First coop ventilation question, live in Maine...

[sweety13]

So I have been building our coop and am ready to do the siding, my question is this...I know how much ventilation to do, but it just seems like it will be soooo drafty. I did a pitched roof so the lower side(6 feet vs 8 feet in back) will have more protection from the overhang, so can I just have a little help thinking it through?? Also, has anyone used the clear corrugated roofing for solar effect? Is that an ok idea, I just figured it will help with light/warmth for our long winter...My design is 4X8 with 16 inch windows on each end, and I am using hardware cloth for the ventilation, I was thinking 8 inch strip all around the top? Help please

 

[coolcanoechic]

It should work fine. The roosts should be lower than the ventilation so the chickens don't get a draft. Do you have a picture?

 

[mickey328]

As long as the wind doesn't blow directly ON the chickens, you're good to go We placed our roosts in such a way that the ventilation from the walls under the eaves blow over their heads. The airflow collects all the ammonia fumes and whisks them away.

We get some fairly cold winters here but our summers tend to be hot and at our altitude, the sun is really strong! If we used roofing like that, we'd have pre-cooked birds, LOL. For the most part, our girls are only in the coop to sleep and lay, so they really don't need much light in there. On days that are so inclement they're in it a lot, we put a light on for them. We also get hail here and some high winds, so we wanted a really sturdy roof...we went with 1/4" ply reinforced with some 1 x 1's at the joins. We painted it with a white, rubberized paint to keep the water out and reflect a lot of our sun. IMO, heat is more of a problem than cold...the chickens have great insulation with their feathers and can huddle together for warmth if needed; it's a lot harder to keep cool (spoken from the experience of a woman of a "certain" age who enjoys a lot of "personal tropical moments") LOL

 

[coolcanoechic]

So I have been building our coop and am ready to do the siding, my question is this...I know how much ventilation to do, but it just seems like it will be soooo drafty. I did a pitched roof so the lower side(6 feet vs 8 feet in back) will have more protection from the overhang, so can I just have a little help thinking it through?? Also, has anyone used the clear corrugated roofing for solar effect? Is that an ok idea, I just figured it will help with light/warmth for our long winter...My design is 4X8 with 16 inch windows on each end, and I am using hardware cloth for the ventilation, I was thinking 8 inch strip all around the top? Help please

Sorry, I forgot to answer the roofing question. Being in Maine, you should consider that there are times when you will have considerable snow loads on the roof. I do not think the clear corrigated roofing would hold up to that. If you have a window on the coop that is facing south, it will help to warm the coop. What kind of chickens do you have? If they are a cold hardy breed, they will not mind the cold temps at all. Only on the really cold nights, you might consider a light for heat.

 

[sweety13]

This is my stalemate! No, really it just rained today...lol! The center top squares on the end are for windows and have hardware cloth...Thanks for helping

 

[sweety13]

Sorry, I forgot to answer the roofing question. Being in Maine, you should consider that there are times when you will have considerable snow loads on the roof. I do not think the clear corrigated roofing would hold up to that. If you have a window on the coop that is facing south, it will help to warm the coop. What kind of chickens do you have? If they are a cold hardy breed, they will not mind the cold temps at all. Only on the really cold nights, you might consider a light for heat.

We have silkies, polish and some ameraucana,rir,brahma mixes...not all cold hardy

 

[coolcanoechic]

Ah! You have a tall coop! That will work well for the ventilation you want to add, because the girls will be way down below it. It should work very well for you. Your girls will be fine. If you should have any nights below about 15 degrees, add a light for them to help them stay warm, but do not use it all the time or they will get acclimated to the heat and if there were ever a power outage, which there always is in our neck of the woods, they would then freeze. So keep the heat to a minimum. So far, everything looks nice!

 

[sweety13]

Thanks! Got back wall and side wall boarded as well as 8" wide strip hardware cloth along front and back walls. Then I hit my finger so ^%^&%^ hard I thought it was going to explode so called it a night! Pics tomorrow