Do I have enough ventilation?

[bubblesgigi]

This was my first winter with chickens, and we had one of the coldest winters in a long time. That said...I closed all windows and 2 of the 3 pop holes. Everyone did great. I was a lil worried because my coop is so big...22ft x 6ft and only 6 chickens. I asked so many old timers this winter about how they protect their chickens, and most people dont even put much thought in them. They get cover somewhere So...having heard all that....I didnt worry about my coop any more Im sure yours will be fine too

 

[Chooks n Kids]

How high can they jump straight up? Or should I put in different height bars so they can jump from one to the next?

Every time I have ever checked on them at night they are all sleeping close together lined up on the low roosting bar. They've never pooped in the roosting boxes so far.

Breed and weight would determine how high they can "jump". I would recommend either a ramp for them to walk up or different height bars so they can hop from one to the other. One thing I do suggest is having the first roost only 12-18 inches off the floor as the larger breeds can develop bumble foot from jumping down from higher roosts. I learned this the hard way, for both me and the poor hens I had to do surgery on. Also if you use 2 x 4's for roosts put them on the flat so they can tuck their feet under them during cold weather. Cheers, Sheila

 

[EJs Chicks]

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for their suggestions, I love this site!

 

[3KillerBs]

Calling all Tropical and Sub-tropical BYCers!

...

I'm not quite that far south myself, but lots of people in the deep south and southwest make coops that are more wire than wood. Look for a thread called Texas Coop Build.

 

[aart]

If using a humidity measuring device, what would the recommended % humidity be in the winter?

Humidity should be the same inside and out.
If it's more humid inside the coop you need more ventilation.

My vents are at the roof line. There are roosting bars as high up as the vents. This means chickens get direct air currents in winter. Wouldn’t they know to go below the vents if it was too cold?

Would be good to start a new thread here, with pic of your coop, inside and out.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thanks that is what i was afraid of. one long wall of the coop, which is the tallest backs up to the side of our old "barn" I could open up something on that side and it would never get wind. but being 12 inches from the wall would it get enough air??

Yes that's probably an ideal spot - the barn would provide a lot of protection and there'd still be some passive air movement in that space. It's really no different than a vent with louvers or a buffer over it - the barn wall becomes the buffer.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

What is a good number for the humidity reading?

In the coop or incubator?
If in the coop, the best you can hope for is as near ambient humidity as possible. What happens when people close up the coop fearing cold (unnecessary), thanks to feces, water and respiration, the humidity quickly climbs significantly above ambient. That spells a recipe for disease proliferation due both to more humidity in a warmer environment and a dimished level of fresh oxygen.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I have three different roosting bars at different heights. The 1st is around 3ft and goes east/west, the 2nd is around 4ft and runs north/south overlapping the first bar, the 3rd bar is around 5.5ft and again runs east/west above the 1st bar. Most of my chickens jump from one to another but occasionally they will fly up to the 4ft bar (straight up), at times they don't make it on the first try. They took a few days too before they were brave enough to jump off, that's why I ended up putting the lowest bar in.

If your roosting bar is only 6 inches off the ground then you're pretty lucky they aren't sleeping in their nesting boxes! You have good chickens

I had a drill instructor hen that marches back and forth and pushes everyone off. They would jump to the other bar and so on and so forth. I had 2 hens develop injuries legs due to all that monkey business. I since have removed the other roost. No more injured legs

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I didn't plan to leave the pop door open because I thought that would be too drafty since it's below their roost. The roosting bar we have is only about 6" off the floor. That's just how it was in the coop plans. Should we have a higher one? I like the idea of drilling some holes in the gable. We don't have windows on the other side. It's just a wall. I was also thinking of cutting an opening in the top of the back wall, but I wasn't sure how long and how wide to make it.

Much higher. Most chickens like to sleep as high as possible and will go to the highest point. If the roost is 6" off the floor I can guarantee the chickens will be sleeping in the nest boxes. Think washing poopy eggs every day.

I bought a cheap thermostat and it keeps telling me I've got too much humidity in the coop. Do you have a thermostat? Easy way to keep an eye on it.

Hygrometer.
Thermostat is to control temperature.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

How high can they jump straight up? Or should I put in different height bars so they can jump from one to the next?

Every time I have ever checked on them at night they are all sleeping close together lined up on the low roosting bar. They've never pooped in the roosting boxes so far.

Depending on the breed but usually at least 4 feet.
An intermediate height roost works well too.