Closing coop windows at night? Yea or nay? What says YOU?

[Bear1978]

Sooo.. I’ve got my version of Ft. Chox (chicken + Knox. Get it?) done this evening. Other than finishing the skirt around the back and one side Of the fully enclosed coop. The attached run is skirted. The run itself is 6ft high sides completely enclosed in 1/2in 19ga hardware cloth. The top is sealed off with a tin roof which has no gaps between anything. I have three windows. One is a larger window that has a smaller window cut into it and covered with the same type of hardware cloth BUT is exposed on the side of the coop that is NOT under the run itself. The other two are smaller windows about 4ft off the ground. Covered with 1/4in hardwarw cloth. All are fastened with screws and washers.

With all that being said, is it safe and ok to leave one of the smaller windows that IS within the confines of the enclosed run open tonight? Thoughts? I have everything locked down with calipers as well. I double and triple checked tonight before I came in as this is the girls’ first night in the coop!

And. Just to ward off any critters. I pee’d along the unskirted sides of the coop before I came in. Lol.

It’s gonna get down to about 70-75 tonight here in central Arkansas. With about 70% humidity. They have water and feed in the coop for now.

 

[Folly's place]

Ventilation is most important! If the hardware cloth is well attached, leave those windows open!
Consider changing the solid window shutters to being hinged at the top of each window, so you can prop them open that way, as awnings to keep the rain out.
Mary

 

[rosemarythyme]

Ventilation should always be available. If you close some up, is the remaining ventilation still sufficient for the size of coop and number of birds?

 

[Bear1978]

I don't have any chickens yet as we are still in the planning stages. I love how you recycled the cabinet doors for your boxes and door.

Thanks! The coop is actually a playhouse I built for my girls several years ago that they have since outgrown. The only thing I have not repurposed is the lumber for the run and tin for the roof. Everything else was something else before it was chicken-ized!

 

[21hens-incharge]

I leave all 11 windows open on my big coop open from April to October. Only 4 are under the run roof.
My small coop only has 3 windows. They stay open too.

 

[Bear1978]

Yeah, I didn’t bother them when they started complaining. Lol. They finally calmed down. I just left it open for some air flow.

3 out of the 6 figured out how to get up to the roosts via the stool and log I have for them to hop up on. They just didn’t want to sleep there tonight. Lol

 

[rosemarythyme]

1/4" is usually thinner wire so less strong than typical 1/2" but I'd say generally it should be good enough on most coops against most predators.

All my windows have 1/2" HWC, but all other vents (under eave, gable, floor, ridge) have 1/4".

 

[rosemarythyme]

The main reason I even closed 2 out of the 3 windows was bcs this is the girls’ first night in the coop from the brooder and they were NOT happy when it started getting dark. So I closed them to darken the inside of the coop some. They eventually settled down.

NOW, I just have to get them to used the actual roost and not bed down in the pine shavings on the floor!

I'm heartless, so when the chicks got moved to the coop, I put them in (a cage for 2 days, as I have hens), shut the door, walked away and let them scream until it was dark and they finally gave up. They got over it.

Roosting will probably take some time. Some groups of chicks figure it out sooner, some much later. As I have adult birds mine roost "sooner" because they can copy the hens. Without adult birds, if you want them to roost, pick them up and put them on the roost once it's dark, to show them that's where to go, but don't be surprised if it takes a few weeks before it sinks in.

 

[Bear1978]

This is the exposed window I was referring to, screened in with 1/2 HWC and secured with washers and screws. I plan on leaving it open tonight.

 

[Bear1978]

I leave all 11 windows open on my big coop open from April to October. Only 4 are under the run roof.
My small coop only has 3 windows. They stay open too.

Yes. My only concern is the 1/4in HW cloth being as strong as the 1/2in I used for the bigger window. The smaller HW cloth is covering the soffits and the smaller windows that are writhing the run itself.