Are chickens smart enough to avoid drafts?

[whitenack]

Thinking about having a window near the chicken roost area to help with summertime cooling and could also stay open year-round for winter ventilation. I have enough room to have another roost in another area that would not be drafty during the winter. Are chickens smart enough to use the non-drafty roost during the winter, or will they still use both, leading to frostbite?

 

[Mouthpear]

Thinking about having a window near the chicken roost area to help with summertime cooling and could also stay open year-round for winter ventilation. I have enough room to have another roost in another area that would not be drafty during the winter. Are chickens smart enough to use the non-drafty roost during the winter, or will they still use both, leading to frostbite?

Um yeah for the most part. If the know to huddle together they should know to move. But here is the question for you tho. Why not just move the roosting bar, that is close to the window, out for the cold months and take away the need for them to figure it out?

 

[whitenack]

Um yeah for the most part. If the know to huddle together they should know to move. But here is the question for you tho. Why not just move the roosting bar, that is close to the window, out for the cold months and take away the need for them to figure it out?

Thanks for the reply. I could (move the bar), but I know that the more maintenance I have to remember to do, the less likely I am going to remember to do it. The more I can do to set up things that does not require additional work for me, the better.

 

[Sunshine009]

Whereni am in the "far north" of Southern ontario, its always been suggested to me to never have a full window open unless there's a significant barrier between then hens and the window. The high winter winds will carry a draft almost anywhere. Best to use a grate or a cupola for winter ventilation.

 

[Ted Brown]

Whereni am in the "far north" of Southern ontario, its always been suggested to me to never have a full window open unless there's a significant barrier between then hens and the window. The high winter winds will carry a draft almost anywhere. Best to use a grate or a cupola for winter ventilation.

This depends entirely on what coop design is used.

I have a Woods style fresh air coop that has an open front year round with no barriers; there are other designs (eg Tolman, Howard, Martin, Hayward Curtiss...) all of which provide for ample fresh air inside the coop and based on the premise that this is a much healthier environment for chickens.

You are correct that drafts in a coop during the winter can be a bad idea.

 

[Sunshine009]

This depends entirely on what coop design is used.

I have a Woods style fresh air coop that has an open front year round with no barriers; there are other designs (eg Tolman, Howard, Martin, Hayward Curtiss...) all of which provide for ample fresh air inside the coop and based on the premise that this is a much healthier environment for chickens.

You are correct that drafts in a coop during the winter can be a bad idea.

Yes - I meant this rule about drafts only applies to conditions well below zero Celsius. I have two big windows open the rest of the year for a cross breeze. We get summers almost as hot as our winters are cold.

 

[Ted Brown]

Yes - I meant this rule about drafts only applies to conditions well below zero Celsius. ...

I live in Quebec and am further north than you. Our average winter temperature is -15C and we often get -30C and lower.

As I said, the design of the coop is the determinate of whether openings that allow fresh air intrusion is good or bad.

 

[Sunshine009]

I live in Quebec and am further north than you. Our average winter temperature is -15C and we often get -30C and lower.

As I said, the design of the coop is the determinate of whether openings that allow fresh air intrusion is good or bad.

I guess that's just not what I've heard from my research. I think maybe we're miscommunicating on airflow vs. draft. Airflow is good and if you can design an open-sided coop with airflow but no draft that's all well and good.

When I refer to draft I'm meaning like a wind blowing directly on a chicken in dead winter, not passive airflow. From all the research I've done and multiple sources I've pulled my knowledge from over the years, you never want a draft on chickens in winter. Perhaps our knowledge just differs. That's fine by me.

 

[Ted Brown]

Whereni am in the "far north" of Southern ontario, its always been suggested to me to never have a full window open unless there's a significant barrier between then hens and the window. The high winter winds will carry a draft almost anywhere. Best to use a grate or a cupola for winter ventilation.

Your original statement was "never have a full window open unless there's a significant barrier between the hens and the window". That is the statement that I responded to and I stand by that response.

My response also acknowledged that drafts in winter can be bad so in that we agree.

 

[Sunshine009]

Your original statement was "never have a full window open unless there's a significant barrier between the hens and the window". That is the statement that I responded to and I stand by that response.

My response also acknowledged that drafts in winter can be bad so in that we agree.

Just semantics. I meant that there is not draft.

Edit: By "barrier" I meant anything to prevent a draft: a grate, a secondary wall, an external wall/tree/fence/ etc. that prevents a draft.