Humidity in coop

[Kayla's Lunch]

This is my first winter with chickens. I want to put a humidity gauge in the coop. Where is the best place to put it and what is the acceptable humidity range that I should be aiming for? Thanks so much!

 

[cavemanrich]

What you do need to research is VENTILATION... If you have good venting,,,, humidity inside coop should be same as outside coop.
I don't think a gauge is needed for that.
If you smell ammonia inside coop, or if there is a buildup of frost, that would indicate insufficient ventilation.
If you decide to use a gauge, then get 2 and place one inside, and one outside in a sheltered spot. If both readings are close, then your ventilation is sufficient. I say close,,,,, since you are using consumer grade instruments, rather than Laboratory Grade type.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[RoosterML]

What you do need to research is VENTILATION... If you have good venting,,,, humidity inside coop should be same as outside coop.
I don't think a gauge is needed for that.
If you smell ammonia inside coop, or if there is a buildup of frost, that would indicate insufficient ventilation.
If you decide to use a gauge, then get 2 and place one inside, and one outside in a sheltered spot. If both readings are close, then your ventilation is sufficient. I say close,,,,, since you are using consumer grade instruments, rather than Laboratory Grade type.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

What he said ^^^^ . Only part I differ on is for under $10 I think a gauge is a must personally. The guage takes the guess work out of it. Within 5-10% of outdoor conditions your good to go. I also like to have the gauge on the inside of the coop placed at the same height as the roost.

 

[jreardon1918]

I have an acurite indoor outdoor where station. The outdoor one is hung at roost height in the coop. It is about 120' from the base station. Battery is about 2 years old. This morning reading.

 

[RoosterML]

I have an acurite indoor outdoor where station. The outdoor one is hung at roost height in the coop. It is about 120' from the base station. Battery is about 2 years old. This morning reading.

What did they wack you for that?

 

[jreardon1918]

About $40. They have ones with multiple sensors. That would help determine that inside the coop was about the same humidity as outside. But, as long as you have good ventilation not sure it is needed. Today's outside humidity was a few percent higher than in the coop. That was likely due to incoming snow.

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

Warning, this is long! Thanks for the replies. Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this thread. The holidays took over. I have learned a lot in this group and thought we had things under control, but unfortunately, my 11 chickens don't read the info in this group! My coop/run is up against my house, at a kitchen window. The entire footprint is 12' x 12'. The coop is 2 feet off the ground and is 4' x 12'. The height of the coop is 8' (11 ft from the ground) where it is up against the house and slants down to 5' at the other end. When we originally made it, there was one long roost that was about 2' off the ground. But there was a rafter that went through the run and coop. The chickens started sleeping up there when they got big enough to fly up there. It was only 4' of roost space, so we put in 2 other roost bars up there. We had originally thought that we could have tons of ventilation up there, but now that is where the chickens sleep. All but one, a Delaware named Mae. She is a little too clumsy to get up there. So, we put in other roosts. But, she still can't get up to the top. Also, we have a roost right near the kitchen window so that we can just open the window and hand feed them. We had it open/ventilated in that area because we couldn't put the ventilation up high like originally planned. They didn't use to sleep at the window, now there is always Mae sleeping there along with 2 or 3 others that sleep with her. We noticed what looks like frostbite on a couple of the chickens. So, we need some ventilation advice. Thanks!

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

Here is a photo of the coop when we were building in it. The triangle spaces above the wood is hardware cloth for both the outside of the coop and the part of the coop that is in the run. We have put wood over it on the outer part, and in the run we used the clear corrugated vinyl roofing. We can adjust it any which way to get the ventilation that we need. Also, should/could we leave the pop door open for ventilation? Thanks!

 

[RoosterML]

A couple idea for you:
1) take your 2x4 roost and lay them down so that the birds rest on the wide part
2) remove high roost , I think you may be asking for injured birds. Place roost left to right like you have them just lower them to where I show the blue line.
3) I have yellow stars where vents should be. You can start with maybe 12"x12" or 16"x16" on each side. You can always go bigger if needed but is a pain to make smaller.
By lowering the roost you are reducing the chance of birds getting injured along with taking them out of the draft area up high once you add your vents. If you have a monitor for humidity keep an eye on it and adjust openings as needed.Readings within
5-10% of outside is usually good, the closer to outside the better

 

[aart]

Even with adequate ventilation, you can get frostbite.
Measure humidity inside coop and outside coop, should be nearly the same.