The Great Winter Coop Humidity/Ventilation Experiment! Post Your Results Here!

[MollySunshine]

Me too! When I started exploring DL back in '08 or '09, I was using all pine shavings and doing it on a wooden floor....had to open up ventilation in a coop that was pretty open anyway according to BYC standards. Found out then about opening up enough at the floor level beneath the roosts to create an updraft of passive air to move out humidity.

Since then I've changed everything about the way I manage it, the materials used, the type of floor I have and it's been a learning process all along. I doubt I'll ever fully learn about the marvels of DL, but I haven't seen a fly in the coop in 4 yrs now, nor have I detected any smells at all...and I have a hyper sensitive schnozz, much to my life long dismay as a nurse and mother of 3 boys.

I also can turn out some composted litter pretty quickly in my little ol' hoop coop and it can be placed directly on the garden, no piling and waiting for it to compost.

So....to get back to the main topic, add composting DL to the humidity and ventilation experiment, 'cause it's a thing that is growing and developing in the backyard chicken world. As more people start to see the benefit of it and learn how to manage it well, I think we'll see more and more people using it. Much like the fermented feed...it has grown like wildfire in the past 4 yrs and has spread further than I ever imagined.

Had I to do my coops over again I would insist on a dirt floor. I/we thought it would be so convenient to be able to move the coops around, season dependent. Now we know, it's a challenge to move those big coops! In reality, we will probably never move those coops around. I especially like the simplicity and organic nature that a dirt floor offers. Hey, live and learn. Until these coops decay, I will continue to find a way to make this DL work on my hard floor. I am bound and determined to make it work! I have to hit that sweet spot....I do think something is happening....the saga continues....or my backyard experiment anyway.

 

[Beekissed]

Had I to do my coops over again I would insist on a dirt floor. I/we thought it would be so convenient to be able to move the coops around, season dependent. Now we know, it's a challenge to move those big coops! In reality, we will probably never move those coops around. I especially like the simplicity and organic nature that a dirt floor offers. Hey, live and learn. Until these coops decay, I will continue to find a way to make this DL work on my hard floor. I am bound and determined to make it work! I have to hit that sweet spot....I do think something is happening....the saga continues....or my backyard experiment anyway.

No worries about that wood floor....anyone who has cleaned off a deck or porch after winter knows that a pile of leaves left in the corner, even a small one, of a patio, porch or deck will turn into composted leaves/leaf mold in a surprisingly small amount of time. You go out there expecting to be able to sweep that little dab of leaves out of that corner or crevice and you find it's moist and compact under there and no longer easy to sweep off....has just sat and turned to dirt with no intervention on our part other than leaving it undisturbed.

That's how easy it is in a wooden floored coop too....waterproof material on top of the wood, pile up the stuff and add moisture and you are bound to get some decomposition going on, even in the winter months.

 

[mobius]

Couple Days of Data:

12/27/16: Chickens Out of coop

4:30 pm

Outside: 32F RH 85
Coop; 32F RH 90

7 pm Chickens in for 2.25 hours

Outside: 30F RH 88
Coop: 34F RH 84

10 pm

Outside: 27F RH 78
Coop: 34F RH 83

12/28/16

8 am Chickens In

Outside: 27F RH 61
Coop: 34F RH 81

10 am: A bit concerned about humidity compared to outside so opened glass window the last four inches. Coop now at max ventilation.

4:15 pm Chickens Out

Outside: 32F RH 58
Coop: 32F RH 80

12/29/16

8:30 am Chickens In

Outside: 24F RH 87
Coop: 27F RH 71

4:15 pm Chickens Out

Outside: 29F RH 90
Coop: 29F RH 78

10:00 pm Chickens In for five hours or so

Outside: 24F RH 92
Coop: 31F RH 78

12/30/16

8:30 am Chickens coming out of coop

Outside: 26F RH 96
Coop: 33F RH 80

There's the update! Fixing to get some more of that below zero cold snap overnight in upcoming week...will adjust ventilation accordingly. Seems amazingly stable somehow though, even with higher humidities. Chickens happy and active. i think they are getting over their molt, my fond hope is I think I see their combs are getting a little bit redder in the last couple of days...

You all have been busy! Good good good!

 

[mobius]

Just an interesting side note to the DL providing warmth in the coop. When I dumped 15 cartloads of green material from the garden into both my coops in October, I realized that was the most green material I'd placed there so late in the season and it contained 25-30 ft. vines that couldn't be flipped if need be, so I capped that green matter with some brown(leaves, straw, etc.) and hoped for the best. Was worrying that it wouldn't compost as well with all those woody vines in there, but I must admit they created great air pockets in the mass. They've sunk downward in the mass by 2 ft. or more, so they are indeed decomposing, but it's taking awhile.

Anyhoo, the spare pen doesn't get the share of manure that the main coop does, but it still got a good bit this year in one way or another that also isn't the norm here...usually that spare pen is rarely used in the fall and just briefly when it is. But, I had various juveniles that wanted to roost there and I let them, got a flock of birds from my sister that I held there until butchering, etc. So, that added some good nitrogen to the spare pen.

Flash forward to dog housing. I build a hay bunker house in the spare pen in the winter for my LGD, who doesn't like the confines of a dog house in cold weather for sleeping but still appreciates warm digs when temps hit below zero. I got curious about any warmth from the DL under his thick layer of hay bed and stuck my hand under there yesterday (note, he only lies in there at night) and was pleased to feel a warmth being generated in the DL under his bed! The spare pen is even more open air than my hoop coop, so it's got great ventilation and I don't worry he'll get chilled at all from the humidity in the DL, but I'm mighty pleased that he has a heated dog bed for the winter. A cool and unplanned side effect of the composting DL.

