Danger of a furnace vent?

[JenniferC]

Hiya!

I have set up my "chicken area" to be alongside our house in a fenced in side yard. However I forgot that our furnace vent empties out on that side. This is a bit of a problem, because it blows hot air downwards, and once my chickies are living outside, I could imagine them trying to spend a lot of time warning up under the vent.

I'm wondering, how dangerous is this? What all toxins are coming out of that vent? It doesn't smell like gas. It's not killing the plants, in fact I used to have some annuals that lived many years under that vent due to the warmth.

I imagine it would be bad to put their coop directly under the vent, as whatever fumes could accumulate in the coop- but maybe I'm wrong.

Does anyone know?

Thanks!

 

[JenniferC]

More info- it's blowing downwards from a height of about 3 or 4 feet. So the air will have about 2 feet before it reaches them- as opposed to them sticking their face right inside it.

Also- it's an extremely old gas furnace. I wouldn't even know what company to call or what serial number to give.

Thanks again for any info.

 

[WikkitGateFarm]

Is that vent connected to your furnace, or your clothes dryer?

 

[All about the EGG]

Yeah, sounds like a dryer vent to me as well. If it is, moisture is coming out so avoid it. If it is your furnace...same thing, except carbon monoxide instead of moisture. Very deadly.

 

[silkiechicken]

Can you attach a pipe and vent it to the left or the right instead on onto your coop?

 

[ridgefire]

Carbon monoxide would be your biggest problem.

 

[WikkitGateFarm]

If it's an old furnace venting to the side of the house a few feet off the ground, get that fixed no matter where you put the birds. That should pop through your roof!

If it's a dryer vent, don't attach anything to it to change directions. It could trap lint. Every so often a dryer can throw a spark down the tube (burnt up bug, bit of fried lint, etc.), which can start a fire.

 

[Velociraptor]

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