Ventilation on small coop?

[WVduckchick]

I love the creative use of your space! I would suggest some bantams though, if you haven't gotten the chickens yet. A few bantam cochins would do awesome in that space, and they can still lay a decent sized egg. OEGBs or Seramas or sebrights, etc would be even smaller birds.

I also think you could drill a few holes in the riser of your top step (along with the "green" area in that one picture).

 

[Ollivander_Chicken]

We will think about leaving the door open but we have a raccoon problem in the trees. Will this attract predators?

 

[Ollivander_Chicken]

How many bantams would fit?
Can I get one larger bird and two banana? Or would they be bullied given the space?

 

[JDN]

We will think about leaving the door open but we have a raccoon problem in the trees. Will this attract predators?

That run looks really really secure...I can see you've dug Hardware cloth in there...I think you'd be fine...

 

[Eilsel]

Given your extremely mild weather, I think I'd just leave the pop door open 24/7...and make the run as secure as possible, and put another roost in the run and let them roost in the run if they want to assuming its covered.

I agree with this idea. You can make the run very secure, with hardware cloth and an anti-dig apron, and then you could potentially even take out the wall that has the pop door in it, leaving three solid sides and an open side )assuming that direction isn't the direction of your prevailing winds). Then it really would be open air. If you were worried about wind from that direction you could make the wall on that end of the run solid. The picture looks to me like it's pretty protected by your house, stairs, and a fence in the yard? This would also alleviate crowding issues because the wall wouldn't be taking up space.

 

[JDN]

I agree with this idea. You can make the run very secure, with hardware cloth and an anti-dig apron, and then you could potentially even take out the wall that has the pop door in it, leaving three solid sides and an open side )assuming that direction isn't the direction of your prevailing winds). Then it really would be open air. If you were worried about wind from that direction you could make the wall on that end of the run solid. The picture looks to me like it's pretty protected by your house, stairs, and a fence in the yard? This would also alleviate crowding issues because the wall wouldn't be taking up space.

If you look close she’s already dug the apron in...

 

[Henrybelle]

Depending which part of the Bay Area you’re in you may not even have any issues with digging critters

 

[jthornton]

Thanks, how well would it circulate? I am sorry if I am being paranoid but this is my first time with chickens

It's not circulation of the air but rather allowing the moist air from pooping and breathing that rises a place to escape.

JT

 

[Ollivander_Chicken]

We are thinking about pulling the wall with the pop door out 1/2 foot to give them 4 sq feet apiece. like I said earlier our coop is actually 10.5 sq feet would this be ok? that extension would give them more space but would be raised 4 in above the floor because of the tray. it may be possible to leave the pop door open all night but we have very smart 'coons

 

[jreardon1918]

The coop and run look pretty secure. So leaving the pop door open makes sense.

As to other ventilation... warning I am not a builder. Could you cut a vent up through deck and cover it with a cupola. Did I mention my brother framed my coop.