Ventilated but Free of Drafts

[Bubsiesmom]

Hello Everyone,

Could someone give me concise information on what a well ventilated coop yet free of drafts really entails? I have a henhouse that has two roosts, two nesting boxes and two little doors. Above one of the roosts there is a whole about the size of a coffee mug that the people before me used to have a heat lamp. I don't want to use the lamp this year. I want to seal up that hole since it is adjacent to the roost. There is a large one inch gap about 6 inches long on either side of the floor by the little door. If i seal all this up than how to I ventilate?? Thanks !!
Bubsiesmom

 

[Mrs. K]

Think of being in a car with a bunch of people in cold weather without the heat on. Almost immediately the moisuture begins to build up on the windows. This warm air condenses because it is in contact with the cooler window or wall inside a coop. That is damp, and that is what happens in a too small, too tight of coop with chickens. Damp chickens are cold chickens.

You do not give the dimensions or the number of birds, but I suggest you go out and measure how far your birds are away from the wall or from the ceiling of the coop, they should be a foot away from the wall, and their heads need to be about 15-18 inches below the ceiling when roosting. This keeps the moisture away from them, and allows the ventilation to move out the wet, moist air, keeping them dry. Dry feathers are very warm, and they should get through well below zero (as in -25) with no problem with plenty of feed.

Most of us in the beginning, think we want to keep our chickens warm in the very cold winter weather. We have been taught since children to keep the openings sealed up tight to trap heat inside our homes. It seems so counter intuitive to open up the coop to keep it warm. Instead of thinking warm, think DRY. You need good bedding that can absorb moisture, and you need openings that allow the moist air to escape along with the ammonia. And you needs adequate space between the birds and the walls and the ceiling. Too small of coop will make for wet chickens.

What you need is protection from the wind, but still allow air currents, you want movement of air. Hence free of drafts but well ventilated, which took me forever to figure out, and I got a bit of frostbite till I did.

Mrs K

 

[Ridgerunner]

That’s a good question and, as usual, there are different ways to answer. I’ll assume you know why you need ventilation and no breezes hitting them. I purposely said breezes, not drafts. A draft is when you hold a candle next to a window to see if there is a tiny bit of air movement. That’s not what we are talking about. We are talking about a breeze strong enough to ruffle their feathers. That kind of draft from a window is good. It moves bad air out and good air in.

I don’t know where you are so I don’t know what kind of temperatures you are dealing with so I can’t get real specific.

JackE likes to push the Woods Coop design. That’s a very specialized design where the front is pretty much open and there is another opening up high so you get any breezes in the lower opening and flowing out the upper opening while the back of the coop where the roosts are sees only gentle air movement. That works up in Canada if it’s built right.

In the winter if you really have cold temperatures to deal with, I really like openings up high over their heads when they are on the roosts. If you have more than one opening up high and a breeze is blowing, that goes over their heads yet creates enough gentle turbulence to stir up the air and replace bad air with good. On a calm day, whether you have one or more openings, you still get air movement. Warm air rises. Warmth is being generated inside the coop from their body heat, breathing, warm poop, thawed or even heated water, and if the coop is on the ground the ground is warmer than the air during a cold snap. That warmth is enough to create air movement with just openings up high.

Another reason for openings up high is that, if it is not frozen, their poop generates ammonia as it decomposes. Ammonia is lighter than air and is hard on their respiratory systems. Since it is lighter than air, gravity forces ammonia to rise and replaces it with heavier fresh air from outside, even just with openings up high. You do not need openings down low to get air movement.

Your biggest danger from the cold is not them freezing to death, it’s frostbite. Frostbite is possible anytime the air temperature is below freezing, but with good ventilation and no breezes hitting them chickens can handle temperatures below zero Fahrenheit without getting frostbite. Mine do. A big contributor to frostbite is dampness, excess moisture. Ventilation gets rid of excess moisture. People as far south as Georgia have caused their chickens to suffer from frostbite by closing the coop up too tightly while some chickens sleep in trees in upper Michigan or even in Canada during the winter as long as they can stay out of breezes. It’s hard to get too much ventilation as long as you keep breezes off of them.

I don’t know what your coop looks like or your climate. Openings at the top of walls under overhangs can move a lot of air. Gable vents, roof vents or cupolas are good. Ridge vents work great as long as you don’t get enough snow to block them.

Whenever you create a hole in your coop remember predator protection.

 

[aart]

I love the car/humidity analogy!!
Something everyone has experienced <snickers, in highschool> and can relate too.

 

[Bubsiesmom]

yes i know i spelled "hole" wrong . not enough coffee yet

 

[RonP]

I love the car/humidity analogy!!
Something everyone has experienced <snickers, in highschool> and can relate too.

And the banging on the window from the annoying flashlight??

Fond memories

 

[cricketmt]

What I have read indicates that you want ventilation, the higher up on the coop, the better, in order to reduce humidity levels inside the coop. You don't want drafts on the roost area, but ventilation is critical. there are some tips elsewhere on BYC. We have under the eaves on both sides of our coop (8 feet on each side) ventilated with just hardware cloth. About 4 inches just under each side. I've blocked those on the west side just above the roost, for winter. Otherwise they're open.

