How is my ventilation?

[rosemarythyme]

Should I get rid of the small vent covers?

If possible, yes. However keep in mind the directions of your typical rain/wind storms, as you don't want rain blowing into vent openings. So if for example your primary wind direction blows right into the direction of the human access door, removing all those vent covers without adding some sort of buffer or awning over them would lead to rainwater inside the coop.

Some examples of baffles and awnings: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/sufficient-ventilation.1475311/page-2#post-24583587

 

[gtaus]

With more venting, am I correct that you are saying to add more about the front windows and then also directly across from that?

If possible, I would make some vents above the front windows on the high end of the roof, and also some vents on the back wall directly across from them. Cross ventilation works great naturally and does not require a fan.

(Above roost bars?)

Well, I live in northern Minnesota. I don't want any winter drafts (cross ventilation) coming up from underneath my roosting hens. Drafts coming up from underneath your birds have the potential to make your birds lose body heat. Although you live in a much warmer climate, I think the concept of keeping the draft for venting above the roosting chickens is still a good idea.

I'm curious...how big of a vent(s) are we talking for the back wall? Also, is the recommendation to just cut a hole and cover with hc or add an actual louvered vent?

I guess you will have to decide how big your vent(s) will have to be to cool down your coop. I would cover the vent holes with hardware cloth.

Having said all that, if you are happy with primarily using a fan to cool your coop, then
you might not need very big vents for cross ventilation. I just think it's nice to have a backup venting system in case your fan dies or you lose power.

 

[3KillerBs]

You need your airFLOW to look like this:

Vents at the top and bottom of the roof slope -- not measured in square inches but measured in square feet.

Look at my brooder, which it totally draft-free at chicken level but, nonetheless, has 16 square feet of ventilation:

If you bought a fan rated for outdoor use it's OK, but if you are using an ordinary fan you're setting up for a fire.

 

[Ccort]

Thanks guys.

Looks like I'm going to have to postpone my vacation as I'm clearly not close to having an adequate coop.

I've spent an absurd amount of time and money on this at this point, between the coop and run. As a newbie, I was nowhere prepared for the amount of money, tools/materials, and time needed for this whole endeaver.

Back to it.

 

[aart]

There's a thread about modifying this type of coop to have eave venting front and back.

 

[YellowRoseFarm]

This is probably going to be unpopular, and this is my first summer as a chicken keeper I'm by no means an expert. I disagree with the posts that say the fan needs to go. I see you live in Kentucky. I live in Texas and it's 113 degrees (heat index) today with 80% humidity. My poor birds were miserable in their coop despite having excellent cross-ventilation...until I installed the fan.

When it's this humid with no wind, it doesn't matter how many windows you open, the air doesn't move. Misters aren't an option in the run, and any evaporative cooling just perpetuates the moisture problem.

I have a fan that looks almost just like yours. A 10" galvanized exhaust fan. It's mounted in my coop under the covered run, and what we did to help stave off buildup is:
1. selected a low-dust coop bedding - hemp; and
2. reverse-installed the fan.

It's mounted with the intake outside under the run so that it's not pulling air from inside the coop and exhausting it out. It's pulling air from outside, under the run, and pushing it into the coop. This makes for less dander buildup because it's harder for dander to make it past the moving air. It also creates a breeze in the run and keeps air moving in the coop. With the windows open, I've been able to keep the coop around 90 in the day and in 70's - 80's at night.

 

[Ccort]

This is probably going to be unpopular, and this is my first summer as a chicken keeper I'm by no means an expert. I disagree with the posts that say the fan needs to go. I see you live in Kentucky. I live in Texas and it's 113 degrees (heat index) today with 80% humidity. My poor birds were miserable in their coop despite having excellent cross-ventilation...until I installed the fan.

When it's this humid with no wind, it doesn't matter how many windows you open, the air doesn't move. Misters aren't an option in the run, and any evaporative cooling just perpetuates the moisture problem.

I have a fan that looks almost just like yours. A 10" galvanized exhaust fan. It's mounted in my coop under the covered run, and what we did to help stave off buildup is:
1. selected a low-dust coop bedding - hemp; and
2. reverse-installed the fan.

It's mounted with the intake outside under the run so that it's not pulling air from inside the coop and exhausting it out. It's pulling air from outside, under the run, and pushing it into the coop. This makes for less dander buildup because it's harder for dander to make it past the moving air. It also creates a breeze in the run and keeps air moving in the coop. With the windows open, I've been able to keep the coop around 90 in the day and in 70's - 80's at night.

With the fan going, the humidity in the coop was 78 percent last night. Like yours, during the day, it can get to 90 degrees in the coop. When it was 95 outside, it was also 95 inside, without the fan blowing. Have you had time to test the hemp bedding? I had not heard of that as an option before. Are you operating your fan only at night?

For those who mentioned adding ventilation on the overhang in the front...I cannot. I checked it this morning. However. I can add more ventilation directly above the windows and then straight across, above the roosting bars.wouldnt that still create good cross ventilation there?

 

[YellowRoseFarm]

With the fan going, the humidity in the coop was 78 percent last night. Like yours, during the day, it can get to 90 degrees in the coop. When it was 95 outside, it was also 95 inside, without the fan blowing. Have you had time to test the hemp bedding? I had not heard of that as an option before. Are you operating your fan only at night?

For those who mentioned adding ventilation on the overhang in the front...I cannot. I checked it this morning. However. I can add more ventilation directly above the windows and then straight across, above the roosting bars.wouldnt that still create good cross ventilation there?

I have the same problem. My roofline and materials won't permit me to make any alterations without a significant investment.

I plan to add some round vents directly across from the fan, but that's going to be either when we get a freak cool front or fall hits. For now, my fan is rated for outdoor, commercial use. I plan to clean it regularly, but it's running all day. I tried only running it at night, but it also moves the air in my run during the day.

I agree with the other suggestions that you're better off removing the louvered vents and just having a hardware cloth opening to allow for more airflow. Right now, I have 24x12 windows that are hardware cloth, one on each wall on either side of the fan. I have windows on a hinge with acrylic for when winter comes.

My biggest challenge was finding a good ventilation solution without creating additional exposure for my birds. We get some gnarly thunderstorms, and the last one shot rain sideways at 65 MPH straight through an open window.

I've only been using the hemp for about 3 weeks. So far, so good. I had read a lot of reviews before putting it in there. I also have the natural bedding made from spent coffee grounds that I've seen people have some success with but it's a lot finer than anything else I've used and I'm just not quite sure about it...

 

[Ccort]

Ok....I just took all the louvered vent covers off except for the small one by my camera/electrical and the small one by the fan. I plan to add more circular ventilation or a rectangular Vinton the back wall which should end up being about 10 inches long by 3 inches wide. Do I need to add vents directly above the windows too or one on each side of the windows?

 

[Ccort]

Just to add to that while the pics upload...most ventilation is on the sides and front right now.
It is currently only 82 degrees outside with the "feels like" temp being 88. Inside the coop without the fan, its 86 degrees, 70 percent humidity.