on the north and west sides that can be opened during the day, or even ventilation holes up near the top of a wall something like what you can see on this coop.
The reason is the physiology of the chicken. When a bird breathes in and out, it expends a lot of moisture, so while you don't want your hens to be in a draft, you do want them to get enough fresh air that the inside of the coop stays dry. Droppings are also full of moisture, so by keeping a deep bed (preferably of wood chips) at least 10cm deep, you help keep the floor area dry, less smelly and as it composts, it helps warm the hen house.
You can read more about how to create a low-smell, easy care, warm and cosy chicken coop using the deep litter system on page 43 of How to Care for Your Poultry, available in supermarkets in NZ from mid-June, or next week if you buy it online by clicking here.
Nadene Hall
NZ Lifestyle Block magazine
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