Humidity in winter, is there a % you'd like to keep the coop under?

[JackE]

Quote:
I said I GO for zero, Didn't say I achieve it. What I'm saying is, that whatever the relative humidity is outside the coop, I want it the same inside the coop. Not being stingy with the ventilation, and not overcrowding the coop, That's what I should get.
Jack

 

[teach1rusl]

I'm happy if I can maintain under 60% humidity... Of course there are those days when that's just impossible

 

[wyododge]

You wil never get the humidity below the relative humidity that is ventilating it with. Unless you are running an air dryer. Keep your coop as open as possible, do your best to block the wind, but other than than it really is not cold enough in the US to worry about heat. I would say if the humidity is above 10% of the outdoor relative humidity, you do not have enough fresh air. Fresh air is 1000% more important than than heat. You can raise chickens where I live in a wire coop with a wall to block the wind (blowing snow) and they are fine. -38 last winter, my neighbor did not loose a single bird.

They are designed to live in trees and adjust their amount of down feathers to the level they need to keep warm.

 

[kelser01]

Thanks for all the replies! Our humidity is high this morning outside was 71% and 73% in the coop

 

[scottvan]

I just built my first coop and I have a humidity sensor in it. The coop is 4' x 5'. The outside temperature is in the 30s and 40s at night and the humidity is 90%. Inside the coop it's 100%. It has a ridge vent and two gable vents. I have a 100-200 watt heater which I turned on last night for the first time to test it. I also have several charcoal bags hanging in the coop to absorb humidity. I have painted the interior with latex and use kiln-dried pine shavings for the floor. I know that I'm probably not going to get the humidity below the outside humidity, but I don't know what else to do at this point to get the humidity down from 100%. I'm in Seattle.

 

[jreardon1918]

I hope to keep the coop temp and humidity close to out doors. My local weather is currently 39F & 59%. Inside the coop 49F & 65%. Just got cloudy the temp is dropping. I suspect the temp in the coop will drop soon.

 

[RoosterML]

You wil never get the humidity below the relative humidity that is ventilating it with. Unless you are running an air dryer. Keep your coop as open as possible, do your best to block the wind, but other than than it really is not cold enough in the US to worry about heat. I would say if the humidity is above 10% of the outdoor relative humidity, you do not have enough fresh air. Fresh air is 1000% more important than than heat. You can raise chickens where I live in a wire coop with a wall to block the wind (blowing snow) and they are fine. -38 last winter, my neighbor did not loose a single bird.

They are designed to live in trees and adjust their amount of down feathers to the level they need to keep warm.

You can't ask for a better answer to your humidity question than this. It covers just about all you need to know. Only thing I would say different is you want just enough ventilation without creating a draft on the birds in the winter to keep humidity within 5-10% of outside.

 

[aart]

I just built my first coop and I have a humidity sensor in it. The coop is 4' x 5'. The outside temperature is in the 30s and 40s at night and the humidity is 90%. Inside the coop it's 100%. It has a ridge vent and two gable vents. I have a 100-200 watt heater which I turned on last night for the first time to test it. I also have several charcoal bags hanging in the coop to absorb humidity. I have painted the interior with latex and use kiln-dried pine shavings for the floor. I know that I'm probably not going to get the humidity below the outside humidity, but I don't know what else to do at this point to get the humidity down from 100%. I'm in Seattle.

I'd lose the heater, I think warm air holds more moisture, and the charcoal. You'll never suck up all that moisture. Make more ventilation.
Start a new thread here titled help with increasing ventilation,
with pics of your coop inside and out.

This makes sense to me:

In a non heated chicken house the humidity shall not be more then 10% higher than the outdoor humidity. In other words, if the outdoor humidity is 60 its OK with up to 70% humidity in the chicken house.

 

[RoosterML]

I just built my first coop and I have a humidity sensor in it. The coop is 4' x 5'. The outside temperature is in the 30s and 40s at night and the humidity is 90%. Inside the coop it's 100%. It has a ridge vent and two gable vents. I have a 100-200 watt heater which I turned on last night for the first time to test it. I also have several charcoal bags hanging in the coop to absorb humidity. I have painted the interior with latex and use kiln-dried pine shavings for the floor. I know that I'm probably not going to get the humidity below the outside humidity, but I don't know what else to do at this point to get the humidity down from 100%. I'm in Seattle.

Ever think about switching to ducks? Sounds perfect for them

 

[Compost King]

You may be in a situation where humidity is going to win out... fresh humid air is better than stuffy coop air. I wouldn't worry so much about the number assigned to the humidity level as I would be about how fresh the air is inside the coop.