Need Ventilation Advice (updated coop pictures 8/15)

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kshelton

kshelton

In the Brooder
7 Years
Aug 7, 2012
13
0
22
so i've built a chicken coop for my grandmother and ive ran into a small issue, it would seem to me that my ventilation is inadequate i say this because the coop is anywhere from 5-15 degrees hotter inside than out depending on the day, here in utah its usually 80-100 most the summer..( drops slightly in the negatives from time to time in the winter but usually hangs in the teens or single digits) my ventilation as it stands is open eaves on the low side and high side and 2 24x24 sliding windows on each side. i was considering using a wind turbine vent thru the roof but it seems it would pull air in from the high side instead of letting it rise out of there as it is now. so i guess my main concern is: would a wind turbine still be effective in this setup or am i working against myself too much by drawing air from both ends. im posting some pictures below to give you a better idea..


its now red with white trim and the run is finished and some other polishing has been done but otherwise this is my basic setup,
any suggestions are greatly appreciated

Also forgot to ask more specifcally that i need ideas on possible/best ways to add some more intake, id really rather do whatever is most efficient to avoid cutting holes in it that i dont need to :D










The Coop is 12 long by 10 wide, slightly over 8ft on high side, and roughly 6ft on low side with an attached run of the same footprint
 
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I just think you're gonna get a bit warmer in there. Your ventilation looks ok ...the only suggestion I could make is to put some window that open cross from each where one of them faces your most prevalent wind or breeze. Looks like you got one window in place already.
 
yakibert said:
I just think you're gonna get a bit warmer in there. Your ventilation looks ok ...the only suggestion I could make is to put some window that open cross from each where one of them faces your most prevalent wind or breeze. Looks like you got one window in place already.
Click to expand...

the back side has an identicle window, i figured there may be no real solution to bring it down to the exact outside temperature but if i can get any closer im willing to try, most my concern comes from reading that chickens can have issues living in 90-100+ temps for long stretches, this may be incorrect and if so please enlighten me, on a side note the coop isn't really smelly at all so im guessing thats a good indicator the air isn't super stagnant in there and must be moving enough to stop any fumes from building up ( have had 17 chickens living in this setup for a month - month and a half)
 
A turbine fan in the roof would help but I have an idea for you. How about adding a few 4x4 posts from your roof and connected to the run posts. You can then cross brace a few 2 x4's and add exterior bead boards on top of that for a slant roof in the run. This would give you some shade in the run and you could leave the walk through door open during the day. The run needs to be covered with either a roof or wire mesh to keep your birds safe. Your birds will enjoy spending the day outside in the shade and then go into the coop at night. Hope this helps!
 
By the way..... The inside of the coop looks great! That is ALOT of nesting boxes!! How many birds do you have? You may want to add 3 or 4" of pine shavings to the floor.
smile.png
 
Yes, that does look pretty hot. Two suggestions: what about making the door into a Dutch door--cut it in half so you can open the top half? If you added a hardware cloth screen door to the top half it could be left open at night--same as the windows.

Also, the suggestion to make shade in the run was really good. The birds would rather be outside anyway and if they can get shade then they'll have all the ventilation they need when in the run. My birds are outside all the time and only come into the coop at night or briefly during the day to lay an egg.

You can make immediate shade now with a tarp, and you can also plant something outside the run that they can't reach to eat but will provide shade down the road--you might look into fast growing vines that could go up the side and over the top if you wanted that kind of look.

I think you're right that it's too hot and you should do something. Going back and retrofitting is a pain, though. Maybe even adding a fan in the window to pull air through would help. Some people hang a 2 liter pop bottle filled with water and frozen in front of the fan as the air moving over it will be cooler. Don't know how much work you want--have to refreeze the bottle daily.

Good luck.
 
4 the Birds said:
By the way..... The inside of the coop looks great!    That is ALOT of nesting boxes!!  How many birds do you have?   You may want to add 3 or 4" of pine shavings to the floor.  :)
Click to expand...


We have 17 right now but im sure she will end up somewhere around 25 eventually, I figured shading the run would be good, my main issue is my dad built the run as I didn't have time and e didnt make the posts a consistent height and there only around 6ft high which seems like a pain to have to duck Down to go through, building an additional structure is an idea but I'll have to patch the gap from the new roof to the top of the existing run which means more material and seems semi hard to make that look good
 
Wow you have a lot of nesting boxes, If I were you I would remove some and give your self some more floor space, either for the chickens or to store stuff feed and what not. I think your vents are fine, Even with a lot of vents if your building is baking in the sun there isn't much you can do. You have more vents then me, My coop is shaded by the trees and stays about 10 to 15 Deg cooler inside then out.
 
So i've added an awning of sorts off the front of the coop into the run, i started out with it one way and decided i needed some more bracing so i added some more lateral bracing and posts to strengthen it up and now its rock solid, im probably gonna put some white ribbed pvc roofing ontop of it eventually.. tomorrow im gonna finally make the door for chickens on the outside, been using a plywood in a slot on the inside for temporary, but now that i have the covering the door on the outside should incur little issue from weather.. btw the awning only cost me 2$ as i had most of the materials left over and the main roof is 2 pallets i got from work combined. ive put quite a bit of time and labor into this thing but i've had a lot of fun and learned a lot while doing it and the crazy thing is i keep thinking of things to add to it everytime i look at it.. ive also considered making some shutters for the windows now too just to spruce it up a bit :D








also ive noticed it seems more comfortable in the coop now with the front wall shaded and the new roof vent when i went in there the last couple times it actually seemed slightly cooler in there then outside
 

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