Do I have enough ventilation?

[jjsw]

It's mid April in Georgia so it's finally about to get hot. I want to make sure my girls have enough ventilation. I have 3 hens and 4 pullets. In the mornings I come it and open the doors to really get some ventilation in there but I'm wondering it's enough. I like closing the doors at night for extra security so I'm not sure if it will be enough at night. The first picture is the immediate left before the wall. Second picture is back right.

 

[cavemanrich]

For the amount of chickens, and your location, looks like enough cold weather ventilation. Coming summer heat, and you may develop a sauna. Having the front doors open, you have all IDEAL. It is when you would have to keep doors closed for whatever reason, the added ventilation would be a benefit. I would add large vents/windows, into the 2 gable ends. You can make them closeable during bad weather. Ventilation is best when it is high above the roost area. Heat rises. Moist air with ammonia from chicken droppings also exits well thru the upper vents during cold weather. Natural convection at work. It is a slow process, but continuous.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,, and

 

[lazy gardener]

What is the size of the building? IMO, there is no where near enough ventilation, especially in your climate. You need at least an area = to 10% of the floor space of your building, OR 1 s.f. per bird, which ever is greater. These are bare minimums. More ventilation is better. As for winter ventilation, it is necessary to ventilate the building even in below freezing temps. The ammonia and moisture must be vented out. If moisture builds up in freezing temps, it condenses and causes frost bite.

 

[jjsw]

The building is 8x12. Based on feedback I'm going to add a large gable vent at each end then I'm going to add 2 more large windows in the back left side and one on the front right side. Would that be sufficient?

 

[jthornton]

The building is 8x12. Based on feedback I'm going to add a large gable vent at each end then I'm going to add 2 more large windows in the back left side and one on the front right side. Would that be sufficient?

You will be able to tell when it gets hot if the chickens are panting they are too hot. Sounds like enough ventilation to me. Is the building shaded by trees? Do the chickens have the choice to come outside during the day?

Add your location to your profile so it is always there.

JT

 

[lazy gardener]

The building is 8x12. Based on feedback I'm going to add a large gable vent at each end then I'm going to add 2 more large windows in the back left side and one on the front right side. Would that be sufficient?

Ditto JT. Add your profile. add up the square ft. of your openings to see if they all add up to the parameters I quoted. You will need at least 10 s.f. of window opening. If you have a hard time doing the math, measure and post all of the openings, and we'll help you with the math. It's also a good idea to have some low level venting. I installed a floor level vent 2 years ago. I close it off during sub zero temps, but it stays open all the rest of the year. When it gets cold, but not sub zero, I put a hay bale in front but 6" away. I am a huge fan of louvered vents. They let the air in but block the weather.

 

[Howard E]

A good test for ventilation in the summer is to walk into the house on a warm summer day (or at night). It should be no hotter inside than out. If you can feel a change and it is hot and stuffy in there, you have a problem. Birds will notice it too and will avoid using it if they have a better option......trees, rafters in a well ventilated run, etc. My daughter's first flock preferred to roost on top of a plastic playground set....on the roof of the fort. She was frustrated they were pooping on the playground set (the stuff runs downhill.....who knew?). They were frustrated they didn't have a better option.

You also appear to have a black shingle roof over plywood. That will absorb heat from the sun and radiate it down into the house, so you are fighting that too. Good in winter, not so good in the summer. If roof is shaded by trees, that will help a lot with the summer sun.

But if it is hot and stuffy in there, short of swapping out the roof, best option is to really open it up to let the hot air out. Gable vents and such. If the back part is really secure, leaving the doors open will help too.

PS: You might want to move those nest boxes up so the bottom of them is about 18 inches or so off the ground. But leave the tops of them no higher than the roosts. Not sure where you found those, but as nest boxes go, they are about the perfect size and shape, including the sloping roof.

 

[JDN]

This is kind of a "different" solution, but maybe reinforce the interior doors where your comfortable about the exterior doors being open at night. You've already built them well with hardware cloth. A couple hasps and caribeaner clips should complete the process. Then, you've more or less created your own open fronted coop, with a nice modification for hot GA summers, SHADE.

The shade of the entryway will be cooler than the back/top of the coop.

Hot air, and moisture, rise. So, the hot wet air is sucked out at the top vents, and the coop is fed cool air from the front.

 

[aart]

Can you open the eaves up?