Balancing Ventilation and Warmth During Cold Weather?

[Regaj]

First time chicken owner here. I have a small backyard flock of six white leghorns, sixteen weeks old. Five girls and a rooster. They're doing just fine... as happy and healthy as can be.

But as we head into fall and its cooler temps, I'm wondering how exactly to manage the balance between ventilation and keeping them comfortably warm.

I've read that chickens have sensitive respiratory systems and that good ventilation is very important to their health. That hasn't been a problem during the summer... my chicken coop has two screened windows on one side and a long ventilation vent on the other, just above the roosts. Even with the pop door closed up at night, they get plenty of cross-ventilation.

But with colder weather, at what temperature does one contemplate closing up either the windows, the ventilation vent, or both? I do have two electric heaters installed in my coop... a 100-watt infrared Sweeter heater just above the roosts; and a 200-watt infrared/convection Cozy Coop heater on the wall above the pop door (see pictures), so there's that.

But I would appreciate any thoughts or advice on when (if?) to start closing those windows/vents, and when to start using one or both heaters. I use flake-type pine shavings for bedding, if that makes a difference.

 

[Acre4Me]

First, how cold is it where you are at? Where are you at? you can add this to your profile, and it can be a general location such as Western Ohio (my profile).

FWIW, your sweeter heater isn't going to do much where it is located. Typically they are mounted on the wall closer to the roosts. In addition, heat rises, so it is additionally not going to do much but warm up the roof. It appears you have metal roofing inside the coop. if your coop is warmer than outside, you will get condensation with any moisture. Bird poop and breathing provide moisture in addition to any water that is in the coop. With cold roof and warmer moisture inside - it will condense onto the metal and then drip. So, you may need to address that potential problem. But really is dependent on where you are located and what weather you need to deal with.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, where are you located? What kind of temperatures are you talking about? Not average temperatures but the extremes. The extremes are when you see trouble.

Your job is not to keep them warm. Your job is to give them as chance to keep themselves warm. Their down coat works really well. There are a couple of things you are looking at.

One is moisture. The big danger is frostbite. Frostbite is mostly a factor of cold and moisture. You can generate a lot of moisture in the coop with their breathing, poop, and maybe drinking water. You need enough ventilation to get that moisture out of the coop.

The other is a breeze. Chickens trap tiny pockets of air in their down. Those tiny pockets are what provides insulation and makes down work for your winter outdoor clothing. A breeze strong enough can ruffle the feathers and let those tiny insulating pockets of air escape. My chickens really hate a cold breeze hitting them at any time but seem to enjoy a warm breeze.

The way I achieve good winter ventilation is to have permanent openings on all four walls well above the chickens' heads when they are on the roost. That way any breezes are over their heads. Any breezes will cause some turbulence in the air below but not blow hard enough on the chickens to ruffle their feathers, even in a storm, so you get good air exchange. Even in a dead calm warm air tends to rise and it can carry more moisture. Their breath and evaporation from their poop or drinking water is warmer than the surrounding air and rises. There are other ways to get proper ventilation but openings up high are about as simple as it gets.

In your photos (thanks for including those) it looks like your vent with the fan is high enough over their heads to permanently leave open. I'd put a vent in the opposite wall above your windows. An opening high on one or both of the ends could be helpful. Just make them high.

You asked when to close the windows. I close mine, which is at roost level, when it gets colder in the fall/winter. I don't have a set temperature, just when it feels right. I'd certainly want it closed before overnight lows hit freezing but probably low 40's Fahrenheit. I'll link an article by someone who keeps chickens where it really gets cold. They talk about changes at -20 F (-29 C).

Alaskan’s Article

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

I like photos so I'll include one of mine. I took this photo when the temperature was 4* F. You can see the ice I emptied from the waterer. I leave my pop door open and let them decide if they want to come out or not. It was calm that morning so they came out to enjoy the weather. If a cold wind were blowing they would not have been out in it.

