question about wet run area and vents on coop

[Theicequeen]

My hubby is getting ready to make our coop and we were just discussing it and he was talking about the vents , he wants to put circular holes going all around the coop and put something like hard wire over it? when you are all talking about vents are you talking about the ones that have slats on them that you can open as much as you want or close? i worry about never being able to close what he is talking about and it would get too cold in the winter?


My whole back yard gets wet depending on the s now or rain what do you do for a wet run?

 

[Keene's coop]

holes are fine. put hardware cloth over them. that's what i'm doing. i'm just putting 2 on each wall. that should be fine even in the winter.

 

[GermanChick]

I guess it depends where you are living and how cold it gets in winter. I am not an expert, just started building our first coop but holes with hardwire cloth sounds fine to me. If it gets too cold you can always figure something out to close them up (hang something temporary like heavy fabric maybe ????)
For wet runs..... sand is supposed to work really good. That is what we are planning to put in ours.......... after the girls killed the grass

 

[teach1rusl]

How big will the holes be? An obvious benefit of using regular vent cover plates is that they slant down, so rain doesn't get into the coop. I personally wouldn't just want holes or just an opening of any kind because of blowing rain. Whatever you guys end up doing, make sure that your vents are well above the roosts.
If the area where the chickens will be outside holds water, then a layer of crushed rock covered with a few inches of sand should help water drain well to keep the area drier.

 

[anniem]

From what i've been reading lately, you don't really ever want the coop to be completely closed up. It will need circulation for the moisture to get out. Better to be less moist but colder than moist and not quite as cold.
There's a person on the boards that has great info on this, here's a link to their page:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-VENTILATION

What your husband is planning seems to be a fairly common way to go. I don't think the slats are usually what people are talking about for ventilation. It's often some opening, covering with hardware cloth, and then a wood piece that can cover it. The more the better so you can cover more or less of them depending on what you need.

 

[BankerJohn]

First, good luck with your project. I live in FL and have wet issues here too. I can only let you know what we did here. I lined the floor with cinder blocks, then laid chicken wire on the floor under the blocks. On top of the wire, inside of the block perimeter, I laid #89 rock (1/4" screened rock from a local quarry that cost less than $30 picked up at the rock mine). The reason for the rock was to create an area for wet drainage (think of a french drain, if you know what that is.). On top of the rock, I laid landscaping cloth. I then put sand on top of the landscaping cloth. The cloth prevents the sand from filling the open spaces between the rocks (needed for proper drainage) and allows for the moisture to percolate through, leaving an always dry sand floor.

I am a believer in a sand floor. The sand will pull moisture away from poo keeping smells down. Clean up is very easy using a kitty litter scoop shovel. The sand also will provide an unlimited supply of grit. I also pour a 40# bag of diatomaceous earth over the sand. This has eliminated the fly population. Further, as the chickens naturally dust themselves, the sand/DE mixture help keep all the "crawlies" off the birds.

With a sand floor, food waste drops dramatically. Pellets are much larger than the sand and will remain on the surface allowing the birds to peck what has been scratched out of the hanging feeder. Even crumbles are easily cleaned up after a spill by the younger birds.

Good luck with your planning. A good planned run for moisture will prevent A LOT of headaches (and smells) later on!

Let us know what do decide... and take pictures.

 

[Theicequeen]

teach1rsul the holes will be 2 inches he said. Thanks everyone for the great ideas, i was unsure about the vents, dont want them to get too cold in the winter. Anniem thank you for the link i will check it out

 

[patandchickens]

The problem with 2" holes is that they are so tiny tiny small, and hardly any air goes in or out.

It would really be *quite a lot* better to have LARGER vents, e.g. made with yer reciprocating saw. For instance 6-12" high and most of the length of one or more walls, up at the top of the wall tucked under the roof overhang.

Just because some people sometimes get away (more or less) with very little ventilation does not mean it is a good idea to intentionally build that in. You can't guarantee you will be one of those lucky ones; and more ventilation (availalbe) is ALWAYS better, both summer and winter and everything in between.

Then you make a flap or slider or some other arrangement, to partially close down some of the ventilation when conditions require it. Note that you will need a goodly am't of ventilation open all winter, or the coop will get very humid inside and THAT is what gives most chickens frostbite, much moreso than cold per se.

You might check out the links in my .sig below, they have a buncha info on ventilation and cold weather and wet run and so forth

Good luck, have fun,

Pat