Bought used tractor coop - does it have enough ventilation?

[JadziaDax]

Hey all!

This is my first post on BYC My husband & I have been planning for chickens for quite a while, & I actually had plans for a big coop and run attached to the back of our barn.

BUT, we had the opportunity to purchase a used tractor coop for cheeeeeeap - allowing us to accelerate our chicken timeline significantly! We will likely still build our larger coop/run in the future, but we want to go ahead and get started with a small flock soon.

Anyway, on to my question!

I've enclosed a picture of the coop. The only ventilation it has is via the roofing material - the raised channels don't sit flush with the sides, so air can exchange through there. Also, the ramp comes up through the floor, and doesn't have a door of any sort so I suppose that is ventilation, too.

We live in the north GA mountains. Our summers are ridiculously hot & humid (I can open the main coop door in the summer), and our winters are mostly mild, with usually one decent snowfall. We very rarely get below zero. I'm mostly concerned about winter.

Do we need to figure out some way to make more ventilation for the coop?



Thanks for sharing your expertise!

 

[Ameraucanas]

I am not quite sure, but I think that this will help. https://wayne.ces.ncsu.edu/2013/07/a-summertime-poultry-house-ventilation-checklist/

 

[aart]

I would say, no, it does not have enough ventilation.
It's also awfully small, especially the height, and 'door on the floor' makes it even smaller.
Is the roofing material metal?

How many birds do you plan on keeping in there?
It would be a great brooder coop tho.
Ya get what ya pay for.

I'd hold off on getting birds until a larger coop is built.

 

[JadziaDax]

We were planning on starting with 3-4 birds.

It is bigger than it looks in the picture. The coop itself is probably 3.5' tall and 8-10' long (I haven't gotten a measuring tape out). It has two perches on the far end and four nesting boxes on the side you can't see.

The roof is metal.

I was thinking about having my husband cut out a rectangular hinged window on the short sides that we can prop open for ventilation.

 

[Cheep N Peep]

It looks like a good tractor for 3 or 4 hens. In the summer, though, that coop is going to be really hot.
1) It doesn't have enough ventilation for winter. Drill some large holes under the overhang of the roof, above the clean out/access door in the picture, on both sides. If you can, also drill some under the overhang on the long sides, between the roosts and the nesting boxes.
2) That one door is tiny, and it will be very frustrating to clean if you don't have a lengthwise door to get into the coop. Is there one?
3) The coop needs a window you can open in the summer, like you said, to cool it down. Look around to see if somebody is giving one away for free or at a discount price. Line it with hardware cloth and you can leave it open at night for the girls inside, when you can't leave the doors open. Try to do it lengthwise, so that almost a whole wall is open-able window(s).

 

[aart]

We were planning on starting with 3-4 birds.

It is bigger than it looks in the picture. The coop itself is probably 3.5' tall and 8-10' long (I haven't gotten a measuring tape out). It has two perches on the far end and four nesting boxes on the side you can't see.

The roof is metal.

I was thinking about having my husband cut out a rectangular hinged window on the short sides that we can prop open for ventilation.

Do get out your tape measure, I'm curious.
The whole thing might be 3.5" tall..... but the coop itself is half that.
A full grown large fowl chicken standing in the coop may be brushing it's comb against the roof.

The metal roof could gather condensation from warm humid air(chicken breath) against the cold metal...keep an eye out for that.

Does it get to freezing (32F) where you live?