I have 3 Nestera coops, 2 lodges and on raised. We've had temperatures hitting 29-30C here in france. The coops being under the sun have gone up to 39C. I've done two things that have dastricly improved that. The first thing is to put some sort of cover hovering above it, here it was a tarp that I had attached to some pieces of fencing. That made a huge difference, now the coop was about the same if not 1C+ than outside. The biggest difference, call me crazy, was adding fans to the coops. I've added a fan in front of each vent, slightly leaning downwards in order to maximise air intake and airflow inside. Both fans are 14x14cm, and I would put them on full blast during hot days. The temperature would very quickly drop to equal to that of outside in the shade and the chickens would seldom be panting with the airflow. I've ran an electrical extension to the coop, screwed a powerstrip inside, it's powering the chicken guard (which is not liking their door design, and neither am I even if I wish I did), a camera and then the fans are plugs through wifi plugs in order to turn them on or off from a distance or schedule them.
Now the fan idea is intriguing - I'm convinced there is something in ventilation & would love to put some sensors on coop with & without fans. I'm certain you are spot on with the shade. I tend to agreed on the Chicken Guard - especially the newer models. The Nestera coop auto closer works much better!
Mate. That was awesome. I loved your critical thinking and definitely how you presented the conclusions. I would absolutely love to see further testing in the winter, more for how ambient temperature is affected in a coop with chickens roosting vs a coop without any chicken activity. Especially how the ambient temperature could potentially stabilise over a winters night.
Great experiment. I live in SouthEast USA and our coop is shaded for the majority of the day. I'm glad to know that I won't have to worry about my girls getting too hot. I'd love to see more testing on how ventilation affects temperature and how the shaded coops do in the winter. Thanks for all the information.
i just watched Hugh's videos about electric fencing. Very helpful, Hugh really has a knack for efficient and engaging presentation. I have 3 questions: 1. is "strand" to keep predators out and "mesh" to keep chickens in? 2. What happens when a chicken gets zapped? Don't the feathers insulate the chicken? 3. Would Hugh's rubber boots prevent him from getting zapped when he touches the horizontal hot wire? Thanks so much for your informative and smile inducing videos.
Hi Pamela, Hugh here! Strands (tape and rope) are generally for larger livestock - horses, sheep and pigs. Mesh is for smaller creatures (poultry, rabbits, goats). The mesh is also more effective against smaller predators (a fox could jump between strands). When a chicken gets zapped they squeak and stay away from the fence! It does no harm to even tiny chicks providing you have the right sized energiser. It does give them a shock though! No my boots don't stop me getting a shock but they do reduce the amount. I once touched the fence whilst knelt in a puddle (so making a fantastic circuit). That curled me up in a ball! Feathers just brushing the fence probably wont conduct but, like my boots, if a chicken pushes against the fence the high voltage goes through the insulation. Hope that helps and happy to answer any questions that you might have!
Great video, very interesting! Don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but I'm having real trouble with the nestera auto door closer. The sawdust keeps getting pushed into the doorway so it doesn't close fully. I have to check it every night, which kind of defeats the purpose. Any suggestions?! Other than that, fantastic coop!
I'd say: yes. I once had two FIAT Pandas, one black, one white. the black one was 22°C warmer in the late summer sun. It also cooled much faster after sunset (we put greenhouse thernologgers into them, th old ones which you had to wind up).
Being in the sun definitely heats the coops up more, but there seems very little difference between a black plastic coop and a wooden coop which is interesting 🤔
@@EnglishCountryLife because plastic and wood have different insulation properties. the difference will be even higher if you put both coops in a polytunnel, to keep the wind off them.
