Do I have enough ventilation?

[Peep Peeper]

Here's a pic of my coop. I was just going to leave the tops of the 2 windows cracked a few inches on each side throughout the winter. I have 6 hens in there now and plan to add a few more in the spring. Are the 2 windows enough ventilation or do I need to add more?

 

[MoonShadows]

How high are your roosts? You need ventilation above their heads. My roosts are about 4' and 5' above the floor, and while I have 5 windows that I use for ventilation depending on the weather and temperature, I created some ventilation in the gable ends also. From your pic, it looks like you could do the same. I used a hole saw to cut the circles and then placed hardware cloth over the circles from the inside of the coop. These vents are about 7.5' above the floor.

 

[yogifink]

Kind of hard to tell from your picture. Are there windows or vents on any of the other sides? Do you leave the pop door open at night? Do you have a ridge vent on the roof? Any gable vents? How tightly sealed is the door?


Seriously, with the two windows, the pop door and the human door that has some space around it, I think your good. Just keep an eye on it throughout the season, and if you see any moisture build up (look for frost on the bedding and condensation on the inside of the windows) than put in some more venting. Don't over think it and keep it simple.

PS. cute coop

 

[RJSorensen]

I have come to the conclusion, that if you are asking if you have adequate ventilation, you don't. The workings of chickens is so different from 'people' that perhaps we, for the most part, are unable to intelligently factor the amount of open air space required for our birds. I have read the following link over and over, I still learn from it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

Best to all and their birds,

RJ

 

[rosemarythyme]

the windows are the only vents, there are currently 8 birds...

At 2 sq ft each that would provide you with about 50% of the ventilation you'd want.

Weather permitting, might want to go around and check around the soffits under the roof to see if there's any areas you can easily open up for effective high ventilation. Or consider gable style vents placed across from the windows or high on other walls - using premade louvered covers will let you provide extra ventilation while buffering the effects of weather, as long as you don't get strong horizontal winds in that direction.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Not enough in my opinion.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

I don't shut anything up for winter. It gets to zero or below here.
You want that humidity and bad air out of there more than keep the chickens warm.

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

I bought a cheap thermostat and it keeps telling me I've got too much humidity in the coop. Thankfully my coop shares a wall with my garage so I'm going to drill some holes in that wall above the roosts. I'm glad I wont have to worry about rain/snow coming in. Do you have a thermostat? Easy way to keep an eye on it.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It does both

Then it's a combination thermometer/hygrometer.

suffix meter = measure

suffix stat = from the greek 'statos' or standing. Thermostat is a device to control temperature like on your wall for heating and cooling or in an incubator to maintain set temp.

I do agree that measuring humidity in the coop is a great idea. In doing so I realized I needed much bigger openings.

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

Then it's a combination thermometer/hygrometer.

suffix meter = measure

suffix stat = from the greek 'statos' or standing. Thermostat is a device to control temperature like on your wall for heating and cooling or in an incubator to maintain set temp.

I do agree that measuring humidity in the coop is a great idea. In doing so I realized I needed much bigger openings.

...okay. Didn't realize it was a big deal but thanks so much for the lesson!

 

[jetdog]

I would put a door that can be closed at night for security reasons, in the winter I wrap one side of the run with a clear shower curtain it lets the sunshine in and keeps the wind and snow out.It gets nice and warm on sunny days.