Good Ventilation vs Draft Free

[srolle1lsu]

i'm having trouble trying to visualize what this means in a coop. where do you place the vents to keep it draft free? it seems that placing 2 vents in a coop or 1 vent and a door would create a draft. so, how do you accomplish adequate ventilation and be draft free.

btw, I'm in a climate that sees upper 90's to low triple digits for highs in the summer and low singles to the negatives occasionally for the winters (slc, ut). i plan to put the coop on the north side (cold side) of the house in a mostly shaded area. i have a 46"x 35" window for one side of the coop and a 24"x24" window for the other side to allow more light in. is this too much or too little light for an 6'x4'x6' coop?

 

[yelim]

The best that I could find is to keep ventilation at a level that the birds will not be.
Don't have vents at the same level as your roost. Patch holes or cracks in walls and floors
that wind could get through.

 

[crazyhen]

You need vents at the highest points of your roof. Ventilation is to remove moisture and ammonia odors from the coop. It needs to be high up. I usually have an inch or two at the edges of the roof that I leave only covered by wire. I usually leave another area low down for a bit of air flow that can be closed off if it is really windy or cold in the winter .The more light the better. In the summer the hens love the breezes, it won't hurt them. In the winter close the windows and make sure the area around them is sealed. . In summer they could live in a wire cage if it is water proofed. Drafts blow across the birds in the winter and make it hard for them to stay warm. I hope this helps.

Gloria Jean

 

[elmo]

Think about drafts as wind chill. You know how cold you feel in the winter when the wind is blowing on you? Imagine if you had to sleep with the wind blowing on you like that. Brrrr. That's what you want to avoid in your coop in the winter. So take a look at where your roost is, and construct vents well above this level, high on the top of the wall, and ideally on the other side of the coop. You can also add a hinged, awning style flap to open and close down as needed, and this will also act as a sort of wind baffle, too.

For summer, though, drafts/wind chill are good. So you'll want to have other vents or operable windows down at roost level and closer to the birds so they can catch a breeze and get a bit of relief from the heat. Extreme heat is actually more dangerous to chickens than extreme cold because chickens can't take off their down jackets in the summer, and all they can do is pant and hold their wings away from their bodies to cool down. You are going to be very glad of your coop's location in the shade for summer (and so are your chickens). A coop that gets summer sun can easily get 20 degrees or more hotter than the ambient temperature, which is well into the danger zone for chickens when the summer temps are in the 90's.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Being able to open and close ventilation openings, whether it's hardware cloth covered openings covered in plywood or large windows, is a real advantage in climates with a wide temperature range.

In frigid, dry cold, at -20 F, I have limited, but adequate, ventilation open and I don't want the chickens in a draft, especially when roosting.

In pleasant weather, I have the coop fully opened. I don't mind if they get a breeze at times, when it's warm weather.

In hot, humid weather, with temperatures and humidity in the upper 90s, having the coop wide open keeps it from being hotter in the coop, than it is outside. It also lets the coop cool off faster, as the air outside cools in the evening. That gives the chickens more hours during the night at a temperature range that's physically less stressful.

Air movement can end up being between any two openings in the coop. Picture a string held between any two openings. Don't have your roosts placed in the path of this string, especially in cool or cold weather. Your winter ventilation needs to be placed so they aren't in a draft, which will cause them to lose body heat faster. The roosting area is like a little cave inside the coop, protecting the chickens from drafts. The ventilation openings should be in other areas of the coop.

I have all the openings except the pop hole door mid-level or higher. This helps vent hotter, more humid air up and out of the coop. It also prevents drafts at the floor, moving across the floor. This is most important in cool or cold weather.

 

[debid]

Sounds like the temps here.

I'm using a sloped roof and someone on here gave me the best ventilation idea. I'm putting the year-round vents in by covering the space between the rafters (so above the wall, below the roof) with hardware cloth. My coop is 4x8 and the slope goes from long to long side so this gives me a total of 8 open spaces, 3.5"x23", that are close to the roof so blowing rain shouldn't get in. The winter winds come from the north so if I place the building with the short sides north & south, the icy winds won't blow directly at any of the openings. I also have two 24" square windows and those are going on the 4' sides, directly across from each other, to be left open in the summer so that they get air movement if a breeze blows from any direction. The windows will be at roost height.

ETA: We're also putting the coop under deciduous trees so heavy shade in the summer and partial sun in the winter. It's a little more open over the run.

 

[srolle1lsu]

thanks for the help. it gave me a picture of what needs to be done to keep the coop draft free and ventilated.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

if you get one like this

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...2swP23MXICA&page=1&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0


then it helps keep wind out but offers adequit ventilation

 

[LilyBird]

Sounds like the temps here.


I'm using a sloped roof and someone on here gave me the best ventilation idea.  I'm putting the year-round vents in by covering the space between the rafters (so above the wall, below the roof) with hardware cloth.  My coop is 4x8 and the slope goes from long to long side so this gives me a total of 8 open spaces, 3.5"x23", that are close to the roof so blowing rain shouldn't get in.  The winter winds come from the north so if I place the building with the short sides north & south, the icy winds won't blow directly at any of the openings.  I also have two 24" square windows and those are going on the 4' sides, directly across from each other, to be left open in the summer so that they get air movement if a breeze blows from any direction.  The windows will be at roost height.


ETA:  We're also putting the coop under deciduous trees so heavy shade in the summer and partial sun in the winter.  It's a little more open over the run.

I'm having the same problem in trying to figure out ventilation as the original poster. But this description sounds just like my situation. I've converted a dog house. There are gaps between the rafters and roof that slopes upwards. And the coop is under trees so it's in the shade in the summer. But it will get some sun in winter. (Also freeeeeezing cold winters here. -22 is common).

So I have the opening at the top, but do I need something at the bottom for air flow? And I can't really have windows on either side of my coop because one side has the nesting boxes. So on the one short side I created a board that will hinge down to open up to the inside of the coop. Hoping this will create a breeze. It's right at roost height. (But it will likely stay closed during winter months)

My coop is made of fence boards attached to the structure. Do I need to seal all the cracks?

In this picture you can see the painted board from the inside...that's the one that hinges and opens right up.

Do I need to add more ventilation to mine? If so, how?

 

[appps]

Have problem with that too. I renovated in the middle of summer so it has a vent runs at roof level the length of the house so they got cooling breeze through the house. Now it's winter though and I don't want the breeze.

Think what I will do is buy some clear plastic sheet to staple over their window on the opposite side and then put shade mesh over the long vent. Hope it will still allow plenty of air but help reduce any wind blowing through.

Come summer I will probably just pull out the staples and pack away till the next winter.