Help me with planning venting on coop

[birdy_num_nums]

Newbie in the throes of planning a hen house here.... I think I'm going to keep it simple with an 8x8 house with a 'lean-to' roof. Here's my question: on the triangular sections between the top of two walls and the roof I am considering leaving those open and covering securely with hwc/chicken wire for ventilation. However, I am torn between planning for enough ventilation and making it too drafty for my girls (at present 11 three-week-old chicks; I may in the future increase flock to a total of 15 hens). I am also concerned with heat in the winter. At first my coop won't be insulated (2x4 framing with siding); planning on keeping a close eye on temps inside the coop as winter comes on and acting accordingly. No power to the coop, so that rules out space heaters, lightbulbs, etc. It can get down to several degrees below zero F here. Another big concern of mine that especially relates to drafts and heat retention is that we get some wicked winds.

I am planning 3 or 4 roughly 24"x18" windows (the hwc and plexiglass sliders seen on this forum).

Should I come up with a way to cover those triangular sections in cold weather? I am wary of closing the coop up too tightly in an effort to avoid the cold and drafts and then having a problem with not enough ventilation.

FTR, the section on the front of the coop where the lean-to roof is at its highest I also plan on securing with chicken wire, but that is a larger section and I'm already planning on some kind of cover for cold weather, but allowing it to be open during summer.

Ideas, suggestions, guidance?

 

[Davaroo]

Sounds lie youve answered your own questions, for the most part. Common sense prevails.

 

[clarkestep]

I have a similar question. I am making those triangles vents and I'm trying to figure out how to run my roosts; parallel or perpendiculal to the vents. And how much lower than the vents to make them.

Anyone? Thanks!

 

[Chirpy]

You don't want the chickens to be sitting on their roosts and having air blowing on them so put the roosts lower and away from the vents.

I would definitely have the option to cover your vents in the winter, you will almost certainly want to on really cold, windy, stormy days.

 

[Wynette]

I'm not exactly sure on your description (I'm not good at visualizing), but here is a picture of our coop while we were building it. See the short roof section toward the camera, in front of the 2x6? We left that open underneath so air could get in, but rain/snow cannot. In the winter, I take a swimming noodle and stuff it up in there to block about 80% of it. It has worked really well for us. If you make it too airtight, you'll get condensation, and if there's air flow inside the coop, the chickens will get cold. This has been the perfect amount of circulation for us:

 

[clarkestep]

Quote:
Great idea! Then I can close in the triangle sections on the sides. We made half of our floor out of the 1/4 inch hardwire for the poop to fall through under the roosts and the other half in front of the nesting boxes is solid. This should be adequate ventilation I hope.

Thanks!

 

[Wynette]

Sounds like a great plan!! I definitely will make a different coop next time - one that has a poo pit!

 

[smom1976]

Quote:
what a neat coop.. is that storage on the bottom?

 

[Wynette]

Thanks so much, smom! No, the bottom portion is just a covered porch so they can get out of the sun/bad weather if they want to, and if it rains, it doensn't get muddy under there. I also put 2 dog bowls with grit & oyster shell under there so they don't get rained on & get all messy. I don't have any trees in my run, so this gives them a bit of shelter during the day. I also really like the inside design - half of the interior has an "upper level" and when I introduce new chickens, they tend to like to go underneath that the first week or so - they feel protected under there from the big chickens. It's working out really well. Also, that's where my "wanabe broody" pretended she was gonna set eggs for me! THAT did not work out so well!

She wanted to be broody one day, then not the next, then back on the next, back off.....oh well!