Chicken hut green house

[TeeDee]

Not sure if this is a smart move or not so feel free to jump on and advise.

I don't get as much utility from my greenhouse as I think I could - but I just don't.
I'm thinking of semi converting it to part greenhouse on one side and back and chicken coop on one other side with access to a little outside pecking feeding areas - remove a glass panel and put some sort of doorway in.

The Greenhouse is 6 x 10ft. Top window with an automatic louvre , manual louvre on the rear and a sliding door that can be changed between summer and winter for a mesh panel and a glass panel.


My immediate thoughts are in winter time the chickens ambient heat should keep the greenhouse a tad warmer but ive a concern that summer maybe too much? I guess with an outside area and provided shade things should balance it out.


My overall thought is that I'm more likely to use chicken eggs on a daily basis than the return of time and investment on veg or fruit that whilst nice to grow won't be abundant in growth rate.

Chicken manure I can either mix in with the normal garden compost and leaves to break down or get rid of.

Thoughts?

 

[British Red]

In the Winter it's not a bad thing but in Summer it could get much too hot for the birds depending on breed. Anything over 30C is a lot for heavy feathered breeds. Its is possible to replace glass with mesh panels to improve ventilation (make the mesh panels).

 

[TeeDee]

In the Winter it's not a bad thing but in Summer it could get much too hot for the birds depending on breed. Anything over 30C is a lot for heavy feathered breeds. Its is possible to replace glass with mesh panels to improve ventilation (make the mesh panels).

Agreed - thats why I've mentioned the various air flow elements and changing the door out. I can create extra shade with covering the greenhouse and outside area but just have a concern.
Not sure if solar powered fans are a thing but could throw a couple of those in , I'm only talking about a few birds so not that there would be a large mob of them.

 

[British Red]

It's not the numbers, just the solar gain. A mesh door is a great idea. Worst case, in hot weather pop the clips & remove some roof panels. With heat rising, high level air flow is the best kind.

A small electric fence on their outside area isn't a bad idea

 

[Woody girl]

This is something used in permaculture. The air flow is the thing to get right. I learned about this concept when I did the first permaculture course in the UK at Darlington, many moons ago, so it is doable, I'd suggest you have a look at permaculture as a guide on how to make it work.

 

[GreyCat]

There's a chap in the USA (Mike Oehler) who did some classic books on "earth sheltered" greenhouses (and houses). Basically a greenhouse dug into a south-facing slope. There's other designs of "solar greenhouse" but they are all the similar concept.

A critical part of the design was a cold sink at the bottom.

He recommended keeping chickens in the greenhouse, with the coldsink being their hot day refuge. Rabbits were an alternative he mused about.

Also note though that these "greenhouses" are quite sophisticated affairs with barrels of water (or phase change gel) and rocks to soak up excess heat during the day to even out the temperatures, and air flow carefully worked out. The idea being you could grow year-around without any external heating. (although note he was further south than UK and in a continental climate).

Really interesting stuff, here's a couple of links to books that I have which are worth a read (although UK-based permaculture people have no doubt experimented and better adapted the concepts to our maritime climate further north):

The Earth-sheltered Solar Greenhouse Book: How to Build an Energy Free Year-round Greenhouse: Amazon.co.uk: Oehler, Mike: 8601400860021: Books

Buy The Earth-sheltered Solar Greenhouse Book: How to Build an Energy Free Year-round Greenhouse by Oehler, Mike (ISBN: 8601400860021) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0865718245/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

GC

 

[slowworm]

I would have a few concerns. Overheating, even with good ventilation, has already been mentioned.

Assuming you will not always be about you would need to ensure the hens are well protected from pests. Can a fox dig into the greenhouse for example?

You would also need to keep the hens away from you plants, anything they don't eat they'll scratch up and sit on.

I would be a little concerned about them running into the glass, it might not happen but if they are frightened it could - we occasionally get birds in ours and they get out fine on their own but if frightened they hit the windows.

What's the floor of the greenhouse like? Our one has the odd bit broken glass and wire (form the previous owner) and I wouldn't be happy with hens scratching around in it.

Finally, when I tried a hot bed in a greenhouse I think the plants became scorched from the fresh ammonia from poultry manure so I think it would need cleaning out.

 

[Woody girl]

I think the permaculture idea is that a chicken hut is a joined to the greenhouse with a small door/ mesh hatch between the two, both top and bottom. They can be shut off or opened to allow heat transfer between the two structures, and chicken manure can be transfered between the m easily. I can't remember the exact details, but I'm sure it's doable.

 

[Kadushu]

I kept chickens in a large commercial greenhouse for several years. Because it was tall and featured 2 grapevines it didn't get too hot at ground level. It did get extremely dusty though.