Hi. Another great vid - thank you for all your effort pulling these together. Here in Aus we have an Omlet coop (which we love). Summer temps here often get over 40° C and the coop will get close to 45° + if in the sun. (We have a bluetooth temp gauge that alarms when to hot or cold in the coop). Don't know if a wooden type coop would be much cooler but I think it would be duw to typically more air flow. To keep the coop cool we place under a tree shade and/or place a towel over the top and keep wet. We use the same technique to keep our work farm cool too. FYI
That's very interesting. Certainly shade is very important & I'm sure airflow is important. Have you ever measured the temperature drop after you move the coop?
@@EnglishCountryLife Yes, if it's moved into the shade it quickly gets close to the outside ambient temperature. On the other end of the scale - freezing temps, the omlet with chickens in (4 large) is generally about 4°C warmer than the outside temp.
Hi. Great video! I'm about to order the Wagon and I wonder if you think it would be possible to raise chicks in it with a heat plate inside the wagon? We can have the chicks inside our house for a few weeks, but longer than that it just gets too dusty and it would be nice to let them move outside with a heat plate (instead of a heat lamp). Thank you for all your videos and reviews, it made my choice of a new coop easy!
@@hannaxpinklove Hi Hanna! We see no reason why not. We would advise to use boards or wire to stop the chicks getting under the Wagon and to make a small run around the front of the Wagon initially so they don't get lost! We sell suitable fencing on our website (it's not expensive) & offer the best discounts on the Wagon! So long as temperatures don't get too low outside, the chicks should be fine!
@@hannaxpinklove You're welcome, any questions please give us a ring (we can offer a video tour of the Wagon and the fencing). This is the fencing that we use englishcountrylife.com/product/hotline-boundary-net-20m-fix/
I’ve a Nestera and Omlet, Nestera is far far superior in most ways, easier to clean and red mite is easier to get rid of, my hens seem to prefer the perches as well, the omlet has a better door system and a night light, the run is also better
@@EnglishCountryLife I found the Omlet run slightly more robust and mabe a little better powder coated/ painted. The Omlet door is less aesthetically pleasing then the Nestera, but better I believe overall because when it’s closed it’s mechanically prevented from opening, there are no runners to clog with wood chip, and the linked night light via the controller is very useful for my chickens who stay out till last light
Where was the stunning Fiona ? Here's a quick question. How warm is too warm for chickens ? Now I imagine it depends on the breed. Big fluffball Orpingtons such as yours probably have a lower tolerance than say a Cou Nou ( naked neck ) chicken. And do chickens water bathe like other birds or do they just dust bathe ?🤔
I've never seen a chicken water bathe. They do pant to lose heat and seek shade. Our Orpingtons managed 40C (100F) last year. They didn't enjoy it, but none suffered long term issues.
@@EnglishCountryLife Thanks. I have a new problem now. A bat has come down the flue and is now stuck inside the log burner. "Who you gonna call ? Bat busters ! " 🦇
@@EnglishCountryLife There was a chap in Limoges ( our nearest city) recently who was bitten by a bat living in his attic, he fell I'll and died in hospital where it was found that the bat had given him a form of rabies. I'm going nowhere near the little chap. It needs someone with proper ppe who knows how to handle bats without injuring them. And is licensed to do so.
I have a nestera coop in northern Wisconsin.the chickens like I and lay their eggs in it and hide under it but I bring them inside the house at night and they sleep in a large dog crate. I don’t want to have to test the nestera to see if it is bear or wolf or coyote proof 🥹
Wow I see your point😲. We are currently building a super strong Winter run with Nester coops protected by a weld mesh run & all of that protected by an electric fence. I don't know if even sll of that would work against bears? Do electric fences deter bears & wolves?
Yes electric fences keep bears away. Bee keepers use them, it is necessary here. Chicken keepers are very wary and keep chickens inside or protected by dogs and electric fences up north. I also have a house 150 miles south where I have fencing but of course electric fence is not allowed in the suburbs 🤤. My chickens go back and forth with me during the summer. They seem to go with the flow pretty well. Only 4 are allowed in the suburbs so I only have 5.
I'd still love for Nestra to shoot me one of these coops to test out in our Great Plains US climate. 130'F with the humidity in the summer is NOT uncommon. But I'm thrilled they work for you.
