Is this enough venting?

[TJE]

an 8' x 8' coop (64 sq. ft. floor space) should have around of 8 to 12 sq. ft. of vent, more is better if you have a dozen or more chickens in there. You can make the extra venting closeable if you have windy conditions in the winter.

Great advice! I think I have about 10-11 Sq ft of venting, I will add more, thank you!

 

[TJE]

BWAHAHAHA!!! Were you stealing my thoughts? You designed and are building a coop that almost seems identical to mine! (Although mine is half the width at 4 x 8.) I don't have a good picture of it because it's obscured by the run I built around it - you can see that in the "My Coop" link under my avatar... But here's a picture of the front of the coop...
View attachment 1177599

To answer your question I'd add a cool air inlet on the bottom of the coop somewhere with 1/4" hardware cloth to keep out mice and snakes. Since you don't want drafts you can either add baffles inside or a windbreak outside. Or you could have multiple inlets that can be open/closed from the outside... as winds shift with changes in weather at our place I close the vents on the windward side and open the vents on the leeward vent. In my picture above the inlets are the lower openings with the trim around them. That's actually a storage cabinet below the nestboxes (whose doors can be seen above the vents). The cabinet acts as a baffle system before it empties into the coop.

Your coop is looking great! You can't see all the vents in my pictures, but I am below the usual recommended 1 sq ft per bird. We have a lot of wind and I monitor the coop conditions closely. Even though it's below the recommended amount of ventilation, it has been working perfectly well.

Good work and good luck!

Oh my gosh, they are twins! I hope mine looks as good as yours when we finish. After reading I think I will add some at bottom. We have A LOT of snow and wind So I need to figure out a system for lower vents. We have so much snow at times so I wanted a dirt floor for when they have to stay indoors which I made predator proof with hardware cloth. I will have to figure out how to prevent snow from covering lower vents, maybe just shoveling. We had several feet for 3 months straight last year. Our winds get pretty violent too so I will be adding hinged doors to close up the top vents. I screwed all my panels because I knew I would be making adjustments. Thank you so much!!

 

[TJE]

Looks plenty good! One piece of constructive criticism. The small gaps under your 2x4s you need to seal those or you'll have snakes. Other than that it's jam up.

Yes, thank you!! We still have areas on backside too that need buttoning up too.

 

[TJE]

Louvered vents are good to allow air exchange but block breezes and weather. I'd hinge those front windows from the top so you can open them for more ventilation. I'm of the opinion that when it comes to vents, more is better. You can always block a vent or two if needed. I think general recommendation is 1 s.f. vent/bird, or 10% of floor area. I also like to see multi level. I have a floor level louvered vent, soffit vents, 3 windows hinged at top, and 2 eave vents. Also have pop door, human door, clean out door, and an other door that opens to broody pen.

Louvered vents sound like a good choice to add to the bottom, didn't think of that, thank you!

 

[Oolala]

Why is venting so important? i have gaps at the top of the door and I am sure there must be gaps letting air in numerous places, plus where their little door at ground level is left open for them to come and go in the morning. Their run is wired top to bottom, completely enclosed so I hope nothing can get in. I had a corrugted roof in their coop but noticed it was dripping condensation in the mornings so have now insulated and boarded it up and the coop feels very dry in the mornings. I am living in France and the night time temperatures are now around 5 degrees C at night. The coop door and window face north and we get some strong winds during the winter so I have insulated the door and covered the mesh window with plastic for the winter ??? Benind their coop we have attached another shed to house our mower, garden equipment etc so no draughts or bad weather can come from that direction, the side of the coop is also protected from bad weather, so now I am wondering if I dont have enough ventilation for them. i have three chickens and the coop is approx 2mtrs x 1mtr x 2mtrs high

 

[aart]

Bigger roof overhangs to protect vents on sides.......on back too, with another vent.
Adding your location to your profile would help,
it's easy to do - and then it's always there!

 

[TJE]

Why is venting so important? i have gaps at the top of the door and I am sure there must be gaps letting air in numerous places, plus where their little door at ground level is left open for them to come and go in the morning. Their run is wired top to bottom, completely enclosed so I hope nothing can get in. I had a corrugted roof in their coop but noticed it was dripping condensation in the mornings so have now insulated and boarded it up and the coop feels very dry in the mornings. I am living in France and the night time temperatures are now around 5 degrees C at night. The coop door and window face north and we get some strong winds during the winter so I have insulated the door and covered the mesh window with plastic for the winter ??? Benind their coop we have attached another shed to house our mower, garden equipment etc so no draughts or bad weather can come from that direction, the side of the coop is also protected from bad weather, so now I am wondering if I dont have enough ventilation for them. i have three chickens and the coop is approx 2mtrs x 1mtr x 2mtrs high

First of all, LUCKY!! You are living in France?! I've always wanted to see France. I just read this article and after everyone's inputs I'm definitely adding more vents. Basically you want venting to remove ammonia smells and to keep the environment drier to prevent illness, frostbite, etc. We have extreme winters and summers here. My panels are screwed in so I am rethinking about making some of them with hinges with a hardware cloth screen behind so I can open more when needed.