I'm still trying to determine how cold I'll "allow". We have a ceramic reptile style heater hooked to a thermal block so there'll be a warm spot when it drops to 35 in the coop....but I don't know how cold too cold is.

 

[fabelizer]

If this were my coop, I would prefer some screened holes in the board at the top where the rafters come through. Those would allow the warm moist air to escape. If cut with a hole saw, and the cut outs saved, you could put the cut outs in or out to adjust the amount of ventilation. Or you could simply have doors to cover individual holes. Generally, you will leave them open all year.

We have 2 doors that can cover a 2 inch opening across the front of our coop on the high side (and East) under the roof that are the length of the coop. Nine months of the year they are wide open, and in the winter we throttle them a bit. When it is really cold, (below 10F is my rule of thumb), I close one of them, and the other is dropped down, but not closed. The three windows are always open at least a crack and the crack is about 6 inches below the perch. (In the summer all the windows are wide open.) It seems to be working, and as I have learned, it is better to give them more air, even when really cold (0F or below).

This will be our 3rd winter in Ohio with chickens. Last year we had 2 straight weeks below zero, often with highs below -7F. Since I have some glass windows, I watch them for Jack Frost, and open more ventilation panels if I see any! It has worked. The first year we had a little frostbite on their combs, but they recovered, and being more worried about cold that first winter then moisture is definitely why we had it. This past winter (which was far more severe in the temperature department), they had more ventilation and less comb damage. We didn't loose any chickens either winter. However, being concerned with the cold that first year, we had a lot of frost inside the windows. That concerned me enough to open the vents more, and it probably saved some lives!

Other things that need to be considered are how many birds to how much space. More birds will keep it warmer, but also wetter, so you need more ventilation. You really have to watch. If you see frost on the inside of the wooden walls, it is WAY TOO WET in there!! It is much harder to create venting in the winter, so do it now, and cover it if you feel you have to, just be ready to open it up if there are signs of frost in the coop. Water containers also add moisture to the air. You might consider removing them at night if you can't get rid of frost formation inside the coop. We use the inverted flower pot and light bulb trick, so that releases considerable moisture. I am aware of that, and keep the vents open!

It is very hard, especially when it is less than 10F outside, to resist closing up the coop, but experience has taught me that it is NOT the right thing to do. You have enough wall ventilation, but I would add some holes higher to create some convection to move out the moisture. As the birds breathe, they let out a lot of damp air, their poop adds even more dampness, and moving that wet air out is the key. The colder the air gets, the less moisture it can hold, and if condensation starts to form on the birds, the frostbite and chill set in. You really just have to believe that, until you've seen it. I have, so I know.

If you live where it is rarely below 20F, you can pretty much leave everything open, so long as it isn't windy in the coop. I designed mine to replace air from the windows below the perch, and exhaust it at the top. Again, it seems to be working, as long as I leave some open.

-fab

 

[aart]

......

JackE likes to push the Woods Coop design. That’s a very specialized design where the front is pretty much open and there is another opening up high so you get any breezes in the lower opening and flowing out the upper opening while the back of the coop where the roosts are sees only gentle air movement. That works up in Canada if it’s built right.

.....

Remember that the high openings are closed in winter..... precisely to keep breezes from moving thru the coop.
The big front remains open all winter allowing some air movement inside.

 

[MeepBeep]

It is nice that you have that set-up and can produce enough to support it.

The building was there, no need not to use it for the chickens as I have plenty of other buildings and storage space on the property... I don't produce enough to technically 'support' it but I can pretty much break even on the heating bill during the winter selling eggs since supplies are lower and demand is up...

It sounds like you do manual control of ventilation? How often do you find you need to adjust? It is based on human interpretation of the requirements (i.e., weather, "feel" of the air inside, you mentioned odor?

Yep, when I go out to collect eggs I open or close the windows, based on the weather forecast and temps and how the air feels to men when I walk in...

Is you deep litter on concrete? Wood? Earth?

Deep litter on concrete, building is sunk about 2 feet bellow grade so there are 2 foot tall concrete knee walls as well...

How is the heat provided/generated? Forced air, floor water system?

Forced air furnace, just like most houses but I have an extra large filter box on the intake and closely monitor the filters and dust collection inside the furnace...

You DO realized that is a third bigger than my entire house right?

Yep, I know it's bigger then a lot of peoples houses, it's even bigger then my previous two houses, but where I'm at now it's just one of several out buildings...

How many hens in that space? Caged? Egg system?

Only about 100 birds in it currently all communal except for temporary isolation of chicks that are caged for a period of time, not all hens I have roosters as well, it's a mixed flock of bantams, standards, guinea fowl and peafowl, my dogs even share a small area of the coop... Next spring I will be dedicating a portion of it to breeding pens...

Egg system is just nesting boxes....