That would be a very interesting test! It only goes up to 100F here, but this test confirmed my suspicions - where you locate the coop is far more important than the construction materials!
I tried your elderflower wine recipe, confusing however: it never bubbled in the wine-filter. It's been fermenting in a 10l bucket (just 4.5l of wine) and I',m quite sure the yeast was alive when it started, but who knows if it died.... Anyways it's been sitting in the bucket in the cellar for well over a month, never seen any bubbles. I did see condensation inside the filter though. Any idea what that might mean?
When you say "wine filter" do you mean the airlock? I suspect the issue might be temperature. The ideal fermentation temperature is 70F / 20C. What is your cellar temperature?
@@Count_Goatenberg Its warm enough to ferment. Ideally it should have been moved to a demijohn within a few days. The thing to do now is taste it. If it's sweet, your yeast died. If it's dry, it has fermented out and you have wine.
I have 3 Nestera coops, 2 lodges and on raised. We've had temperatures hitting 29-30C here in france. The coops being under the sun have gone up to 39C. I've done two things that have dastricly improved that. The first thing is to put some sort of cover hovering above it, here it was a tarp that I had attached to some pieces of fencing. That made a huge difference, now the coop was about the same if not 1C+ than outside. The biggest difference, call me crazy, was adding fans to the coops. I've added a fan in front of each vent, slightly leaning downwards in order to maximise air intake and airflow inside. Both fans are 14x14cm, and I would put them on full blast during hot days. The temperature would very quickly drop to equal to that of outside in the shade and the chickens would seldom be panting with the airflow. I've ran an electrical extension to the coop, screwed a powerstrip inside, it's powering the chicken guard (which is not liking their door design, and neither am I even if I wish I did), a camera and then the fans are plugs through wifi plugs in order to turn them on or off from a distance or schedule them.
Now the fan idea is intriguing - I'm convinced there is something in ventilation & would love to put some sensors on coop with & without fans. I'm certain you are spot on with the shade. I tend to agreed on the Chicken Guard - especially the newer models. The Nestera coop auto closer works much better!
Yes! More temperature investigations!
I do think I'd like to do some Winter ones on how to keep chickens warm in very cold conditions!
Mate. That was awesome. I loved your critical thinking and definitely how you presented the conclusions. I would absolutely love to see further testing in the winter, more for how ambient temperature is affected in a coop with chickens roosting vs a coop without any chicken activity. Especially how the ambient temperature could potentially stabilise over a winters night.
That's a great idea Troy. I would love to know if having a coop full keeps it warmer than one that's only got one or two chickens
Great experiment. I live in SouthEast USA and our coop is shaded for the majority of the day. I'm glad to know that I won't have to worry about my girls getting too hot. I'd love to see more testing on how ventilation affects temperature and how the shaded coops do in the winter. Thanks for all the information.
Will do Darlene! I'm interested to know how they perform in the cold too!
This has been so helpful! Thank you!
I'm so glad!
i just watched Hugh's videos about electric fencing. Very helpful, Hugh really has a knack for efficient and engaging presentation. I have 3 questions: 1. is "strand" to keep predators out and "mesh" to keep chickens in? 2. What happens when a chicken gets zapped? Don't the feathers insulate the chicken? 3. Would Hugh's rubber boots prevent him from getting zapped when he touches the horizontal hot wire? Thanks so much for your informative and smile inducing videos.
Hi Pamela, Hugh here!
Strands (tape and rope) are generally for larger livestock - horses, sheep and pigs. Mesh is for smaller creatures (poultry, rabbits, goats). The mesh is also more effective against smaller predators (a fox could jump between strands).
When a chicken gets zapped they squeak and stay away from the fence! It does no harm to even tiny chicks providing you have the right sized energiser. It does give them a shock though!
