Coop Ventilation

[Epnh77]

Hi all. I’ve finished building my larger coop (it took me a few years of slow weekend work)and fortified it after a fisher cat took my whole flock last winter. My main concern for winter is ventilation. I have vents over the door and in the eaves of the roof. Should I completely close the window once the temp dips to a certain point or leave it partially open? I have 7 chickens living in here. I appreciate any helpful ideas, I’m here asking so that I can do my best to keep everyone alive and I see such varied opinions online. Ventilation seems like a delicate balance. I’m in New Hampshire…
Many thanks again for your thoughts.

 

[aart]

Window shown in pic should probably be closed, depending on the predominant wind direction.
Pic of inside of coop, and behind the coop, would help here.

 

[DobieLover]

I completely close my roost height windows during winter and leave the windows away from the roosts cracked open for more ventilation.
It appears your opening is roost height so I would close it. Does it have an actual window to close?

 

[Debbie292d]

What we did was put a hygrometer in the coop to measure the humidity.

We're in Wisconsin where the average humidity is 70% and mold in a coop can grow at that percentage and higher, plus respiratory issues can start with the chickens. I would go by what the humidity is, and no matter how cold it is, if the humidity gets too high, I'd open vents that won't cause wind to come in.

 

[aart]

We're in Wisconsin where the average humidity is 70%

Even all thru the winter?
Do you compare humidity inside and outside the coop?

 

[Epnh77]

I completely close my roost height windows during winter and leave the windows away from the roosts cracked open for more ventilation.
It appears your opening is roost height so I would close it. Does it have an actual window to close?

Thank you… I have inserts that fit in the window frame to close or partially close it.

 

[Debbie292d]

Even all thru the winter?
Do you compare humidity inside and outside the coop?

Year round. We have a digital exhaust fan that will kick in for what's set, temp or humidity regardless of what it is outside. We can stop it if it's useless due to outside temp/humidity. Before that, some days the venting we had sometimes wasn't keeping up. The extra window we had to open up sometimes at the worst time of year but we had no choice as the humidity was often a problem. We already keep the coop dry (horse bedding pellets and nipple waterer) so most of the time, conditions in the coop were better than outside but there were many days it wasn't. That was 12 silkies in 60 sq feet coop. We have an alarm if the humidity in the coop hits 80 but now it's been much better.