How is it possible not to have drafts in a low coop?

[kittyacid]

My coop is 4'x7' but the walls are only 22" tall, and slightly taller at the peak. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to have good ventilation without getting a draft. The problem as I see it is that the vents are not positioned above the height of the chickens so a draft is inevitable. I could leave one end of the coop open and they could stay in the other end, but would this be enough to elimate drafts. Fortunately I only have five chickens and the winters here are too bad. Which brings me to another question, at what temperature does a "breeze" become a "draft"? My chicks are all cold hardy.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

one vent at the top (peak) an one at the bottom on the same wall.

 

[patandchickens]

With great difficulty. That's one of the big reasons why a small-air-volume coop is really not such a good arrangement for wintering chickens over in a "serious winter" climate.

What kind of winter do you get? If it is only down to like the teens F you should be fine with just having a vent (high on the wall) open at only one end of the coop on the windier and colder pells (more ventilation on warmer days). If it gets somewhat colder than that, you can construct a baffle or hood to prevent wind from blowing straight in the vent at the chickens, so the air enters/exits in a more leisurely fashion.

Unless you live somewhere where cold means 35 F, DO NOT (sorry to previous poster) have a vent open low down near the floor. That is exactly how you get a draft at the chickens and chill them. And you do not need it -- air will enter/leave a single opening, or multiple openings all at the tops of the walls, just fine. Honest.

Good luck, have fun, you might take a look at my ventilation page if you haven't already,

Pat

 

[kittyacid]

Thanks and I have read your ventilation page several times!! It is an excellent resource, I was just have trouble with the coop height and vent placement. I guess they will be fine then, 20F - 30F is the average low during the winter and very occasionally it will dip into the teens. It certaintly is true that once you get your first coop, you start planning your second one, to fix all the things you didn't think about!

 

[Chicken Fruit]

Drafts and ventilation are not the same thing. Drafts would be holes or cracks where air moves through the roosting or nesting space, making it hard for the chickens to keep from getting chilly. ventilation moves the air through a different space, often up high at the ridge, or at the top of the wall some where.

its not ever going to be sealed tight like a house. Chickens live in barns! Just think of what your mother would say about that! hehe. Air movement happens, drafts are different.