No my boots don't stop me getting a shock but they do reduce the amount. I once touched the fence whilst knelt in a puddle (so making a fantastic circuit). That curled me up in a ball! Feathers just brushing the fence probably wont conduct but, like my boots, if a chicken pushes against the fence the high voltage goes through the insulation.
Hope that helps and happy to answer any questions that you might have!
Very interesting experiment, thanks for running it! I really want to get a nestera coop to try them out, but they are not sold here in New Zealand.
It's a pity that they aren't available yet, but I believe that they are looking into it 🙂
Thanks!
Thank you so much Pamela 😊
this was fascinating I love to know more about the science side of management for the chickens the pros and cons.
Can I take that as an okay to indulge my inner nerd now and again? 👨🔬😁
@@EnglishCountryLife Yes that be great.
@@ivyjulieharvey3043 Will do then!
Great video, very interesting! Don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but I'm having real trouble with the nestera auto door closer. The sawdust keeps getting pushed into the doorway so it doesn't close fully. I have to check it every night, which kind of defeats the purpose. Any suggestions?! Other than that, fantastic coop!
Hi & thank you. Is your door opener the Nestera branded pne or the Chicken Guard type?
@@EnglishCountryLife it's the Nestera brand one.
I'd say: yes.
I once had two FIAT Pandas, one black, one white. the black one was 22°C warmer in the late summer sun.
It also cooled much faster after sunset (we put greenhouse thernologgers into them, th old ones which you had to wind up).
Being in the sun definitely heats the coops up more, but there seems very little difference between a black plastic coop and a wooden coop which is interesting 🤔
@@EnglishCountryLife because plastic and wood have different insulation properties.
the difference will be even higher if you put both coops in a polytunnel, to keep the wind off them.
@@peter2327 That may be an interesting future experiment
Interesting experiment.
I was quite surprised with the significance of the difference between sun & shade!
Hi. Another great vid - thank you for all your effort pulling these together. Here in Aus we have an Omlet coop (which we love). Summer temps here often get over 40° C and the coop will get close to 45° + if in the sun. (We have a bluetooth temp gauge that alarms when to hot or cold in the coop). Don't know if a wooden type coop would be much cooler but I think it would be duw to typically more air flow. To keep the coop cool we place under a tree shade and/or place a towel over the top and keep wet. We use the same technique to keep our work farm cool too. FYI
That's very interesting. Certainly shade is very important & I'm sure airflow is important. Have you ever measured the temperature drop after you move the coop?
@@EnglishCountryLife Yes, if it's moved into the shade it quickly gets close to the outside ambient temperature. On the other end of the scale - freezing temps, the omlet with chickens in (4 large) is generally about 4°C warmer than the outside temp.
@@davidcollier185 Very interesting. 4C is not a huge amount of thermal retention
Good luck
Thank you
Hi. Great video! I'm about to order the Wagon and I wonder if you think it would be possible to raise chicks in it with a heat plate inside the wagon? We can have the chicks inside our house for a few weeks, but longer than that it just gets too dusty and it would be nice to let them move outside with a heat plate (instead of a heat lamp). Thank you for all your videos and reviews, it made my choice of a new coop easy!
@@hannaxpinklove Hi Hanna! We see no reason why not. We would advise to use boards or wire to stop the chicks getting under the Wagon and to make a small run around the front of the Wagon initially so they don't get lost! We sell suitable fencing on our website (it's not expensive) & offer the best discounts on the Wagon! So long as temperatures don't get too low outside, the chicks should be fine!
@@EnglishCountryLife Thank you very much for your quick reply and excellent advice. I will check out the fencing on your website. :)
@@hannaxpinklove You're welcome, any questions please give us a ring (we can offer a video tour of the Wagon and the fencing). This is the fencing that we use
englishcountrylife.com/product/hotline-boundary-net-20m-fix/
I’ve a Nestera and Omlet, Nestera is far far superior in most ways, easier to clean and red mite is easier to get rid of, my hens seem to prefer the perches as well, the omlet has a better door system and a night light, the run is also better
That's really interesting to hear. When you say the run is better, I'd love to hear how? Likewise the door!
