Ridge vent, plus gable vent

[saysfaa]

How wide of eves would you suggest?

There isn't a single number for every set up. It should be at least wide enough that the roof comes down far enough for the drip edge to be lower than the top of the wall. That depends on the slope of the roof and the dimensions of the rafters, and how deep the notches in the rafters are where they rest on the top plate.

I wanted a foot or two. I got 9" because wider would have meant the roof didn't take full sheets of OSB. The extra 3"-15" would have increased the labor cost by quite a lot. The 9" works well enough in my climate (upper midwest) and with the other dimensions of my shed (it is enough that the drip edge of the roof is a bit lower than the top of the wall.

The lower sides of the coop are about 2 feet tall on each side and meet in the middle at about 4 feet tall at the center of the roof.

Since the coop is wide- it’s about 2.5 feet from roost to side, can we put soffit vents 6 inches above the center roost in the winter? The air will flow up, even if we mirror the vents on each side?

The air flows up along the underside of the roof in mine even though the soffit vents are mirrored on each side of the shed.

I'm not sure what "center roost" means. The rule of thumb is to put roosts at least 12" from the wall. That is to give clearance for their heads and tails as they sit on the roost. The extra clearance in you design allows space for air to move up the ceiling without flowing into your chickens so it might be okay even if they stick up above level of the top of the wall.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

Here are the principles of how ventilation works in a chicken coop: Repecka Illustrates Coop Ventilation

This is an article on various heights in a chicken coop:

Coop Stack Up - how high stuff works well?​

And this is a coop built to meet all the minimum requirement numbers for 4 hens: The Little, Monitor Coop

 

[aart]

The lower sides of the coop are about 2 feet tall on each side and meet in the middle at about 4 feet tall at the center of the roof.

Since the coop is wide- it’s about 2.5 feet from roost to side, can we put soffit vents 6 inches above the center roost in the winter? The air will flow up, even if we mirror the vents on each side?

That's gonna be tough with such a short coop.
Might depend on your climate.....which would be very helpful to know.

 

[IvyBeans]

That's gonna be tough with such a short coop.
Might depend on your climate.....which would be very helpful to know.

Seattle area

 

[IvyBeans]

There isn't a single number for every set up. It should be at least wide enough that the roof comes down far enough for the drip edge to be lower than the top of the wall. That depends on the slope of the roof and the dimensions of the rafters, and how deep the notches in the rafters are where they rest on the top plate.

I wanted a foot or two. I got 9" because wider would have meant the roof didn't take full sheets of OSB. The extra 3"-15" would have increased the labor cost by quite a lot. The 9" works well enough in my climate (upper midwest) and with the other dimensions of my shed (it is enough that the drip edge of the roof is a bit lower than the top of the wall.


The air flows up along the underside of the roof in mine even though the soffit vents are mirrored on each side of the shed.

I'm not sure what "center roost" means. The rule of thumb is to put roosts at least 12" from the wall. That is to give clearance for their heads and tails as they sit on the roost. The extra clearance in you design allows space for air to move up the ceiling without flowing into your chickens so it might be okay even if they stick up above level of the top of the wall.

The roosting bar goes right through the center of the 5x5 square coop.

 

[IvyBeans]

Would you put hardware cloth over 2 inch open soffits?

 

[3KillerBs]

Would you put hardware cloth over 2 inch open soffits?

Absolutely!

Snakes, weasels, rats, and more could easily get in through a 2" opening.

 

[aart]

Seattle area

Well then you probably don't have to worry about frigid winter breezes freezing combs.

 

[3KillerBs]

Well then you probably don't have to worry about frigid winter breezes freezing combs.

If they have enough space to move around they'll decide how much breeze they're comfortable with.

I had two crazy hens roosting up on a cross brace right next to the vent any time it was over 25F. When it was colder than that they just moved a few feet further from the vent.

Crazy birds!

 

[Krugerrand]

Do you have any drawings or photos of what this is looking like?