How is my ventilation?

[YellowRoseFarm]

Well, I have spent hours today removing vents and replacing with hc. I also now have three more holes cut in the front, at the top and a large window with hc on the back wall, in the middle. Yet, despite all my efforts, the coop currently rests at 94 degrees. Ironically, I think taking the louvered vents OFF allows the sun to shine in instead, heating it even more.

Well, that sucks. And if you put some solar screen fabric over that, the air wouldn't flow. That is the one thing about where I was able to place my coop that has helped quite a bit. It gets direct sun for a couple of hours in the morning and it's mostly in the shade the rest of the day.

I have seen people use a popup gazebo to create shade. Or those triangle shade covers.

 

[springvalley123]

Well, that sucks. And if you put some solar screen fabric over that, the air wouldn't flow. That is the one thing about where I was able to place my coop that has helped quite a bit. It gets direct sun for a couple of hours in the morning and it's mostly in the shade the rest of the day.

I have seen people use a popup gazebo to create shade. Or those triangle shade covers.

maybe like an awning?

 

[3KillerBs]

Well, I have spent hours today removing vents and replacing with hc. I also now have three more holes cut in the front, at the top and a large window with hc on the back wall, in the middle. Yet, despite all my efforts, the coop currently rests at 94 degrees. Ironically, I think taking the louvered vents OFF allows the sun to shine in instead, heating it even more.

Can you provide any form of shade for the vents?

Awnings, maybe?

 

[3KillerBs]

I have seen people use a popup gazebo to create shade.

Yep, I had a cheap picnic pavilion over my little coop.

 

[linguini]

Just wondering if you can add a shade cloth above the coop? We did that a few days ago, and it seems to help a bit. Shade cloths are cheap.

Also, in late spring, I open the big door (the door is for cleaning purpose, not for chickens to enter) of our coop entirely and cover the entire side with hardware cloth with wooden frame as a make shift screen door, and secured with metal bars to lock the "screen door" in place. I then lean several plywood panels against the top edge of the screen door to keep the sun from coming in, but still leave a wide gap between the plywood and screen for airflow, it also gives the chickens some privacy when they are roosting. So our coop in the summer is essentially two sides with HC screen, one side with a small entrance.

 

[abenardini]

Sorry, no. X2 on losing the fan, and you'll need more passive venting in the winter.
Can you vent.
Can you add vents under the overhang above the nesting boxes?
View attachment 3140448

I have an extra large Overez and I don't think it's possible to put ventilation here. I haven't moved my chicks into my Overez yet either and had also planned to put in forced air (I live in FL where it's extremely hot in the summer, over 100F with 100% humidity at times).

I've used fans in the past and never had an issue if they're rated for sheds/coops. this is the one I purchased for mine that I haven't installed yet.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089CZG8PG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

There are also 30 others that left feedback that bought it for the very same application.

 

[abenardini]

I'm a big fan of fans.

The fan we use for ventilation is made for the choking dust created by the chickens, I think I linked in another one of your threads, but I will link it here again. Every attic fan I looked at actually specifically had a "not for use in chicken coops" warning.

https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=D74B298D-3C6F-4287-9F9F-4EA09B8D0A73

Be aware that there are other versions of this on Amazon that do NOT have a plug.

These fans can double as a window for passive air - simply by propping the shutters open with a short chunk of 2x4- and will still be predator proof. And when the shutters are shut, it's about like a closed window- mine is on the side of the coop that takes the prevailing winds in fall/winter- and has held up just fine.

Ventilation fans like this will let the air in the coop equalize with the outside temperature quickly. But on nights that just don't cool down, merely having the temperature the same inside and out isn't enough.

Mine love being in front of the fans in the coop - I have 2 24" fans up high (though it's a bigger coop with multilevel roosts- 130+ birds) that are 5000cfm - and a barrel fan for down low. Those help during the day when the chickens are laying, and at night the fans blowing on them helps quite a bit- they will actively jockey for position to get close to the fans.

Although now when it's just not going to cool down overnight, I close the windows, turn off the fans and wheel out the air conditioner, vented out through a window.