@@EnglishCountryLife I found the Omlet run slightly more robust and mabe a little better powder coated/ painted. The Omlet door is less aesthetically pleasing then the Nestera, but better I believe overall because when it’s closed it’s mechanically prevented from opening, there are no runners to clog with wood chip, and the linked night light via the controller is very useful for my chickens who stay out till last light
@@andrewporter4919 That's really good feedback. I do understand how the reassurance of a locking door mechanism is reassuring
Where was the stunning Fiona ? Here's a quick question. How warm is too warm for chickens ? Now I imagine it depends on the breed. Big fluffball Orpingtons such as yours probably have a lower tolerance than say a Cou Nou ( naked neck ) chicken. And do chickens water bathe like other birds or do they just dust bathe ?🤔
I've never seen a chicken water bathe. They do pant to lose heat and seek shade. Our Orpingtons managed 40C (100F) last year. They didn't enjoy it, but none suffered long term issues.
@@EnglishCountryLife Thanks. I have a new problem now. A bat has come down the flue and is now stuck inside the log burner. "Who you gonna call ? Bat busters ! " 🦇
@@chrishamilton-wearing3232 Pair of heat proof gloves & catch the flittermouse?
@@EnglishCountryLife There was a chap in Limoges ( our nearest city) recently who was bitten by a bat living in his attic, he fell I'll and died in hospital where it was found that the bat had given him a form of rabies. I'm going nowhere near the little chap. It needs someone with proper ppe who knows how to handle bats without injuring them. And is licensed to do so.
@@chrishamilton-wearing3232 Fair play - hope there's someone you can call!
I have a nestera coop in northern Wisconsin.the chickens like I and lay their eggs in it and hide under it but I bring them inside the house at night and they sleep in a large dog crate. I don’t want to have to test the nestera to see if it is bear or wolf or coyote proof 🥹
Wow I see your point😲. We are currently building a super strong Winter run with Nester coops protected by a weld mesh run & all of that protected by an electric fence. I don't know if even sll of that would work against bears? Do electric fences deter bears & wolves?
Yes electric fences keep bears away. Bee keepers use them, it is necessary here. Chicken keepers are very wary and keep chickens inside or protected by dogs and electric fences up north. I also have a house 150 miles south where I have fencing but of course electric fence is not allowed in the suburbs 🤤. My chickens go back and forth with me during the summer. They seem to go with the flow pretty well. Only 4 are allowed in the suburbs so I only have 5.
I'd still love for Nestra to shoot me one of these coops to test out in our Great Plains US climate. 130'F with the humidity in the summer is NOT uncommon. But I'm thrilled they work for you.
That would be a very interesting test! It only goes up to 100F here, but this test confirmed my suspicions - where you locate the coop is far more important than the construction materials!
@@EnglishCountryLife We don't have trees or shade so....lol. I do love them though, especially the shepherd's hut wagon.
I tried your elderflower wine recipe, confusing however: it never bubbled in the wine-filter. It's been fermenting in a 10l bucket (just 4.5l of wine) and I',m quite sure the yeast was alive when it started, but who knows if it died.... Anyways it's been sitting in the bucket in the cellar for well over a month, never seen any bubbles. I did see condensation inside the filter though.
Any idea what that might mean?
When you say "wine filter" do you mean the airlock?
I suspect the issue might be temperature. The ideal fermentation temperature is 70F / 20C. What is your cellar temperature?
yes, the airlock, my bad. It was a consistent 20.6°C all throughout, hence why I put it there in the first place
@@Count_Goatenberg Its warm enough to ferment. Ideally it should have been moved to a demijohn within a few days. The thing to do now is taste it. If it's sweet, your yeast died. If it's dry, it has fermented out and you have wine.
Thanks, I'll try that
Thanks!
Thank you so much!