unlimited ventilation?

[dftkarin]

I planned my new coop with a lot of ventilation anyway but then as I put on the roof I realized that there were more and more areas to cover with more and more hardware cloth and now I'm seeing that there is anywhere between 2" and 14" of hardware-cloth-covered space between the roof and the walls of the coop on all sides. I am thinking maybe I should seal up and cover up the vents in the bottom 2/3 of the coop - but is there a problem with so much ventilation if its all so high up on the coop.

 

[sashurlow]

where do you live?
Not that domestic chickens are anything resembling wild chickens, but wild birds have unlimited ventilation.
Scott

 

[LynneP]

That was my question too. Having rain and snow on the birds could be an issue and there are ways to install covers or vents that can be opened when it is fine anc closed when it storms.

 

[Plain Old Dee]

Our henhouse is completely open on the east side and has a small window on the west side up high, with an opening also on the southeast corner. All of the openings are covered with either chicken wire or welded wire to keep out predators. It allows for plenty of ventilation, I am thinking. If it looks like it's going to be really really cold, we can tarp part of the openings to block the wind. I'm not particularly worried about the cold - all of the hens are accustomed to being outside all of the time. This is the first time some of my OEG hens have slept on a roost instead of in a tree!

 

[elmo]

I have a similar set up. What I did was close off the sides of the roof (which was a very fiddly job because I only use a hand saw), then I made two hinged flaps for the vent on the front of the coop. The vent on the rear of the coop has no flap and always stays open. Right now, what I've been doing is closing off half of the front flap at night, but opening it up during the daytime. When we get our "cold weather" ...for around here, anyway...I'll probably close down both front vents, but we'll see. Humidity in the coop has so far stayed well below 50 percent, no problems.

 

[patandchickens]

Just make some sort of widgie to allow you to shut some of the ventilation down (you will want that for wintertime anyhow), either flaps, or blocks that you shove into openings, or whatever. Then you can control how much is open and you're good for whatever weather you get

Good luck, have fun,

Pat