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- #11
davidw1961
Chirping
- Apr 25, 2021
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I appreciate your advice. The total run is 14 ft long and 7 ft wide. There are 6 vent holes in the back and 6 in the front measuring 1 1/2 inch by 10 inches each. I have also built a reinforced screen door that always stays open and can be removed in the winter time. I have predator proofed this coop to the max.i dug a trench around the perimeter of the coop/run and ran the chicken wire below the coop/run and filled the trench with 16 inch bricks and river gravel. I will probably add more ventilation holes by winter that can be opened and closed from the outside.I used your 75" and assumed that the coop is square. If one multiplies 75 by 4 for all the walls and then multiplies that by 1.5 you will get 3.125 square feet of ventilation.
The rule of thumb for ventilation is 1 square feet per bird, 24/7 but most important when they roost. Your roost will accommodate 6 birds, your coop will accommodate 9-10 although the run would be too smal for that number. I see you have four birds.
I suggest that you consider adding additional ventilation.
"[Kansas] has plenty of raccoons, armadillos, skunks, badgers, minks, foxes, rabbits, hares, snakes, and bats." Mink are able to get through a 1" square opening and generally can evade dogs.