More Ventilation Needed?

[Tervuren]

Can you guys settle a discussion with my dad for me lol. Like many first time chicken owners, I thought I had enough ventilation, and it turns out I do not. My poor little Dorking is starting to get frostbite on her comb. I also have two very pathetic looking girls who started to molt at 8 months that I’m worried about. The Dorking has spent the last two nights in the garage.

Thankfully, the back of the coop has two pieces of plywood, and I could easily remove the narrower top piece. Was on the phone with my dad last night and he wants to add 1 inch holes through that piece of plywood instead. Like many fathers he is quite sure that he knows best! lol Here are some pics of the piece I want to remove, along with my biggest girl for scale. You can kinda see the break between where the two sections meet.

 

[3KillerBs]

The recommended minimum for ventilation is 1 square foot per adult, standard-sized hen, best located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on their roost..

1" round holes don't even give a full 1 square inch of airflow. A square foot is 144 square inches.

Have you read this article?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

 

[Tervuren]

The recommended minimum for ventilation is 1 square foot per adult, standard-sized hen, best located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on their roost..

1" round holes don't even give a full 1 square inch of airflow. A square foot is 144 square inches.

Have you read this article?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

Thanks for the article. I have about 3sqft, and five chickens….Not enough! It sure looks like more than that though. That will teach me not to eyeball things! And the board I want to remove is above their heads, so that should be fine. I think if I mention to my dad that the alternative to removing the board is drilling at least 288 holes, he’ll change his mind lol.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

@3KillerBs is correct - 1 sq ft / bird minimum for a well designed passive air flow system, more strongly encouraged in hot humid environments, and removing (or never installing) boards up towards the roof line is the general build recommendation as to how to accomplish that. Its why we so often recommend underave venting.

A chicken coop is more like a bathroom than a house - you want to move that warm, moisture laden, ammonia laden air out quickly and replace with drier, cleaner air. You'd never try to vent the steam from your shower thru a series of 1" holes (indead, you likely use a 4" hole and a powered fan in the bathroom, moving between 75 and 120 cubic feet of air per minute to force air out, drawing drier, conditioned air from the rest of the house.)

Removing the board is definitely the superior option.

 

[Huntmaster]

Can you guys settle a discussion with my dad for me lol. Like many first time chicken owners, I thought I had enough ventilation, and it turns out I do not. My poor little Dorking is starting to get frostbite on her comb. I also have two very pathetic looking girls who started to molt at 8 months that I’m worried about. The Dorking has spent the last two nights in the garage.

Thankfully, the back of the coop has two pieces of plywood, and I could easily remove the narrower top piece. Was on the phone with my dad last night and he wants to add 1 inch holes through that piece of plywood instead. Like many fathers he is quite sure that he knows best! lol Here are some pics of the piece I want to remove, along with my biggest girl for scale. You can kinda see the break between where the two sections meet. View attachment 2945127View attachment 2945126View attachment 2945119
View attachment 2945120View attachment 2945121

Is that tarp sealing off area above and around door and chicken entry door? If so, I would open that up. Looks like it is protected from elements around it? I think that would help also to get some air flow up high, from what I can tell from your pics all your ventilation is on that one open end?

 

[Tervuren]

Got the board removed at lunch today. And the reason I needed to convince my dad is I needed to borrow his drill lol. I took screenshots of some of the comments, he quite liked @U_Stormcrow's bathroom analogy. I also had to explain the forum, and compared it to his vintage car forums, he was surprised that once exists for chickens.

@Huntmaster, yeah that tarp had slipped from where it was supposed to be, I got it pinned back into place, hopefully it will stay this time. Most of the ventilation is on the one end, there is only about 1.5 sqft all together on the side of the door. If tonight isn't as improved as I'm hoping, I'll have to come up with something for the door side as well.

And its going to get down to 2 or 3F tonight/early morning. I'm going to check on the girls one more time, and then cross my fingers and go to bed. I have work tomorrow morning, so no staying up 'til midnight on New Years Eve for me! (Also, a little disappointed no one caught my Father Knows Best Reference? Maybe I'm overestimating how many people know of such an old TV show? My dad quoted it all the time when I wouldn't do as I was told as a kid lol)

 

[gtaus]

Lots of things affect moisture in the coop. Adequate ventilation is very important. I don't have the recommended 1 square foot of ventilation per bird, but I have a large coop for a small number of chickens. I have a gambrel roof above the chickens with vents by the peaks. A couple of windows for cross ventilation seems to keep eveything as dry as can be expected.

My first winter I was all concerned about humidity in my coop and if I had enough ventilation, because I knew I did not have the recommended 1 square foot ventilation per bird. I put a thermometer with humidity gauge in the coop. Guess what, the humidity in the coop was the same as it was outside the coop. Our outside humidity is high, but there is no way you can dry the outside air. My chickens will suffer from frostbite when it gets really cold, but I don't see any way to make it better for them without having a heated coop.

Fortunately, none of my chickens seemed to suffer any lasting effects from frostbite. But if they did, I would not buy any more of that breed for where I live. I bought 10 chickens, all different breeds, and they all seem to do fine in my northern Minnesota winters. If your coop is significantly more humid than outside, then I would say you need more ventilation. If your coop humidity is the same as outside, you can't make it less humid inside without a climate controlled coop. Where I live, that's really expensive.

 

[gtaus]

Thankfully, the back of the coop has two pieces of plywood, and I could easily remove the narrower top piece. Was on the phone with my dad last night and he wants to add 1 inch holes through that piece of plywood instead.

Is that a cattle panel chicken coop? Looks like a nice build.

To save yourself time and effort, I'd suggest just measuring the humidity levels inside and outside the coop. If they are basically the same, you probably don't need to make any alterations. If the humidity inside the coop is way higher than outside, then I'd suggest just removing the board instead of drilling holes.

Frankly, I am just happy to hear you have a dad that even cares enough to help you. If your dad is really stuck on the idea of drilling holes in the plywood, I think I'd just let him have a go at it. And then thank him. If you still have a humidity problem, you can always take out the board later. Either way, you win. Best wishes.

Edit: I did not read correctly that you already took down the board. Hope it improves your situation. Still think it's great your dad was even interested in helping you. It's important for dads to get a win every once in a while...

 

[3KillerBs]

I also had to explain the forum, and compared it to his vintage car forums, he was surprised that once exists for chickens.

IMO, the very best thing about the internet is the way it brings people with obscure interests together into a community.

I hope that all is well with the improved airflow now.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Got the board removed at lunch today. And the reason I needed to convince my dad is I needed to borrow his drill lol. I took screenshots of some of the comments, he quite liked @U_Stormcrow's bathroom analogy. I also had to explain the forum, and compared it to his vintage car forums, he was surprised that once exists for chickens.

@Huntmaster, yeah that tarp had slipped from where it was supposed to be, I got it pinned back into place, hopefully it will stay this time. Most of the ventilation is on the one end, there is only about 1.5 sqft all together on the side of the door. If tonight isn't as improved as I'm hoping, I'll have to come up with something for the door side as well.

And its going to get down to 2 or 3F tonight/early morning. I'm going to check on the girls one more time, and then cross my fingers and go to bed. I have work tomorrow morning, so no staying up 'til midnight on New Years Eve for me! (Also, a little disappointed no one caught my Father Knows Best Reference? Maybe I'm overestimating how many people know of such an old TV show? My dad quoted it all the time when I wouldn't do as I was told as a kid lol)

Happy to help. It's what BYC is for.