Draft proof, but ventilated

[DUWBACC]

I want to brood my chicks that are en route outside with their mama heating pad after they are one or two weeks old. We just moved to this house with a coop already made. I'm cleaning it and spraying permethrin for mites. I bought 1/4" hardware cloth to put over the chicken wire to make it more predator proof. How do I achieve the "well ventilated, but not drafty" scenario for the babies? Thanks so much!

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[DUWBACC]

 

[DUWBACC]

I bought a shop vac today so will be starting project clean the coop asap

 

[Ridgerunner]

To me it looks like you have it. When you get your chicks they will spend the first several days and probably weeks on the floor. It looks like you have openings under your overhang and the windows look open with all covered with wire. And you’ll reinforce that wire. Any breezes you get through that should be well over their head. So they will have good breeze protection and great ventilation as long as you don’t have open openings at their level.

You might get some rain blow in through the windows so keep anything electrical where the water won’t hit it. You may need to close a window for that.

I have had chicks fly up pretty well at two weeks, but that was with a broody hen taking them to the roosts. Yours are unlikely to be flying up that early without a hen to teach them. My brooder-raised chicks normally start to sleep on the roosts somewhere around 10 to 12 weeks. I have had some start at 5 weeks and some take a lot longer, but 10 to 12 weeks is a good average. So by the time yours start roosting they should be able to handle what your North Carolina winters will throw at them. I don’t how your coop is set up inside, specifically where the roosts are compared to the windows.

You may or may not need to close the windows to block breezes in the winter after they start to roost. It looks like you might have windows on opposite sides so closing at least one of them when it’s really cold is probably a good idea. My ventilation looks a lot like yours but I have additional on the ends as well as both sides. I close my window when the outside temps get below freezing. You’ll probably be OK without your windows open as far as ventilation goes.

Looks good to me. Good luck!