No experience and out of money

[dewpetals]

So we are upcycling our old trampoline into a run. Decided we should figure out a coop as well. Trying to build it out of all my husband's scrap. I'm not a builder. I know it isn't square but its solid! I was thinking about adding hardware cloth to areas under the angled roof for ventilation. Is that to much space? Will it be to cold/drafty for winter? I live in North Alabama and we only see low teens typically. I need to add a door to nesting box, I want a big door for easy clean out, and a chicken door in that door.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Actually you might need (probably will need) more ventilation than that, depending on how many birds you have and what the high temperatures are, rather than lows. Chickens can stay warm more easily than shed heat.

Yes you will need hardware cloth over vents to exclude pests/some predators.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC!

As a fellow resident of the Steamy Southeast, I suggest that you add a good deal more ventilation. The usual guideline is to have 1 square foot per adult, standard-sized hen, but I find that I need either DEEP shade or 2-3 square foot per hen to keep a coop under 100F on a 90F day.

This is my article on coop ventilation: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/

And my article on hot climate chicken-keeping: file: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

 

[Ridgerunner]

In Northern Alabama that is not going to be too cold or drafty. Chickens can handle sleeping in trees in temperatures below zero Fahrenheit. I've seen that myself in northeast Tennessee (-10 F) and some no longer active members saw that on the upper peninsula of Michigan and in Nova Scotia. They need to be able to get out of the wind but they can handle the cold quite well.

That looks solid, which to me is more important than pretty. I agree to adding hardware cloth to that triangular opening to keep predators out but I think you will have plenty of ventilation for winter and summer. Where you are they are going to be outside of the coop all day every day, winter and summer. The coop will only be for sleeping at night (after the sun is no longer heating that up) and for laying eggs. I'd position that so the nests are on the cooler north side out of the direct sun, but when you put a top on that nest area you'll probably have cracks big enough that the nests will have good ventilation. It doesn't take much for hot air to escape if you have some ventilation up high..

Are you planning on providing shade for them? You should in your climate. If you can put that coop in even partial shade it will stay cooler.

 

[K0k0shka]

I would strongly recommend adding more ventilation for the sake of your hot summers. Like others have said, chickens don't handle heat as well as they handle cold. To illustrate my point - I'm up north in MA and my coop is in full shade, before the modifications I had more than 1 square foot per chicken of ventilation open (more like 2), my coop is a much larger walk-in, AND YET, the temperature inside was around 110 F at night! Even on days when it hadn't reached 90 outside. The chickens were panting and visibly uncomfortable. That's when I took the human access door down and replaced it with a screen door made out of hardware cloth on a wooden frame. I added two fans as well. It made a huge difference! I would suggest you do the same. A screen door is a very easy way to add lots more ventilation and make life more bearable for the chickens in the summer, but without compromising their comfort in the winter, since you can replace the screen door with a solid door for the colder/rainier/windier parts of the year. Just make sure the hinges and holes are in the same place, so the doors are swappable. Small enclosed spaces heat up more than the surrounding open air, and retain heat well after the ambient temperature has dropped at night, so it can get really hot in there and stay hot well into the night if you don't have plentiful ventilation to even out the inside and outside air.

 

[McChooky]

Vents should be no lower than the top of their heads while chickens are on the roost in the winter. In the summer a breeze coming thru the same vent can prevent them overheating. Having vents that can be opened in the summer can prevent heat stroke and death

 

[dewpetals]

Still need to apply hardware cloth and waiting on our automatic chicken door. But this is our progress so far. Still need to add a window but between the metal roof gaps, the 3 angled roof vents and the gaps over the nesting boxes the chickens should be good over winter.