Do French chicken eggs taste better than American chicken eggs ?

 

[TJE]

First of all, LUCKY!! You are living in France?! I've always wanted to see France. I just read this article and after everyone's inputs I'm definitely adding more vents. Basically you want venting to remove ammonia smells and to keep the environment drier to prevent illness, frostbite, etc. We have extreme winters and summers here. My panels are screwed in so I am rethinking about making some of them with hinges with a hardware cloth screen behind so I can open more when needed.

Do French chicken eggs taste better than American chicken eggs ?

Oops forgot the article:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop.47774/

 

[Oolala]

First of all, LUCKY!! You are living in France?! I've always wanted to see France. I just read this article and after everyone's inputs I'm definitely adding more vents. Basically you want venting to remove ammonia smells and to keep the environment drier to prevent illness, frostbite, etc. We have extreme winters and summers here. My panels are screwed in so I am rethinking about making some of them with hinges with a hardware cloth screen behind so I can open more when needed.

Do French chicken eggs taste better than American chicken eggs ?

First of all, LUCKY!! You are living in France?! I've always wanted to see France. I just read this article and after everyone's inputs I'm definitely adding more vents. Basically you want venting to remove ammonia smells and to keep the environment drier to prevent illness, frostbite, etc. We have extreme winters and summers here. My panels are screwed in so I am rethinking about making some of them with hinges with a hardware cloth screen behind so I can open more when needed.

Do French chicken eggs taste better than American chicken eggs ?

I didnt realise chicken poo smelt of amonia!! To be honest I have a terrible sense of smell so even if I didnt clean the coop for a week I wouldnt smell anything, but I clean it out every morning anyway as they sleep in the staw as they wont go on the roost. We too can have extremes of weather here but they are forecasting a mild winter!! Fingers crossed. I have a mesh window in the front of the coop which I have covered with a plastic sheet but am thinking of making it a shutter instead so I can regulate the air flow. I dont know about american eggs but I cant imagine what it must be like to eat shop bought eggs again
As the eggs I get now the yolks are almost orange, but then again, I have three very spoilt chickens, free range all day plus breakfast and evening meal, I might even move in my self

 

[lazy gardener]

Why is venting so important? i have gaps at the top of the door and I am sure there must be gaps letting air in numerous places, plus where their little door at ground level is left open for them to come and go in the morning. Their run is wired top to bottom, completely enclosed so I hope nothing can get in. I had a corrugted roof in their coop but noticed it was dripping condensation in the mornings so have now insulated and boarded it up and the coop feels very dry in the mornings. I am living in France and the night time temperatures are now around 5 degrees C at night. The coop door and window face north and we get some strong winds during the winter so I have insulated the door and covered the mesh window with plastic for the winter ??? Benind their coop we have attached another shed to house our mower, garden equipment etc so no draughts or bad weather can come from that direction, the side of the coop is also protected from bad weather, so now I am wondering if I dont have enough ventilation for them. i have three chickens and the coop is approx 2mtrs x 1mtr x 2mtrs high

The smaller the coop, the greater the risk of increased moisture. Chicken's loose a lot of moisture through their respiration, and through their poop. All that moisture needs to be vented out. The dripping from your corrugated metal roof is that excess moisture which was condensing on the roof b/c of the temperature change. Then it "rains" back down onto the birds and into the litter. Insulating the coop may have stopped the condensation, but it did not solve the moisture problem. The only way to remove that moisture is by having purposeful ventilation. It's best to take advantage of natural air currents by having a low vent to draw in fresh air, and at least one high vent to exhaust that air which will also pull out some of the moisture and ammonia. Your coop is maxed out in the number of birds that it can hold. The more birds/s.f. the greater the moisture problem. Can you show pics of your coop, inside and out, with a view of each side? (If you want suggestions for increasing ventilation) Your current situation does not have enough ventilation. Louvered vents are great b/c they allow fresh air to enter, while the louvers keep that air from being too "breezy". I do cover my floor level louvered vent by stapling cardboard over it during the "nasty cold" winter months. But, even with that one vent covered, I still have vents at windows, soffits, eaves, and pop door, in addition to the "not so tight fit" at clean out and broody pen doors.