How many windows in a coop?

[Ray987]

Hello

I'm planning to build a large coop for my quails and chickens (25 square meter | 270 square ft) 8ft height rectangle shaped
Gonna build a wall to divide that space half for quails and half for the chickens so roughly 12.5 square meters each, coop gonna be built using concrete blocks and a concrete roof as well, it's gonna have 2 separate doors, my question is how many windows should I be looking to add to each room to get good ventilation? And what sizes?

Weather is like:
Summer (37-47c day / 20-25c night) Winter (20-25c day / 8-10c night)
High speed wind during winter and lots of rain

Gonna be using a top henge windows but wondering should I open the windows during windy winter days for some ventilation or would the wind kill the chickens and quails?

 

[rosemarythyme]

I can't speak for quail so this is strictly for chickens.
Your temperatures veer towards hot, even winter is really quite hot. So you will need more than the 1 sq ft (0.09 sq meter) per bird you often see mentioned for ventilation, more like 2-3 sq ft (0.19-0.28 sq meter) per bird.

You're likely going to need more than just windows for ventilation, since you may need to close them to protect against strong winds. Look into opening up soffits, gables, ridge vents, etc. You may even need some fans for summer heat.

 

[Ray987]

I can't speak for quail so this is strictly for chickens.
Your temperatures veer towards hot, even winter is really quite hot. So you will need more than the 1 sq ft (0.09 sq meter) per bird you often see mentioned for ventilation, more like 2-3 sq ft (0.19-0.28 sq meter) per bird.

You're likely going to need more than just windows for ventilation, since you may need to close them to protect against strong winds. Look into opening up soffits, gables, ridge vents, etc. You may even need some fans for summer heat.

The coop is pretty much a place to sleep or take shelter from rain otherwise they'll spend their whole time outside in the run, however my question is how do I know that my chickens are getting enough ventilation during the night please?

 

[rosemarythyme]

The coop is pretty much a place to sleep or take shelter from rain otherwise they'll spend their whole time outside in the run, however my question is how do I know that my chickens are getting enough ventilation during the night please?

The above numbers account for day and night. The coop will heat up in the day so ideally you want enough heat to escape so the temperature is not higher than outside temps. As they should be spending their entire night in the coop, you need the ventilation to let out both excess heat and moisture at night.

 

[FunnyBunny89]

Hello

I'm planning to build a large coop for my quails and chickens (25 square meter | 270 square ft) 8ft height rectangle shaped
Gonna build a wall to divide that space half for quails and half for the chickens so roughly 12.5 square meters each, coop gonna be built using concrete blocks and a concrete roof as well, it's gonna have 2 separate doors, my question is how many windows should I be looking to add to each room to get good ventilation? And what sizes?

Weather is like:
Summer (37-47c day / 20-25c night) Winter (20-25c day / 8-10c night)
High speed wind during winter and lots of rain

Gonna be using a top henge windows but wondering should I open the windows during windy winter days for some ventilation or would the wind kill the chickens and quails?

I'd suggest, with your temps, to just make the whole top open right underneath the roof line. Make a gap of like, 3-4 inches and secure it with 16 gauge wire mesh. I don't think winds will bother your chickens if the vents are above them. Use as many windows as it takes to see clearly in the coop at dusk and call it a day.
I have an 8x9 foot coop with a slanted roof that is about 10-11 feet at the peak. The roof has a gap of 1.5" on two sides and a gap of 3" on the bottom and the top. I added vents to the tops of the walls because our summers get up to 110 F and our winters down to below freezing. You just want to make sure the gases and moisture can escape during the winter when the windows are closed, and the air can cool relatively quickly at night during the summer. Though, your temps seem pretty easy to work with so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[FunnyBunny89]

Oh referring back to the wind and rain; you could have the walls come up higher to the roof on the sides where the winter winds hit the most. I put a special vent on the heavy weather side of my coop that would keep the rain at bay.

 

[FunnyBunny89]

The coop is pretty much a place to sleep or take shelter from rain otherwise they'll spend their whole time outside in the run, however my question is how do I know that my chickens are getting enough ventilation during the night please?

I have read that you can look for signs of condensation. If condensation is accumulating inside the coop, you need more air flow.

 

[FunnyBunny89]

You can see in this picture the side gap I described. Just enough to let air out at the top. Plus the vents and the window which I keep open during the summer.

 

[Ray987]

You can see in this picture the side gap I described. Just enough to let air out at the top. Plus the vents and the window which I keep open during the summer.

Thank you very much

 

[BigBlueHen53]

OP has quails, not chickens. Don't know if that makes a difference?