Ben's hay house bunker



Materials that went into the coop from the garden....15 of these...





The spare pen...it doesn't have as deep of DL as the main pen digester...only about a foot of DL here.



The main coop's roosting section where most of the mass is accumulated and managed.




Sorry...didn't mean to derail the OPs thread topic but felt it germane to the topic to mention that some of us are intentionally creating humidity in our coops for a purpose but are also allowing and adapting ventilation for the added humidity generated and how that all goes down, the whys and hows and how it all looks.

Sorry, Mobius!

Oh dear, PLEASE do not apologize. I think we are all celebrating and cogitating on your information (at least i am for sure)! This thread is about keeping chickens happy and healthy through the winter! Ventilation, heating, and humidity balancing are the focus. Warming aspects of deep litter and DL management are a huge addition to the discoveries we are making here! I love the discovery process

!

 

[Beekissed]

I'm glad you're not miffed about it...sometimes folks get a mite riled when a thread gets derailed a bit.

Hey, I borrowed my mother's sensor for her digital thermometer and humidity gauge and placed it in the coop about head high to a chicken on the roosts. My analog thermometer reads right at the roosts themselves as being 32*, while the digital reads at about a foot higher at 34* and humidity at 64%...and that's with small amount of snow on the ground and having snowed and rained off and on last night.

Lots of wind today, though, so might be moving that humidity right on out of the coop. I closed down two areas of ventilation today when I fed, so those readings are with my usual ventilation in medium damp weather. I had had them open due to a lot of rain we've been getting recently.

Not sure how accurate her humidity gauge is, but her temps are usually very accurate with that digital.

 

[aart]

Not sure how accurate her humidity gauge is, but her temps are usually very accurate with that digital.

Even digital thermometers are not necessarily accurate.....and hard to test....
But......Hygrometers are very easy to accurately test:


To test a hygrometer you will need:
1/2 cup table salt
approximately 1/4 cup water
coffee cup
hygrometer
large re-sealable freezer bag
1. Place 1/2 cup of salt in the coffee cup, and add the water. Stir for a bit to totally saturate the salt (the salt won't dissolve, it will be more like really wet sand).

2. Place the salt/water mix in a re-sealable plastic bag, along with the hygrometer, and seal the bag. Note: make sure none of the salt/water mix comes in direct contact with the hygrometer.

3. Let this bag aside at room temperature for 8-12 hours, in a location where the temperature is fairly constant.

4. After 8-12 hours, check the reading of the hygrometer. It is best to read it while still in the bag.

The relative humidity in the sealed bag with the salt/water mix should be 75 percent

 

[mobius]

Even digital thermometers are not necessarily accurate.....and hard to test....
But......Hygrometers are very easy to accurately test:


To test a hygrometer you will need:
1/2 cup table salt
approximately 1/4 cup water
coffee cup
hygrometer
large re-sealable freezer bag
1. Place 1/2 cup of salt in the coffee cup, and add the water. Stir for a bit to totally saturate the salt (the salt won't dissolve, it will be more like really wet sand).

2. Place the salt/water mix in a re-sealable plastic bag, along with the hygrometer, and seal the bag. Note: make sure none of the salt/water mix comes in direct contact with the hygrometer.

3. Let this bag aside at room temperature for 8-12 hours, in a location where the temperature is fairly constant.

4. After 8-12 hours, check the reading of the hygrometer. It is best to read it while still in the bag.

The relative humidity in the sealed bag with the salt/water mix should be 75 percent

Right. My brand new one was lower by five percent humidity. I add five to the reading...I left it in for 24 hours to make sure.

Also, @Beekissed , and for all others who are posting, it DOES say "Post Your Results Here" in the thread title, and I love it when folks do...because my little coop set up and venting are likely different than yours...so YCMV!

And! if anyone notices frostbite on chickens and you are measuring humidity and temp, pls let us know!

So far it seems:

1. Inside a coop temp and humidity readings can get stabilized compared to outside readings.

2. It also appears that the danger zone for chicken frostbite might be around 25-35 degrees Fahrenheit (higher humidity readings here).

3 Chickens can heat a coop above outside temp without insulation and so can deep litter.

4. Humidity can be lower in a coop than outside with proper ventilation/conditions.

5. A covered heated bucket waterer (cycling on at 32F off at 40F) does not appreciably affect the ability of the coop to have lower humidity ratings than outside.

These are the findings I have noted so far. Please feel free to add.

 

[Beekissed]

Regarding the humidity gauge calibration... I don't think I want to know THAT bad!

I'm not as analytical as some.

 

[Beekissed]

It's 10:30 pm here and the temps outside are 27* with relative humidity at 74%(according to my local weather station).....inside the coop is surprisingly the same at 27* and 75% humidity. So, the DL not generating much in the way of extra heat and humidity this night, it would seem.

I added water to my litter pack the other day after I had measured those super warm temps in the DL and it did just the opposite of what I had expected...the extra water cooled down the mass. Readings the day after that were around 85* at all depths. I shouldn't have messed with it, huh?

 

[Beekissed]

10:45 pm readings in the coop~

Coop: 42* and 77% humidity
Weather station: 41* and 85% humidity