 

[vantain]

That Cozy Coop heater will do absolutely nothing where it is located. It will not heat any space. If a chicken could stand directly in front of it, it might help, but in my experience, they don't do much at all.

The Sweeter Heater is too high, if you intend to use it. Also, it is above the side wall vents, which will just suck any heat it produces away from the heater. Those work best when they can be directly above the birds, where the radiant heat can be felt by them. Again, it doesn't heat the air.

 

[Mrs. K]

In the beginning, I worried about keeping them warm... and the whole well ventilated without drafts seemed very confusing.

Instead of keeping them warm, keep them DRY. Good deep dry bedding, sprinkle it with scratch once a week, and they will turn it for you, breaking up manure, keeping it much dryer in there.

Then think back, to sitting in a car with people without the heat on, almost immediately the windows fogged up. The outside is cold, the inside with warm breath almost immediately fogs up the windows, that is what you want to avoid.

You also want your birds away from the ceiling or the walls. I like to have a foot of clearance above their heads while roosting. My Ventilation is above that. In cold weather, I shut the pop up door, which does reduce the currents in the coop, but I never shut the ventilation.

This keeps my birds dry, and dry birds are warm birds. We have big temperature swings through out the winter, not uncommon to go from 70 degrees to well below 0 at night. The coldest we have had was a week a couple of years ago where we got to -35 degrees F. Mine came through it just fine.

I used to get caught by frost bite once in a while, and it would come when we would have a sharp WARM up, which would thaw out frozen poop, then plunge back down at night. That excess moisture is the cause of most frost bite. Again, keep birds dry and they keep themselves warm.

I do not have heat in my coop.

MRs K

 

[aart]

I'm wondering how exactly to manage the balance between ventilation and keeping them comfortably warm.

This is a good discussion about.....
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/ventilated-but-free-of-drafts.1048597/

In your photos (thanks for including those) it looks like your vent with the fan is high enough over their heads to permanently leave open. I'd put a vent in the opposite wall above your windows. An opening high on one or both of the ends could be helpful. Just make them high.

More pics would help, of outside of coop near eaves...open soffit vents are best for cold climes, IMO.

First, how cold is it where you are at? Where are you at? you can add this to your profile, and it can be a general location such as Western Ohio (my profile).

Yes please @Regaj
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[Regaj]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Y'all have given me some things to think about.

First off, I'm in Northern Virginia (and I've updated my profile to reflect that). With our winters we get a fair number of nights down into the 20's (Fahrenheit), with a smaller number down into the teens, and just a handful into the single digits.

I do have a metal roof on the coop, but that's not what you're seeing in the original pictures I posted... that's an insulation barrier intended to reflect heat (which it does a reasonable job of).

The comment about the Cozy Coop Heater (on the wall above the pop door) being too high... I'll go ahead and bring that down so it's just above the pop door. I can also lower the Sweeter Heater, if needed (it's affixed with chain, so very easy to adjust)... but when the birds are on the upper roost their heads are almost level with the vent opening. I can't bring the heater down much.

Both heaters are infrared. Which is to say, they are not intended to heat the coop itself, like I do my living room with my wood stove. They heat the animal beneath or in front of it. That's all they do. I'm still not sure exactly when to use them (but glad I have them).

Probably my biggest takeaway from your comments is that my coop doesn't have very good cold-weather ventilation. The long vent window on the back is kind of okay (it's mostly above their heads). But the windows on the front - although fine during the summer - are much too low. It's the lower part of those two windows that are screened (the upper part is glass)... and that puts the roosts right at a level where they would get a cold draft.

I'm thinking what I'll do is drill some openings up high, above those windows (those openings would fit nicely under the roof overhang). I'm also thinking I'll rig up a partial opening for the long vent along the back... currently the design has it either all the way open or all the way closed.

The comments about minimizing moisture also have me thinking about perhaps moving the waterer outside (I currently keep a waterer out in the run and a second one inside the coop). As you can see, I hang that coop waterer from a chain, hung from the ceiling, and the birds frequently spill a bit as they're moving about inside. It hasn't been a big deal with warm weather. But it sounds like that kind of spillage, and the extra humidity it brings with it, might be a challenge in cold weather.

