too much or too little ventilation

[lewlew]

Please excuse my poor drawing... But I wanted to see if this would be too much ventilation or too little. I am making a slanted roof and thought I could leave the sides open, with hardware cloth so there will be enough ventilation. But I am worried that it might be too much? What do you guys think?

Coop will be:

5 ft x 8 ft (odd size because we are using two pallets laid together for the floor and building up from that)
and about 6 ft tall.
Will have a human door on the front, and possibly a window (that can be covered)
external nest boxes.

So on both sides would have these open eaves with the hardware cloth covering them... I hope this makes sense...

 

[Hillaire]

what state do you live in? Personally I think it is a little too much as if it were to rain which it will the rain could blow in from that side causing the interior to get wet. you could do something like that with plywood cut to the same shape on hinges to shut it up when it rains. I am going to assume you are going to put windows in yes? Chickens do like light.

 

[lewlew]

I live in Upstate South Carolina. And yes, there will be a window on the front and back.

 

[Hillaire]

if you're going to make it where you can open the windows the ventilation on the top doesn't need to be so big I have a couple of the little metal vents you can get at home depot or lowes on mine and they work great

 

[lewlew]

Thank you!

 

[aart]

Probably not enough for SC.
Go big with roof overhangs and leave open eaves all around for year round ventilation,
top hinged windows will also help to keep windows open during rain.

This is a pretty good discussion thread on ventilation:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1048597/ventilated-but-free-of-drafts

 

[rbreininger]

Se my posts - Expanded my run - chicken coop is next.

It is built similar to your drawing. I have photos a construction in progress. The eaves have overhang from the roof and are my ventilation and are filled with hardware cloth.

I live in SW Wyoming.

 

[lewlew]

Thank you for the tips. I think I will leave the eaves open and make a pretty large over-hang for the roof so the rain won't get in. I have a 12 x16 shed that has windows and vents in the eaves and in the summer, with the windows open, it is unbearably hot and stuffy in there, so I just want to make sure I have enough ventilation. I will figure out something to do so that I can close the large eaves if there is a storm or a severely cold snap. There will be ventilation along the front and back too so even when its super cold there will still be ventilation.