ventilation in minnesota?

[farmrDAN]

Hey guys and gals I was wondering if anyone in here was from minnesota or a northern/colder region of the US. I'm building my first coop and it's 8x10 with a roof that has four slants. I'm not sure what the name for it is. I'm just wondering what you use for ventilation and what the best options are.

Thanks

 

[SarahBoff]

We are in northern Minnesota and are just finishing our coop! Ours is 8x8 and had a slanted roof(1 7ft wall, 3 6ft walls I believe) and we left the space between the roof and two side walls open for ventilation and plan to cover them with plywood in the winter. We also installed two old window screens on the south side and are going to be putting plexiglass on hinges to cover the screens when needed, but still be able to have light(warmth) in the winter!

I hope this gave you some ideas and I also hope it works for us...

 

[farmrDAN]

This is my coop. It's and old garden shed that I rebuilt the inside and lifted it onto blocks.

 

[FoxyChicken]

Hi farmerDAN! Welcome to BYC!
I'm in far northeastern Minnesota and have only had my chickens for a little over a year now, so I'm no expert. Ventilation is very important (ESPECIALLY in winter) as I'm sure you know if you've done even a little reading about coops. I think it's tricky where we live because of the temperature extremes we get, mostly super cold but we can have some really hot muggy days too. Looking at your shed, I would suggest keeping all of the eaves open, just covered with hardware cloth, and put one of those spinning roof vents up top. That should work really well to suck all the warm, moist air out. It seems counter-intuitive, but even in winter you want that warm moist air out to prevent frostbite and respiratory problems. You also might want to cut some windows that you could strategically open/close depending on the wind and temperature.
Have you checked out the Minnesota thread in the "Where am I? Where are you!" section yet? You might get some better advice there.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/72771/minnesota
Good luck!

 

[farmrDAN]

Hey thanks for the advice! I wish someone on here lived around the duluth area so I could maybe check out their coop. As for the eve's being open....that's not gonna happen now. In all my ambition and materials I managed to scrounge up I was able to insulate the whole thing. I don't want to cut into the roof Cuz it's water tight as it is. I think I might try and put an exhaust fan on the side of the house and hook it up to humidity sensor. The windows can be opened (there are 2 big ones from 2 screen doors) so I could leave those open as well. I just want to minimize drafts as much as possible.