Closed coop

[Happy Hens Mama]

We have just tucked our girls away for their first night. Moving forward the coop that we have for south Florida is very closed with very few vents for their closed in area. Should there be a fan / more of a open area? It is a commercial coop that we purchased.

 

[Judy]

Welcome to our forum!

In a word, yes. I'm afraid it will soon be too hot in there for them. Chickens tolerate cold much better than heat. My coop is like a wind tunnel with huge open air spaces, using hardware cloth, and I still run a box fan all summer. They will not survive southern temps without good shade, good breeze, and of course plenty of fresh water. I have read that 100 degrees is as hot as they can tolerate. Every summer on the forum we read of chickens that die of the heat.

Here is a link to the sort of setups that do well in this climate. You will probably need to remove one wall and attach it to a secure run.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/163417/please-show-me-your-hot-weather-coops

 

[PapaChaz]

I've read (on here I might add) to try to figure one sq ft of ventilation per bird. Can't say that's right or wrong, but I'm of the mind to err on the side of more rather than less. Simply because what Judy said is true, they'll handle cold so much better than heat

 

[Teila]

Hi there Happy Hens Mama

Living in Australia, I am guessing that by “commercial coop” you mean a kit coop or something assembled for you.

Australia, as you probably know, gets quite hot also. I totally agree with Judy that the heat is a killer.

We also have lots of open spaces for air flow and shade cloth on the top of the run.

I have two kit coops which are joined together. On one of them the side is completely removable and made up of interlocking panels. I took out every second panel and replaced it with wire.