I have seen people replace the vent covers with HWC to increase ventilation, which I will do if I find it's not enough.
All manufacturers exagerate the population numbers. It's been proven over and over again by people here who actually keep chickens.
Ticks they may help with, but I would definitely not try to manage ants primarily with chickens! Depending on the level of ant activity you have, either their populations will be unphased by chicken nibbling (chickens usually don't and really shouldn't eat many ants per unit time due to the formic acid content, which is a bad digestive irritant in any significant quantity) or the chickens will actually be at risk from the ants if they cause a large colony to go into offesnive mode. Large colonies of even not-so-big ants can overwhelm smaller vertebrates when they can't escape, and the will go for the corners of the mouth, the nares, and especially the eyes on birds. If the chickens are confined in a tractor rather than free-ranging, they can't necessarily get away from a large angry ant colony if things go sour. I had terrible ant problems in my front yard when I first moved to my house and used those green liquid borax stake things to knock the ant activity back; my chickens have also generally avoided ant areas when I've let them out.
Yikes! I'll keep an eye out if I see aggressive ant behavior. I've been using borax baits too and have found it difficult to keep up with the ants. Chickens were just going to be part of a general IPM. I know I shouldn't expect them to solve all my pest problems. I mostly want hens as enrichment for my kids. They seem fun to have and any other benefit they could provide would be a bonus.
They really are a lot of fun to have.
This is an older post but curious what you ended up doing. I absolutely think the cube is like the flow hive (I have both and love both). Not sure why it is so controversial. It is an investment that has been totally worth it to me. If you have a good covered run then it can certainly fit 4 hens (we have 3 and they are happy and at night there is room for another. I think the ventilation is fine. Mine have never had issues 4 years in. You keep it clean by scooping poop like a cat litter box so there is not the ammonia buildup as in other setups which requires more ventilation. Also after 4 years it is still like brand new). The only modification I made was adding mosquito screening to the vents. Ours is just pressed against an opening on a homemade run and with an auto door on the coop so I’m not worried about predators or attaching it more firmly. I would say you definitely need a covered run though. I think most size concern with the cube assumes it is the only place for them to go in the rain or bad weather. You might want more of a wind break on the run in cold climates as well. Tarps or boards could do the trick though. My set up also includes an auto door to a chicken tunnel that leads to an enclosed sand box and then to a garden enclosure where chickens can access half and the other half is for garden vegetables- the enclosure keeps the squirrels and opossums out - then I rotate which side the chickens can access. They spend 80% of the time in the tunnel and garden enclosure. We started out with just the setup you can see here and have added a bit each year more out of fun than necessity.
