draft/rain covers for vents that allow airflow

[frog522]

Does anyone have any pictures of their wind or rain covers for vents that still allow airflow? I'm not looking for any sort of shutter that blocks the opening/ventilation completely. I have several rectangular vents covered with 1/2" hardware cloth on my coop. I'm looking to outfit them with something that still allows sunlight but is able to reduce drafts and block rain. Does anyone have ideas?

 

[33yardbirds]

I used continuous soffet venting underneath a 12" overhanging shed roof. We've had some good Nor' Easters with no rain entering the coop. Lower vent is facing North with the high vent facing south, most of our storms in winter come from the Northwest. We are getting good convection all year. Our vents are also well above the roosting poles to keep any drafts off the birds in the winter.

 

[Orchid]

I suppose you could use Plexiglass to make an overhang over your vents. It would deflect the rain, partially block a breeze and still let in sunlight. That's about the only thing I can think of that will do all three things.

 

[DutchieWannabe]

Plexiglass, or the plastic from cheapie picture frames.

 

[frog522]

I was thinking that too. Something resembling a central air grating (vent covers) that run horizontally and slope down about at 45 degrees. I'm considering making it out of plexiglass but it seems to be a big pain to do (and $$$). I just wanted to check with you all if there is an easier solution.

Well, I guess I'll get working on it in the next few days and let you all know how it goes. If anyone else has any good ideas please share!

 

[elmo]

How important is the light? You can easily make hinged flaps using a board, and use a chain to make them adjustable.

 

[frog522]

Quote:
Good question. I'm not sure how important the light is. I was assuming the only light going into the coop right now is from the 5 ventilation areas I have. I figured if I blocked them the girls wouldn't like to be in the coop anymore because of the darkness. Your hinged flap idea certainly sounds alot easier, do you have any pictures to point me in the right direction? I'm not sure if I'm correctly imagining how the chain will be used.

Thanks!

 

[elmo]

Quote:
Good question. I'm not sure how important the light is. I was assuming the only light going into the coop right now is from the 5 ventilation areas I have. I figured if I blocked them the girls wouldn't like to be in the coop anymore because of the darkness. Your hinged flap idea certainly sounds alot easier, do you have any pictures to point me in the right direction? I'm not sure if I'm correctly imagining how the chain will be used.

Thanks!

My winter coop (on my BYC page) has hinged flaps on the front vent. The flaps are hinged at the top and hook to the eaves with a simple hook and eye. The coop I'm working on right now (no pictures yet) is bigger and will have hinged flaps front and back. Instead of a hook and eye, these flaps will be attached to the eaves with a chain so that I can adjust the degree of openness of the flap.

There will be a hook on both the right and left side of the eave. The flap will be hinged on the top, and have a chain attached to both ends. Sorry no pictures yet, but I'm working on it! Right now I need to have all the vents completely open because it's still hot here, and I need to finish other things about the coop first (like the poop trays!).

If you have wide enough eaves, you can also hinge the vent covers on the bottom, like hopper windows. This might allow for more light. Another idea would be to use a piece of clear corrugated roofing panel as the flap.

Oh, one more thing. Remember that you aren't going to want to have all of the vents closed even on a very cold night. Some of your vents will always need to be open or partially open.

 

[frog522]

Here's an update on what I put together! I used acrylic sheets and painstakingly cut them to size. I'm going to add support sticks to help keep the rain guards propped open.

First time chicken owner (2 chickens). Minimal building experience. No eggs yet (17 weeks). These chickens better start paying their rent!


Front view:

Front view close-up:

Door #2:

 

[Pheonix]

Great looking coop. I've been trying to figure out how much light I can get into the coop too. I'm here in San Jose too and a post that someone else had reminded me that they are covered in down feathers and will stay warm on their own pretty well as long as it doesn't get down to freezing much, which it doesn't here. The guy lives even Livermore and has an entire side of his coop open with just mesh on it. Something to think about...

I'm over in the willow glen area, where are you at?