Do I have enough ventilation?

[Grammie Has Chickens]

Hi everyone! If using a humidity measuring device, what would the recommended % humidity be in the winter? I live near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and we can get some pretty cold days, like -30C (-22F) or lower, sometimes with windchills in the -40C (-40F) range. I have 2 silkies and 2 silkie / d'uccle crosses, and the coop house is half height above the run (so maybe 3-4 feet from floor to ceiling). What inside winter temperature would I aim for to keep these little ones happy and healthy? The coop house has gaps between each of the boards (I didn't build it, it was a present). Is this ventilation, or just a draft hazard? Should I plan on wrapping the coop house walls and leaving the eaves unwrapped for ventilation? Recommmendations please!

 

[Attila the Hen]

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?
I put up 1-2 layers of curtains over the mostly open coop design. I also have plexiglass on half the coop. The plexiglass has small gaps between the window frame and glass. This can create more cold air getting in. I wonder if this is a good thing or not.
Any comments on my set up would be welcomed. Thanks

 

[Attila the Hen]

I should add that my coop is almost all hardwire except for one wall. I’m in the southern Appalachian mountains. GA. It can get to 9 degrees or lower in a rough winter.

 

[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.

 

[wclune]

Hi all, we live in western New York were get 4 seasons.
Last spring we built a 4x8 coop that is standing on stilts so the birds can run under it. It has a nearly flat roof with a few degrees tilt for rain water run off and catchment. Inside the coop is 48 inches tall, we have 3 sticks inside about 2 feet off the floor. on the short sides we windows that are probably 2 square feet each. Since winter has come we have been closing the windows as the birds are at the height of the windows when they are sleeping. As i have been reading they are probably not getting enough venting.
The plan is to lower their sticks down to probably a foot which will put the bottom of the windows just above their heads. is this enough?

 

[rosemarythyme]

on the short sides we windows that are probably 2 square feet each. Since winter has come we have been closing the windows as the birds are at the height of the windows when they are sleeping. As i have been reading they are probably not getting enough venting.
The plan is to lower their sticks down to probably a foot which will put the bottom of the windows just above their heads. is this enough?

Are those windows the only ventilation? How many birds do you have in there?

 

[wclune]

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

 

[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.

 

[wclune]

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??

 

[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.