Thanks for the Alaskan Article link. That gives a whole different perspective on true old weather challenges!

Thanks again for all y'all's help...

Jeff (aka Regaj)

 

[aart]

What is up under/behind this fascia....on both eaves...inside and out?

Might think about switching your birds over to horizontal nipples before colder weather hits.
They work great on heated waterers.
I'd focus on that instead of those heat panels.

 

[Regaj]

What is up under/behind this fascia....on both eaves...inside and out?

The fascia boards are just to provide some structure and a point on the outside at which to afix the metal roof. At that level on the inside, there's just the last few inches of open space before the ceiling insulation material (a material called LP Tech Shield Roof Sheathing). When I bought the coop (it is a commercial coop) I thought it had a wooden panel between the metal roof on the outside and the Tech Shield Roof Sheathing on the inside. But looking at it more closely yesterday, I believe the metal roof is directly over the Tech Shield. No wood between them.

A nipple-style waterer for inside the coop is a great idea! I will pick up one of those.

 

[nrayas2003]

Yes, where are you located? What kind of temperatures are you talking about? Not average temperatures but the extremes. The extremes are when you see trouble.

Your job is not to keep them warm. Your job is to give them as chance to keep themselves warm. Their down coat works really well. There are a couple of things you are looking at.

One is moisture. The big danger is frostbite. Frostbite is mostly a factor of cold and moisture. You can generate a lot of moisture in the coop with their breathing, poop, and maybe drinking water. You need enough ventilation to get that moisture out of the coop.

The other is a breeze. Chickens trap tiny pockets of air in their down. Those tiny pockets are what provides insulation and makes down work for your winter outdoor clothing. A breeze strong enough can ruffle the feathers and let those tiny insulating pockets of air escape. My chickens really hate a cold breeze hitting them at any time but seem to enjoy a warm breeze.

The way I achieve good winter ventilation is to have permanent openings on all four walls well above the chickens' heads when they are on the roost. That way any breezes are over their heads. Any breezes will cause some turbulence in the air below but not blow hard enough on the chickens to ruffle their feathers, even in a storm, so you get good air exchange. Even in a dead calm warm air tends to rise and it can carry more moisture. Their breath and evaporation from their poop or drinking water is warmer than the surrounding air and rises. There are other ways to get proper ventilation but openings up high are about as simple as it gets.

In your photos (thanks for including those) it looks like your vent with the fan is high enough over their heads to permanently leave open. I'd put a vent in the opposite wall above your windows. An opening high on one or both of the ends could be helpful. Just make them high.

You asked when to close the windows. I close mine, which is at roost level, when it gets colder in the fall/winter. I don't have a set temperature, just when it feels right. I'd certainly want it closed before overnight lows hit freezing but probably low 40's Fahrenheit. I'll link an article by someone who keeps chickens where it really gets cold. They talk about changes at -20 F (-29 C).

Alaskan’s Article

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

I like photos so I'll include one of mine. I took this photo when the temperature was 4* F. You can see the ice I emptied from the waterer. I leave my pop door open and let them decide if they want to come out or not. It was calm that morning so they came out to enjoy the weather. If a cold wind were blowing they would not have been out in it.

View attachment 2337347

I am in Southern Middle TN. I have 6 hens and a rooster. I have no open ventilation right now besides the openings in the tin of the roof. It was 26⁰ and 81% humidity in my coop this morning. My coop was made out of a wooden crate for a machine so not insulated very good but not drafty at all. I want to make it warmer in there for them but draw out any moisture also. The front is lower than the back. I was thinking of putting a ventilation fan above their heads where I have circled but not sure what else I can do. I have sand about 1" deep on the floor. It is probably about 4' wide, 9' long, and 6' high inside. I have wrapped the run in plastic but left room around the top to let air in.