Draft free, but vented?

[archangel2003]

I'm new here and am moving to VT this year and will have acreage with chickens to start.

I am a multi tasking handyman, auto/truck mechanic and once while being unemployed, was even contracted to build a rather fancy chicken coop in the Santa Rosa area of northern CA.

She wanted one offered at the local hardware store but did not want to pay the $2500 price tag.

I took a few pictures, some measurements and copied it rather well for a heck of a lot less parts + labor than the $2500 they wanted.
It was on 4 posts, and the floor was a couple of feet off the ground with a wire mesh floor.

It was cold there in the winter, but not freezing all day long like it will be in VT.

The question is:
What is the difference between vented and drafty?
How does one vent the place without causing a draft?

I would assume keeping it closed off up high to keep the warmer air up there for the roosting birds at night.

 

[waynesgarden]

Drafty is when the wind is blowing on you. Ventilated is when it is blowing on someone else. (I'm in engineering so feel free to ask any construction questions.

)

Ventilation is a hard thing to accomplish. A big part of it is knowing your site and the prevailing breeezes.

Patandchickens has an excellent starting point with a page about venting the coop.

Wayne

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
ROTFLMAO.

Also agreeing

One good design for climates that get Winter is to have some big windows etc that open (screened with hardwarecloth for predatorproofing) but also have some good sized, long vents at the top of each wall, with flaps or sliders to close them down however much the current weather warrants. That gives you good flexibility, and lets your cold-weather ventilation be primarily up top where a) the warmest and thus most HUMID air is (that's the air you most want to get rid of, yes, even tho it is warm) and b) the chickens mostly aren't.

Have fun,

Pat

 

[CityChook]

I wish I had followed Pat's advice last summer and built my vents under the eaves of my roofline. We didn't do it because the walls had already been wrapped in paper, insulated and lined and my DH refused to cut the walls open at that point. If the vents were under the eaves, I wouldn't have to go out and close them up when it rains/snows hard. I have large windows that open in the summer and vents at the tops of the gables by the roofline. I also did soffet and ridgecap ventilation which has worked out really well for me this winter. I only have 4 chickens, though.

Good luck!

 

[Davaroo]

Pats answer is the best. Follow her advice and you wont go wrong.

 

[cmom]

I agree. Follow Pats advice and you won't go wrong.

 

[patandchickens]

<snort>

Ok, so I advise you to each send me a $10 bill, right now... heck, let's say $20... those in the Carolinas may substitute a big takeout order of bbq...

Pat

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Pat,
don't accept just any BBQ from SC. I have the darnest time finding any good BBQ here. I was born and raised here but I am picky, picky, picky when it comes to good BBQ. Most people just think southern is all good. Humph!
It takes a lot of eating out and around to find the better places. Although I am up to the chore I make most all of my own BBQ. Chicken, pork or beef. Yum, yum!

 

[greyhorsewoman]

We cut these 'vents' into each side of our coop up here in NE PA. Our coop gets a lot of wind off the river from that side. The chicks have stayed quite cozy. Of course there is a chicken door and we installed a screen door so the front can be open whenever weather permits. We also insulated the roof and that helped a lot this summer.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
I prefer Eastern NC style bbq, chopped, and no sugar or onions in the hushpuppies either, but it has been 15+ years since I have had ANY sort of the real thing and I am not gonna be picky. (Although my favorite was Johns BBQ just north of I think Aberdeen NC, on the way to where I used to do field work).

I have a recipe to make 'sort of kind of somewhat like NC bbq' pulled pork using stove and oven, but man what I wouldn't give for a pig pickin...

<drool>

Um, that might ahve been slightly off topic, sorry

Carry on, carry on,


Pat