Vent height

[ChookHappy]

Hey all, I'm about finished with my coop and was going to add a couple small rectangular gable vent things to the backside of the coop which gets the brunt of the wind. Should I put them down kinda low or should I put them up at the top? If the vents were high they would be kinda close to the level where the chooks will be potentially roosting at night but not directly in front of them. If I put them low they would somewhat block the wind by a fence and would be below them when they sleep. Any suggestions?

 

[Daisygirl]

the general rule is to put them up high

 

[ChookHappy]

Hey howdy Daisygirl! Thank you once again. My coop is finally coming together after a few weeks. I don't get too much time to work on it unfortunatly.

 

[SunnyDawn]

Yes, heat rises and can build up quickly in a coop full of hens so place them high.

 

[ChookHappy]

Quote:
That's funny you mention that. I hadn't even thought about that. I keep forgeting that their default temp is 103 lol. That might heat up a coop pretty quickly. The coop will be 4x8x4, we have 8 pullets and we live in Northern SF Bay, although it has been colder than Denver lately. Just no snow of course! >_<

 

[SunnyDawn]

Quote:
That's funny you mention that. I hadn't even thought about that. I keep forgeting that their default temp is 103 lol. That might heat up a coop pretty quickly. The coop will be 4x8x4, we have 8 pullets and we live in Northern SF Bay, although it has been colder than Denver lately. Just no snow of course! >_<

Yeah this cold snap is something else! My hubby and I are from the Bay Area but live in Reno right now. It's supposed to get down to 27 degrees tonight, I don't rmember it ever being below 30 in the Bay Area, actually I take that back it got pretty darn cold in '76 was it? I bet it's warmer in the coop than it is in the house!

 

[ChookHappy]

Quote:
That's funny you mention that. I hadn't even thought about that. I keep forgeting that their default temp is 103 lol. That might heat up a coop pretty quickly. The coop will be 4x8x4, we have 8 pullets and we live in Northern SF Bay, although it has been colder than Denver lately. Just no snow of course! >_<

Yeah this cold snap is something else! My hubby and I are from the Bay Area but live in Reno right now. It's supposed to get down to 27 degrees tonight, I don't rmember it ever being below 30 in the Bay Area, actually I take that back it got pretty darn cold in '76 was it? I bet it's warmer in the coop than it is in the house!

Geez I know huh! As I'm building this thing I'm thinkin to myself, "Now is there room for me?" as it's probably going to hold heat way better than the pop can we live in! Spoiled little chickens I tell you!

 

[patandchickens]

You're in a hot part of California, yes? You for sure WANT vents next to the roost

but if you can also have some down low *too*, that will improve airflow.

Quite honestly, you are probably best off with one or more whole walls being mesh. That is really a much more appropriate design for hot weather.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[ChookHappy]

Hey there Pat. We live in a somewhat mild microclimate in Sonoma County. It does at times have temps into the high 90's but rarely goes above that. The average has got to be around 85 in the summer. Plus we live in a wide valley that almost always has a steady wind coming out of the north. Lately it has been fairly cold and it goes down to nearly freezing at night during the winter but never snows at this elevation. We are a few feet below sea level. I'll have a couple 2'x1.5' windows in the front that will have 1/2in hardware cloth that will be open most of the time but they won't be spending too much time in there. Well, not that I'm aware of. They might just love it and spend a ton of time in there. They are starting to become very curious about what I'm doing.

Aside from that I might add an additional window with hardware cloth again in the human door. It's a small coop so it won't be too big of a human door. Just enough to stick my head and a rake in there.

 

[elmo]

If you put in vents with flaps in some different places now as you're constructing the coop, that will give you flexibility later. You just don't want to be left with only one vent that lets air blow directly over your chickens on a roost on a night when the temperatures are going to dip into freezing.