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Hello Pennsylvania people! I'm fairly new and my husband and I are in the stages of planning our coop. I have a question about ventilation and drafts. We live in Southeast Pennsylvania so we get bad winters, how can I properly ventilate my coop without making it too cold for them? We won't be able to run electricity to the coop this year, unfortunately but I've been reading that they don't really require it.

Any insight yall can provide would be wonderful and super helpful.

Thank you!
 
CluckRockFlock said:
Hello Pennsylvania people! I'm fairly new and my husband and I are in the stages of planning our coop. I have a question about ventilation and drafts. We live in Southeast Pennsylvania so we get bad winters, how can I properly ventilate my coop without making it too cold for them? We won't be able to run electricity to the coop this year, unfortunately but I've been reading that they don't really require it.

Any insight yall can provide would be wonderful and super helpful.

Thank you!
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This may sound a little off the wall, but I would suggest you find a few people from here that are close to you and set up a visit.
Most of us would gladly show you what has and has not worked for us in the past, for instance, with the recent storms, I have learned to pay better attention to which direction the wind comes from during storms, spent all weekend replacing roofing that windshear took off.
 
CluckRockFlock said:
Hello Pennsylvania people! I'm fairly new and my husband and I are in the stages of planning our coop. I have a question about ventilation and drafts. We live in Southeast Pennsylvania so we get bad winters, how can I properly ventilate my coop without making it too cold for them? We won't be able to run electricity to the coop this year, unfortunately but I've been reading that they don't really require it.

Any insight yall can provide would be wonderful and super helpful.

Thank you!
Click to expand...
Hi neighbor! I'm from Pottstown.
My advice is to have windows you can open or close. Most of the time you will want them open, but when a really bad winter storm is brewing, it's nice to be able to close them up.
Think about where the chickens will roost and keep that draft free. Also consider where the prevailing winds come from and put any permanent openings "downwind". It's nice to have closable openings on the upwind side to allow for cross breezes in the summer.
 
Thank you both! My main concern was if I needed to keep Windows closed, would there be proper ventilation for them.

Yay, someone from literally in my area. How awesome. I grew up in Pottstown!
 
Welcome back Silkie!!!

Cluckrockflock, the whole 'no drafts but lots of ventilation' seemed contradictory to me at first. I keep direct drafts away from where my flock is roosting, make sure there are openings on 2 sides opposite each other, one near the roofline and the opposite side near the floor, this pulls the air through the coop keeping a constant supply of fresh air -even in winter. I only close windows if there are torrential rains, a snow storm or if the temps are near zero. The name of the game to avoid frost bite is 'dry birds and bedding'. IMHO
 
That's what I was confused about. In my mind I just keep thinking that any opening will be drafty and freeze my birds. It's like the one coop design thing that had me stumped.
 
CluckRockFlock said:
Hello Pennsylvania people! I'm fairly new and my husband and I are in the stages of planning our coop. I have a question about ventilation and drafts. We live in Southeast Pennsylvania so we get bad winters, how can I properly ventilate my coop without making it too cold for them? We won't be able to run electricity to the coop this year, unfortunately but I've been reading that they don't really require it.

Any insight yall can provide would be wonderful and super helpful.

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Howdy CRF:

I'm in East Whiteland....and about a 1/2 hr from you. You are welcome to stop by and visit my 'situation'. When you get birds, they should be cold hardy(easy research on my pet chickens)....and you will want your birds approximately 5mos old by the time serious cold sets in...imho, if your birds are cold tolerant, then no ancillary heat is necessary....they will huddle up when it gets real cold and chickens have been surviving the cold as long as man has....there are more than a few folk on here who could set you up with a starter flock

I have two coops/two pens, one purchased and one a home made grow out coop...I personally think draft free is more important than well vented....then again, I have some birds who got some frostbite last winter....
 
Hello everyone! I am so happy I found this thread. I am new to chickens, we got our 4 girls 2 months ago. My husband is already working on building a bigger coop, I am just in love with these girls and ready to add more to our family! We live about 35 miles north east of Pittsburgh, just wondering if anyone else is close.
 
ErinsFlock said:
Hello everyone! I am so happy I found this thread. I am new to chickens, we got our 4 girls 2 months ago. My husband is already working on building a bigger coop, I am just in love with these girls and ready to add more to our family! We live about 35 miles north east of Pittsburgh, just wondering if anyone else is close.
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Welcome! That's kinda where I am. I'm near the Delmont area. Where are you? :)
 

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