Keep in mind anything not meant for livestock use will absolutely have a shortened lifespan in a chicken coop and can indeed become a fire hazard. I have to replace those other fans regularly. The one meant for livestock soldiers on.

After the heat events we've had these last few years, I just don't travel in the warmer months - from May to the end of October, even with an excellent farm sitter checking in a couple times a day. But that's just me.

This is the same style of fan I bought for my OverEZ to install above the birds heads when perched. The climate here in N Florida in the summer is brutal with very high heat and very high humidity, and rain that requires you to have a four sided structure to prevent rain/elements when it rains (and often). It's crazy to have chickens in FL, yes I know.

 

[gtaus]

J&D's rugged VC012 thermostat is perfect for applications that require a simple control. It may be wired for heating or cooling to control your exhaust fan, circulation fan, power shutter, heater, or heat lamp. For plug-and-go operation, the VC012-C is pre-wired with a 120 Volt, 8' piggyback cord. Simply plug the thermostat into a grounded outlet, then plug your exhaust fan, circulation fan, or power shutter into the back of the thermostat plug for instant operation. No electrician required!

Make sure any thermostat you get has an easy way to clean it out. I know my house thermostats can get clogged up with house dust and malfunction. All the more I would be concerned about using any thermostat with chicken dander in the air.

All these years I'd never even thought about a thermostat. Now I'm going to have to try it. Darn you and your fancy ideas!

The older I get, the more I try to make things more simple. When I built my coop, I joined BYC forums and read, and read, and asked questions for almost a year before I built my coop. I learned a lot from the community and there is very little I would change in my build if I rebuilt it today. So that was a success, But I live in the great north where our temps get to -45F in mid-winter. My concerns were always on how cold the coop would get, never on how hot it might get like this thread's concern. Anyway, the only electrical use I need in my coop is the water heater to prevent the water from freezing in the winter. Other than that, I don't have anything relying on electricity.

I would suggest that if anyone is depending on a thermostat to turn on/off a fan based on a setting, that they also invest in a separate alarm system for overheat situations. Nobody wants to hear that you lost all your chickens because the fan failed to turn on and the birds got cooked in the coop. That would be too much heartbreak for me. But I always design my systems to have a backup in case of primary system failure. If the fan fails to cool down the coop and the alarm sounds, then I would be the person going out late at night to open up all the doors and windows trying to save the birds.

 

[Ccort]

Well, that sucks. And if you put some solar screen fabric over that, the air wouldn't flow. That is the one thing about where I was able to place my coop that has helped quite a bit. It gets direct sun for a couple of hours in the morning and it's mostly in the shade the rest of the day.

I have seen people use a popup gazebo to create shade. Or those triangle shade covers.

I dont have room on that side for a canopy type thing. Not at all. And my house is right behind it.

 

[springvalley123]

Make sure any thermostat you get has an easy way to clean it out. I know my house thermostats can get clogged up with house dust and malfunction. All the more I would be concerned about using any thermostat with chicken dander in the air.



The older I get, the more I try to make things more simple. When I built my coop, I joined BYC forums and read, and read, and asked questions for almost a year before I built my coop. I learned a lot from the community and there is very little I would change in my build if I rebuilt it today. So that was a success, But I live in the great north where our temps get to -45F in mid-winter. My concerns were always on how cold the coop would get, never on how hot it might get like this thread's concern. Anyway, the only electrical use I need in my coop is the water heater to prevent the water from freezing in the winter. Other than that, I don't have anything relying on electricity.

I would suggest that if anyone is depending on a thermostat to turn on/off a fan based on a setting, that they also invest in a separate alarm system for overheat situations. Nobody wants to hear that you lost all your chickens because the fan failed to turn on and the birds got cooked in the coop. That would be too much heartbreak for me. But I always design my systems to have a backup in case of primary system failure. If the fan fails to cool down the coop and the alarm sounds, then I would be the person going out late at night to open up all the doors and windows trying to save the birds.

Instead of a thermostat, how about plugging the fan into a timer? granted a person would have to adjust the timer so the fan would turn on at appropriate times. I did that successfully with a swamp cooler I had when I lived in a warmer environment.