High humidity in coop

[RichwoodsChickenKing]

I have an 8'x8' Shed turned coop. Seems to be ice on walls and a little on the roof. How could i vent to reduce humidity yet keep in the heat from lamps?
TTTTThhhhhhhaaaaannnnnkkkkkksssssss

 

[pkeeler]

Make/open windows. Put roof vents in. For windows, simply cut rectangles between studs and then nail hardware cloth over it.

 

[RichwoodsChickenKing]

then all the heat is gone?

 

[Chicken of the Sea]

You dont need heat, you need good ventilation. Its 10 here right now and the girls are fine without heat.

 

[lalaland]

up high, cut some holes in the wall - you can do this by hand, or you can use a drill hole cutter, like for a door knob hole. Do put the hardware cloth over the hole. You can always put a little piece of wood over the holes so you can regulate the ventilation - doesn't take a lot of holes you don't have to make them huge!

 

[LynneP]

You can have the best of both worlds by venting high and maintaining air flow. You're not attempting to create a draft, the air should sift out, and if you choose to install vents that can be controlled, so much the better- there can be blizzard days when you need to shut things down. The problem with the condensation is enhanced disease transmission and especially molds. You can also treat the bedding with stall products like Stable Boy, Stall Dri and other suitable livestock powders, but the key in a coop is getting things dry and keeping them that way. You may need a clean-down and I'm not sure if that's practical in this weather (where are you?), so you might have to treat the base bedding and add new on top. Also pay strict attention to getting night droppings out of the coop, they're the wettest, and to obtaining and dumping any noticeable wet droppings whenever you're in there. If you heat the water, you may be able to install a vent in a reasonable location far above the source because of evaporation/condensation. Some people find it necessary to insulate and sheathe metal roofs and walls, but the time of year is against us in the northern hemisphere!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7693-Coop_Hygiene

You might find some things here helpful, it really depends on your set-up and how you wish to handle your coop.

 

[bills]

Like other have mentioned, ventilation is most important. The birds themselves create humidity from their breath, in addition to any other moisture source in the coop. You want the air in the coop recycled with fresh air constantly.

Other suggestions.

Fix any leaks in the coop where rain or melting snow may enter.

Keep a vented air space under the coop, so moisture from the ground doesn't wick up into the coop floor. A heated coop can add to this problem in seriously wet climates.

Do a complete clean out of all the old floor litter, which may hold moisture, from droppings, spilled water etc. A deep, fresh layer of shavings may help.

Does your waterer have a catch basin under it, to prevent overflow, or spills from mixing with the litter?

A dropping board under the roost, makes for easy clean up of night droppings, which should be done daily.

If the coop is actually heated to much, it can cause evaporation of water from damp litter, and the waterer, which will condense on the walls and roof. Unless you have chicks, a mature chicken shouldn't need heat, unless it's extremely cold. You should have a method of keeping the water from freezing though.

Sometimes the air humidity is extremely high, just from several days of wet weather. Hard to counteract this problem. Air flow is about the only way to prevent this, so again it falls back to good ventilation.

Good luck!

 

[gsim]

Everyone had good info. The ventilation that is permanent is always best if up high at or above tops of walls. Soffit and gable end vents are great as well as a turbine vent or ventilated cupola. Those are all permanent ventilation. Tempy /seasonal would be windows and pop doors. Important not to have drafts at roost height in cold weather but to have it there always in warm weather. More chooks die from heat and from lung disorders than from cold. Humidity can also promote frostbite. A little frost inside would not be a concern to me as long as it was a very tiny amount.

I have 24 chooks in an 8 x16 coop and I can shut all 4 windows tight and pop-doors too overnight and still have no sweating or frost at all on my windows or rafters. I have 1 sq ft permanent ventilation for each 4 chickens, with a total of 6 sq ft permanent ventilation . I do have one turbine vent in center of roof that I have not yet blocked. It was 8 above zero this AM and has been around 12 above for almost a week every AM. I am getting 20-22 eggs daily from my 24 pullets with no artificial light. So the cold has not hurt their egg production.

I do not water inside of coop. Humidity is the reason. I do scrape poop planks daily

in AM also to remove both ammonia gas and humidity. My coop is very dusty and very dry and very cold, but has no drafts anywhere below 8 ft level.