Ventilation for Silkies?

[my sunwolf]

I am building a pallet coop for my 9 Silkies (and 2 mutt bantams), but as I got going began to wonder about the ventilation... do Silkies need a different amount of ventilation than other chickens?

I was planning on having half of the front side of the coop be hardware cloth, as well as having a 4-6" slit opposite this that could be closed in bad weather. Is this too much ventilation for Silkies?

Our winters are usually fairly mild, but it does get extremely windy, and I've always heard that Silkies are more vulnerable to the cold.

I was also planning on having absolutely no ventilation around the half of the coop that is large nest boxes / broody boxes as I plan to have the girls hatch babies even in the winter. Should I add some ventilation to this side for the summer when it is very hot?

Thanks for any advice that you Silkie owners can give me!

 

[chfite]

I would imagine that all chickens need ventilation because the lack thereof is the same problem for all. Ventilation should not be drafty. With vents offset on either side of the coop, you should have ventilation without a draft. A vent on the top edge of one side with a vent on the low edge of the opposite side should provide ventilation without a draft.

Chris

 

[my sunwolf]

I would imagine that all chickens need ventilation because the lack thereof is the same problem for all. Ventilation should not be drafty. With vents offset on either side of the coop, you should have ventilation without a draft. A vent on the top edge of one side with a vent on the low edge of the opposite side should provide ventilation without a draft.

Chris

Thank you, this was very helpful! Do you think it will be offset enough if there is a 6" ventilation strip just below the roof on opposite sides of a slanted-roof coop?

 

[chfite]

Along the 8 foot long side of my coop, there is an opening 8 inches wide running the entire length of the coop at the roof. The chickens all look out the opening through the mesh in the evening when they first roost. On the other side of the coop is a wire mesh door about 24 inches by 24 inches.

Chris

 

[Roxannemc]

Along the 8 foot long side of my coop, there is an opening 8 inches wide running the entire length of the coop at the roof. The chickens all look out the opening through the mesh in the evening when they first roost. On the other side of the coop is a wire mesh door about 24 inches by 24 inches.

Chris

The ventilation stuff confuses me Hard weit ha trator coop like have Vents are face high ot way up on some tall roof. but I know i have a 3' x3" window on the sides of one coop the front has a screen they can see out of it all 3 sides..The floor is hardware cloth I put boards and straw on it in winter There is also a low vent at the floor ... My chickens LOVE this coop above all the others Summer especially
The windows have shutters I close in bad weather Mine aren't silkies though in that coop Winter I may need more for my yong Silkies too.
Im thinking a light bulb but really am not sure .I insulated my coops for winter last year but it was Styrofoam and they chewed it to bits Need t o rethink this..

 

[my sunwolf]

Along the 8 foot long side of my coop, there is an opening 8 inches wide running the entire length of the coop at the roof. The chickens all look out the opening through the mesh in the evening when they first roost. On the other side of the coop is a wire mesh door about 24 inches by 24 inches.

Chris

This is an excellent description, thank you. This was the plan original plan for my coop, but I had included more ventilation on the sides as well. I think I'll stick with the strip of ventilation under one side of the roof and a vent on the opposite side down low.