To much condensation in the ducks coop?

[Yetti]

I was washing out the coop and happened to look up and see I have traces of mold growing in the ceiling area down to about the 4' from the floor. I was wondering how much ventilation the ducks can take? I have to get the condensation out. I have one screen with fabric over it and its about 20" x 14" I thought this was enough but I am beginning to wonder?

 

[Amiga]

Ick. Sad to read about this.

Here are my first thoughts.

How big is the coop? Can you upload a photo? How much and what kind of bedding do you use?

Borax is a natural, non-volatile anti-fungal. You don't want the ducks ingesting it, but you could dissolve some in water and dab that on the walls. I've used it on the wall behind my refrigerator, during the Summer of Fungi a few years ago. Shudder.

Seriously, I've used borax solution on truck carpets, walls, and fabric. It keeps mildewy things from coming back for quite some time. As I wrote, you just don't want to spill the powder or solution on the ducks' bedding where they could nibble it, but it won't make fumes that can hurt them.

It also discourages some bugs.

 

[Sean S.]

I have a relatively large coop, 12 x 20', and use a bathroom vent fan at the ceiling level in a corner of the coop. A plywood shaft in the corner about 1' square extends to about 4" from the floor so it draws air off the floor in the winter. It also has a Door in the top of the shaft to open the top in the summer. That keeps the fan from drawing warm air at the ceiling in the winter, and the hot air from the top in summer. When we wash out the coop any condensation is usually gone in half a day or so. Seems to work well for us, but everyones setup is diffrent. Can not remember for shure where the post was but i searched ventilation on here and found calculations for CFM per bird for removing moisture.

 

[MedChicken]

As I recall, there are two cardinal rules of ventilation.

1. Air must have a place to go in and a place to go out - vents on opposing sides.

2. Moist air is usually warm air, which rises - put your vents as high up as possible.

I have seen many designs with openings all along opposing walls where the wall joins the roof, which seem to work really well.

Granted I have chickens, not ducks, but I doubt that the basics are all that different.

 

[Yetti]

as you can see it has a big window cut to two with a screen in the center.

I leave the door open all day to let things dry out. it had ports for a ramp and small doors but they are not cut in.

Haha bedding! not with these guys. I have huge leave piles out under their day hide out. they can dig in there all they want. the hut is just for night use to keep them safe. its meant to be washed down and cleaned.

so far I need to wash out the mold, and ad a vent on the opposite side. I'll get that done and see where it takes me.

 

[MedChicken]

It looks to me like you'll want to add something higher up. A vent along the peak of the roof, for example. Based on your pictures and details, it sounds like the warm, wet air is getting trapped above the level of your vents.

 

[Yetti]

well just got done adding a 12" x 6" vent above the main door. I washed the floor down right after and shut the door to see how much the sun will make it fog up. hopefully I get nothing and the windows stay clear.

 

[MedChicken]

I hope that clears it up for you! Mold and mildew are such a pain!

 

[Yetti]

so far so good. it says its 63* in the hut with the sun shining and the windows aren't fogged up. so its venting out the moisture fine now.

 

[Amiga]