Coop roost hood advice

[WyoChickenFan]

I‘m considering installing a hood over roost bars. Should I and what are recommendations? The reason I’m considering a hood is that I’m hoping it would help prevent frostbite on combs. Last winter was my first winter with chickens. My Orpington rooster got small amount of frostbite on a few tips of his comb. I’m currently resisting additional heat in coop. My chickens don’t appear to be handling cold as well as they did last year. They spend most of the time in the coop, gathering under the poop board. I’m currently down to only an occasional egg. Food and water are only provided in run area. Nest boxes are in coop.
I also have questions about timing of moulting. This year in western Wyoming, we had a nice long and mild autumn. Then the temperatures turned quickly to fairly unseasonably cold the last part of November. We have already had many sub zero nights with several daily highs that hover around and below 20F. My chickens are not all finished moulting at this time. What is typical moulting time and duration for chickens in colder climates?
Back to the questions regarding roost hoods, here’s some more information on my setup: Both the coop and run are on a concrete foundation. The coop and run were designed to be long lived and so that the structure could be converted to a little greenhouse and garden shed. The coop is designed with passive solar features. Coop has concrete floor. Deep litter method using wood chips is being used. There’s an auto pop door between coop and run. Coop is 8’ x 10’ and run is 8’ x 25’ with sand floor. Run is covered and has removable poly carbonate siding over hardware cloth on three sides. There are two, high shutter vents in the coop-East and West-approximately foot square. The West little high vent is currently covered. There are three 4’ x 1 1/2’ vents with swing doors over hardware cloth between coop and run that we manage on a daily basis.
There are currently two Buckeye hens, four Australorp hens and the Orpington rooster. The chickens have been free ranging most of the time but are now confined to run and coop.
My goal is to arrange for the chickens to be as comfortable as possible. What are opinions regarding installation of roost hood? How high above chickens on top roost bar? Leave hood in place during day? What type material to use? Will chickens easily get used to hood? Etc.
Have looked at some flat panel heaters that appear to be safe and don’t use much electricity. Should I do that instead?
Thank you for taking time to read my post. I welcome opinions and ideas. I’m new to chicken keeping

 

[cavemanrich]

Frostbite is a reality in chicken coops in cold areas.. I am not sure a hood would prevent such. If anything,, it may slow down the natural venting of coop.
HUMIDITY IS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IN COMB/WATTLE FROSTBITE. Do you know if there is an excess of humidity inside your coop? Your humidity inside coop should be about same as outdoor humidity. You would need meters to measure both to know how close the values are.
You don't have very many chickens, so the ventilation you have may be sufficient, or on the low side. The covered vent should be open to at least get 2 square feet of ventilation. (when the other vents are closed off) If there is wind coming in thru that vent, then an exterior baffle can be installed. You also do need some take in air at the bottom of coop.
Where are the other vents to run located?? Are they at chicken roost height?? That is fine in warm weather, but not good in cold.
Flat panel heaters are fine, as long as you do not encounter many electrical outages. The chickens do get used to the warmth, and during an outage, they encounter unexpected cold. My understanding about heaters,,,, peeps that live in extreme cold areas, do use them.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[WyoChickenFan]

Frostbite is a reality in chicken coops in cold areas.. I am not sure a hood would prevent such. If anything,, it may slow down the natural venting of coop.
HUMIDITY IS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IN COMB/WATTLE FROSTBITE. Do you know if there is an excess of humidity inside your coop? Your humidity inside coop should be about same as outdoor humidity. You would need meters to measure both to know how close the values are.
You don't have very many chickens, so the ventilation you have may be sufficient, or on the low side. The covered vent should be open to at least get 2 square feet of ventilation. (when the other vents are closed off) If there is wind coming in thru that vent, then an exterior baffle can be installed. You also do need some take in air at the bottom of coop.
Where are the other vents to run located?? Are they at chicken roost height?? That is fine in warm weather, but not good in cold.
Flat panel heaters are fine, as long as you do not encounter many electrical outages. The chickens do get used to the warmth, and during an outage, they encounter unexpected cold. My understanding about heaters,,,, peeps that live in extreme cold areas, do use them.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Thank you for your thoughts. I’ve gone ahead and ordered a flat panel heater. We have a backup generator and the coop is on a backed up line. I’m looking for a hygrometer that will record maximum and minimum readings. I can see that I need information from a hygrometer to guide my coop improvements.
Here’s to happier chickens.

