Condensation in an Alabama coop.

[serama mamma]

The reason I start with an "Alabama" coop, is the humidity is off the charts here in the summer, and we just hit the beginning of it. All of the condensation threads and posts are geared towards colder months.

We just built our chicken tractor and haven't moved the babies out yet. The last two days when I've opened the coop it has been wet inside. Lots of condensation. We have a metal roof, insulation under that, the wood inside has been lightly sealed, and we did the whitewash. We have a vent on each side, and two in the back. The front doors we keep shut. What else do we need to do? More ventilation? These babies can go out at this point, but they can't with this much moisture in their pen. I feel a little sick over this, we've tried so hard.







We can open and hinge the bottom of the back of the coop. And that would be able to be shut in the winter.

 

[JackE]

If that was my coop, I would have three of those walls, hinged at the top, so they could be fully opened in the summer months. When they are opened, I would have hardware clothed screen walls, in place, for predator protection. Open-air coop, that is what you are looking for. Open that baby UP.

 

[serama mamma]

Thank you! It seems to be the wettest where I have the whitewash. I would think that would be the driest. Do I need to scrape that off?

 

[JackE]

Open the coop up, and everything will vastly improve. I would not bother scrapping anything.

 

[serama mamma]

Great. Thank you so much! Keeping chickens down here in Alabama seems to have different issues than keeping them in Indiana (where we are from)

 

[JackE]

Great. Thank you so much! Keeping chickens down here in Alabama seems to have different issues than keeping them in Indiana (where we are from)

You're welcome. Good luck with your birds.

 

[Bryant Redhawk]

One other thing to look at is the roof, did you leave an airspace between the roof and the insulation? If those are touching, that could be one of the contributing factors to the amount of condensation.

 

[serama mamma]

It is a corrugated metal roof, so it is only touching where the metal meets the insulation. I'd say only 15% of it is actually touching the insulation. But I see what you are saying though.

 

[serama mamma]

I just wanted to update. I took the whitewash off and sanded the sealed wood. I wanted to try this before opening up any more of the coop since we move it and want to keep it as together was we can. We had 90% humidity here this morning and no dampness in the coop at all. I'm not sure which had more to do with the condensation, the sealer or the whitewash. The insulation on the ceiling had a coat of white wash on it and it dripped like there was a leak, even when it hadn't been raining. So yay! Dry coop and the babies get moved out today! Thanks! We still might open up the bottom half of the coop on the back, since those pieces are already cut and could be easily hinged.