Chicken shed windows?

[Snadger]

Is a chicken hut better with windows or without? The reason I ask is that I have a hut and chicken run on my allotment which has been used for keeping a dozen chickens in the past.
The shed has two windows which have been boarded over on the outside (easily unboarded!) and I wondered if chickens prefer it this way?
I would prefer to un-board one window so I could see what I was doing within thats all!

[terrier]

I use a shed with a coop inside. The coop is part wire and part wood. It's dark enough at night so as not to bother the chooks but I'm sure they love to see the dawn break in the morning and if I'm a bit late out of bed in the morning, at least they have light. Imagine waking up in the morning in total darkness and opening the door to sunshine! It's enough to put any chook off laying.

[TPeers]

Don't know - but was thinking similar thoughts!

There is very little light in the house my birds are in, and while this does reduce the bullying ('cause they can't see to peck) I have noticed that egg production has started to go down now the evenings are starting to draw in.

I would suggest unboarding at lest one window, that might keep the egg production up - I also read in Practical Poultry that you can artificially increase egg production by putting in artificial lights. How 'natural' do you want to be?

I shall not be putting lights in, but may move the house and run onto the patio once the weather breaks (again) for the winter, where the birds would benefit from 'spill light' from the house. I'm not sure this will do much, but it is as far as I'm prepared to go!

[Dotty Chick]

Evening everyone
Great discussions on lighting going on and it has saved me posting a 'thread'.
I do keep my coop quite dark at the moment, but up quite early to get them out. I have tended to keep mine dark because of my bullied chickens.
Samson and Delilah are now in the coop and not in my hall at night!
They still get the odd peck now and again but are doing fine. Samson has put on some weight and coming out more into the penned area more.
Its funny you should say about the lighting as I didn't get them up until 7.15 am the other day and only got 3 eggs, where as the day before and today we got 6 and they were up at 6.15!! I wonder if it is just a coincidence or....... that reason, not enough light.
The mind boggles
Take care everyone and to all your ladies
Dotty

[cottage garden]

I think a window is nice for the chickens but there are a few instances of chickens trying to fly at them and breaking the glass. If you have a window its a good idea to put chicken wire or a cross of tape inside of it.

[Madasafish]

I use clear horticultural plastic windows in my quail and turkey houses...

[Hazel at the Hill]

I think a window is nice for the chickens but there are a few instances of chickens trying to fly at them and breaking the glass. If you have a window its a good idea to put chicken wire or a cross of tape inside of it.

That would be SOME CHICKEN to get from perch-to-sixty in order to break the window??

I am fascinated reading the chicken threads and do 'share' with all poultry-heads on the vine - one day I WILL be with you in actuality and eat my own fresh eggs....(dreams...)... however the entire enterprise seems fraught with mishaps!!

May your ladies forever lay, peeps!

[yoanbob]

my chook shed has a south facing window and we had eggs (tho not as many) all through winter, i would say let there be light!

[evoblade]

but what about the heat side of it, doesnt the glass radiate the suns heat and make the hut to hot in the summer months?

[kathyd]

I have a small wooden coop inside a big outbuilding. The outbuilding has windows, but covered with chicken wire rather than glass. While it's been really cold, I've stapled thick polythene over them to stop the wind (and snow) blowing in, but in the summer I leave them open. Some of my birds sleep inside the coop, and some on the roof, and to be honest it doesn't seem to make any difference to the number of eggs they lay, or what time I let them out in the morning - they all have a bit of a break in the winter, and start again in the spring. So if you'd like windows, have windows .

[Two_Sheds]

I have a small window in my lotty shed (east facing). It gets INCREDIBLY hot in there when the sun shines


You may boil the chickens if they can't escape the heat, ie if they're locked in. Like leaving a dog in a locked car

[jessmorris]

I've got my broody and chicks in a hutch (they can come and go) in a shed. I realised it was going to get boiling in there even on snowy days, when its sunny, so I bashed in a glass window (I'm sure the neighbours think I'm bonkers) and replaced it with weldmesh. When its spring and sunny (if it ever is), I'll take the door off and replace it with more weldmesh. In short, windows with glass are helpful for us to be able to see what's going on in the shed, but they raise the temperature and the chooks always need ventilation anyway (more than you think). What I didn't factor in is that we have winds from the East at the mo (almost unheard of in Lancashire) and now the weldmesh 'window' helpfully lets in snow, rain and hail as well as sunshine. Sigh. The broody prefers to sit on the almost bare boards (the sawdust gets blown away) under this 'window' brooding her chicks, rather than in her lovely rabbit forage nest I made her. Funny bird.

[Aberdeenplotter]

I don't have chooks but my Gran kept hundreds of them on the farm when I was knee high to a grasshopper. Her hen houses all had very dirty windows.

[veggiechicken]

Mine had a weldmesh window with a dropdown wooden panel that could be pulled up to cover the window, totally or partially, as it was pulled up with some chain and attached to a hook above the window. This cut the light or the wind. Makes sense to me anyway

[jessmorris]

Good idea VG!