Too much condensation?

[CylonCJ]

I’ve been watching diligently for any condensation in my coop and have never found any. This morning, after a 10 degree night, there was a small amount of frost on the window and one wall. Is this a ventilation issue? We have some cold nights coming up and I want my ladies to remain comfortable. I have a picture of the frost and my coop ventilation attached. The coop is not insulated but is draft free and very solid. The vent is behind the roosting bars. I can open it up further and snow/wind don’t come in. I have 4 buff Orpington hens. Thanks!

 

[Ted Brown]

Frost on windows indicate humidity in the air, not a good sign. Your pictures do not show enough to indicate how much ventilation you have but 1 sq ft per bird open 24/7 is the requirement. You may also have a draft issue given the roost location.

Your location will help others to offer advice.

 

[CylonCJ]

Frost on windows indicate humidity in the air, not a good sign. Your pictures do not show enough to indicate how much ventilation you have but 1 sq ft per bird open 24/7 is the requirement. You may also have a draft issue given the roost location.

Your location will help others to offer advice.

I’m in Michigan. Lots of snow, ice, wind. When I got the coop I wasn’t aware the vent was so close to the roosting bars and not above the hens more. It hasn’t been an issue until now. The vent is about 3 ft by 6 inches. I was thinking of adding a few ventilation holes in the roof peak. Storm is supposed to hit tomorrow afternoon with a few days of low temps. I’ll do whatever I need to do to get the issue taken care of. It’s just my first year with chickens so all advice is welcome!

 

[Ted Brown]

You have 1.5 Sq ft of ventilation, should have 4. I repeat the concern about your hens being in a draft.

I suggest pictures of the interior of the whole coop posted here. You will get sound advice re changes that can be made to rectify these issues. A few holes is not going to fix them.

 

[FunClucks]

x2 Ted Brown's post - pics of the entire coop will help us to help you.

One thing that occurs to me at the moment is you could move the top roost down. Make both roosts the same height, then ventilation would be above their heads. Or just remove the top roost, depending on how many chickens you have. Do they use both roosts? One thing to check if you do this is to make sure there's not something higher in the coop - if there is, they might sit on that instead of their roost.

ETA - I just saw you only have 4 orpingtons. Looks like they can all sit on one roost bar. I'd remove the top roost to get them out of the draft, but you do need to fix the ventilation also.

 

[aart]

I replied on your other thread:

Is that an OverEZ coop?
If so, take a look at these soffit mods:
Back
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/coop-modification-recommendations.1517556/post-25543595

Front
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/coop-modification-recommendations.1517556/post-25543828

 

[AGeese]

Whatever you end up doing the roost or the vent needs adjusted. It looks like you have a screen covering the vent, but hopefully you don't get the kind of wind we do.