 

[sniper338]

Installing a heater will warm it up and dry the air inside.

 

[linguini]

Thank you for your thoughts. I’ve gone ahead and ordered a flat panel heater. We have a backup generator and the coop is on a backed up line. I’m looking for a hygrometer that will record maximum and minimum readings. I can see that I need information from a hygrometer to guide my coop improvements.
Here’s to happier chickens.

These are the hygrometers we use - one inside the coop, one in the run, (covered, otherwise similar to the outside temp/humidity . The bluetooth based app (very easy to install) shows history of the temp/humidity readings. We can compare the readings inside the coop to the outside environment.The price is very good! I've had these for almost two years. only replaced one unit with new battery once.

https://www.amazon.com/ThermoPro-Hy...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

 

[cavemanrich]

These are the hygrometers we use - one inside the coop, one in the run, (covered, otherwise similar to the outside temp/humidity . The bluetooth based app (very easy to install) shows history of the temp/humidity readings. We can compare the readings inside the coop to the outside environment.The price is very good! I've had these for almost two years. only replaced one unit with new battery once.

https://www.amazon.com/ThermoPro-Hygrometer-Thermometer-Humidity-Temperature/dp/B09NL17MBR/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=2UJDU5QS33QK4&keywords=hygrometer+bluetooth+thermopro&qid=1673278693&sprefix=hygrometer+bluetooth+Thermo,aps,68&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyS0xHS0o1MjVKRlNUJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTg4Mzc5M0tGMU1DS0w5TE8xJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA4MjIxMjYxRVNaMjExVFNaRlVRJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

I looked, and see that they are for indoor use. Am guessing that outdoor use, as long as out of weather, and dry, works just fine.

 

[linguini]

I looked, and see that they are for indoor use. Am guessing that outdoor use, as long as out of weather, and dry, works just fine.

That's correct - our run is covered with a roof, the temperature is similar to outside, but the unit is kept out of rain/snow/strong wind!

 

[WyoChickenFan]

That's correct - our run is covered with a roof, the temperature is similar to outside, but the unit is kept out of rain/snow/strong wind!

These comments are all interesting to me. I’m learning as I go. I ordered an additional flat panel heater for coop. Now one heater is at roost height but about four feet away. The other heater is in area of coop where chickens can be in close proximity while on the floor. I had already ordered an outside/inside hygrometer with a base station in my house when linguini posted information about their indoor hygrometer. Nice to know that indoor hygrometers do work in coops.
I’m hoping that the thermal mass we built into the coop (floor and the wall opposite the southern windows are concrete) has actually been helping to keep nighttime temperatures more moderate in the coop. Nighttime temperatures in the coop following sunny days are definitely proportionately warmer than outside temperatures than nighttime temperatures following stormy, overcast days. The panel heaters do seem to be helping the coop temperatures. I’m hoping that the temperatures the chickens are experiencing in the coop are not so artificially warmer than run and outside temperatures, that the chickens‘ health is actually compromised but is just helping them to better get through the winter. We are seeing temperatures in the coop generally be 15 to 20 degrees warmer that outside temperatures, although we noticed a more noticeable difference yesterday in early morning hours. It was -5F outside while the coop was 34F. The big difference in temperatures diminished as the day dawned. I’m guessing that the thermal mass warming went away in the coop as time since prior day’s sun increased. Humidity in the coop is generally running in the 40 to upper 50 percentiles. The outside humidity is generally about 20 points higher than inside the coop.
I’d enjoy any comments about how my coop (excepting the passive solar features) temperatures and relative humidity compare to others’ experiences.
I’m excited that we have been getting a few eggs again. Maybe that means my chickens are a little happier.