help me w/ my ventilation & window ?

[greytmommy]

ok, live in MO, so we have cold snowy winters, and hot humid summers.

building our coop now. We were thinking of having our roof corigated tin, so there will be minni vents from the up curves in the roof.

how many added vents that can open/close do we need? The coop 8ft by 4ft, and 4ft tall. The chickens will be free run most of the time (but we will have a chicken run for them when we are not home.

also, how many windows do we need? Any tips on how to do windows CHEAP??

 

[patandchickens]

If your winters spend a lot of time below freezing, you will want to insulate a corrugated-metal roof -- otherwise you get condensation->humidity->frostbite problems.

Ideally you would put your roost near the W end and your wintertime ventilation at the E or SE end, since that is a smallish coop and you will want the chickens to be as far from the open-in-wintertime vents as possible. Additional ventilation for summertime can be near the roost of course! I would suggest building as much openable area (vents/windows) as possible, you can always shut down however much you want at a given time and it is a lot better to have plenty to work with than to discover you can't keep the coop cool enough in July

For more on ventilation you might want to check out my ventilation page (link in .sig below), also the 'cold coop' page.

For windows you have a lot of inexpensive options. YOu can just make a hardwarecloth-covered big ol' hole in the side of the coop, and hinge or bolt on a wood-framed plexiglass or corrugated-clear-pvc panel for wintertime. Or scavenge old household windows that are being discarded or sold for real cheap. Or scavenge old storm windows to use as coverings for a hardwarecloth-covered opening.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Tambo26]

My coop is a work in progress too! It is 4X4X? 5tall? It called for two 12X12 windows.... NOT easy to come by! I decided to purchase some plexiglass and make my own 12X12 windows. Cant open them but I plan to install gable vents and a vent/window in the door. Since I've been looking for windows, I see them in construction debris all the time. You could likely score some free windows if you keep an eye out! Have fun! I am!

 

[vfem]

Used windows are great, cheap & easy to find most of the spring & fall. Putting them on hinges to open and close at needed is pretty simple, then hardwire cloth as a screen makes a world of difference in the hot months and great ventilation. For winter vents I would go with inserting the 'home' floor vents that open and close as needed somewhere near a roof peak. Then open those on warmer winter days, and close in the evenings.

Those of course are just my opinions!

 

[greytmommy]

what is the best way to insulate the roof?

does that mean we DON't want the mini vents that would be created by the roof? (and I say tin, but will might be getting a corigated fiberglass roof).

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Easiest thing is to get some rigid foamboard insulation panels and slap 'em up there by whatever means is easiest, e.g. held in place by crosswise battens screwed into the bottoms of your rafters or whatever.

does that mean we DON't want the mini vents that would be created by the roof? (and I say tin, but will might be getting a corigated fiberglass roof).

(Fiberglass or plastic corrugated panels would need insulating underneath too, in places that are below freezing a lot during the winter)

No, you can certainly go ahead and leave the corrugation spaces open (tho you may well want to ALSO have an easy mechanism for blocking them off on the upwind side during cold windy winter days), you can just stop the insulation a couple inches short of the edges so there is space at the edges for the corrugations to allow airflow. (Did that make sense? I explained it very poorly

)

You will probably want more wintertime ventilation than just that, though, unless you have really very few chickens in there -- and certainly a lot more for summertime.

Pat​

 

[ams4776]

For my windows i just used plywood that i can open and close with wire inside coop to keep em from flying out. Then bolted in plexyglass with caulking to let the light in when they are shut. Seems to work for me and inexpensive

 

[TN_BIRD]

cheap window ideas:

buy them used (although I couldn't find anything that was small enough for my lil coop)
make em out of acrylic or picture frames

We used acrylic because I didn't have the carpentry skills or tools available. I simply screwed the acrylic in to the wood frame (make a pilot hole so you don't crack it)

At first, we were on the fence about even having a window. Boy am I glad we do have one. We have enjoyed some good chicken TV.