Ventilated but Free of Drafts

[Liddy]

Interesting and loads of great information here!

I'm planning a rebuild of my coop for this spring. It's been 5 years since I commenced chickenkeeping. My coop complex grew as needed and never according to a serious plan once the initial coop was completed.

Over those 5 years, I have learned a lot, including the importance of proper ventilation!

The current coop complex is in a former equipment shed bolted onto the north side of the garage. The shed measures about 10' x 24'. Most of the exterior walls are insulated with R-31 or R-19 batts. The rear 10' of the exterior, north-facing wall is covered by the insulation but the front 14' has the original soffit vents. I've added windows to the west (rear, where prevailing winds come) and the east (front, where we also leave the door open during the day) walls. Those are open at least a quarter of the way unless it's really stormy and blowing rain or snow into the coop.

Winter weather is bitter cold here in northern Maine and after the first winter I stopped heating the coop. Oy! My January electric bill was $400 with one heat lamp! I've only had a few minor frostbite issues, mostly on roosters with huge combs and wattles. Only one hen has died on a night where the temp dropped to -31 degrees. I suspect she had vulnerabilities because after her death, I got no more eggs with a depressed area of the shell. The chickens just hunker down and tuck their heads under their fluffed-up feathers. With the snow piled up 3' deep (6' this year!) outside the pop doors, I keep the chickens in for months. I've had too many in there for the past two winters - 60 at the peak. My plan is to maintain a stable winter flock of 20-25.

I love the concept of having different areas of the coop devoted to different purposes. I did enclose a raised box (24" x 30") outside the initial coop as an infirmary. That has been used as a brooder (with Mama Heating Pad!) as well as isolating injured hens. I know I need a grow-out area for chicks. A neighbor reported me to Animal Control last year for free-ranging chickens (I think they discovered her garden; every morning when they were released, a sizable contingent headed purposefully up the hill) and I installed the Henitentiary, a 6' chain-link fence. When we designed it, we included a 8' x 14' area behind the coops with its own pop door and a gate into the main hen yard. That will be the grow-out area, once I reinforce the chain link with hardware cloth for 2'.

@aart, what are the other areas you now wish you had included?

I currently have a space for feed and litter storage, a workbench with a wall of tools, the Infirmary, the grow-out coop, and an area for the adults. The grow-out area and the adult area can be combined or separated as needed.

Should I uncover the rest of the soffit vents? I'm considering adding a couple of other window panels that I scrounged from demolition in the area, inoperable for ventilation but adding lots of light.

 

[aart]

Should I uncover the rest of the soffit vents? I'm considering adding a couple of other window panels that I scrounged from demolition in the area, inoperable for ventilation but adding lots of light.

It would be good if you started a new thread about your coop expansion..with pics.

 

[Liddy]

It would be good if you started a new thread about your coop expansion..with pics.

Will do! I'll copy and paste this post and add to it as I work on the improvements. Thanks!

 

[TwinkleChicken]

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

Omlet's Eglu Cube!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bookdad]

In the high desert we get temperatures from 0 degrees f and up to 115 degrees f. we also get snow heavy strait line wind at times and lots of precip in the spring and fall. I currently have a small coop that was given to me that has one pop door that is always open. there is a covered (screen and louvered cover) vent at the top. this has worked well for 8 years. The coop is very high off the ground as I had to adapt it to the run I had and has a 1/2 in hardware cloth floor. I am currently designing a new chicken house and run and appreciate all the info.

 

[Sarvepalli]

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

I built our coop as a passive solar building. Ventilation is achieved by convection up through the walls while at the same time eliminating any drafts. It works well especially during hot months without need of fans etc.

 

[Sarvepalli]

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.

I built our coop as a passive solar building. The walls are sealed or covered both on the outside and inside with open air passages running inside the wall from the bottom up to the top of the wall. That means building the wall with no inside framing obstructions. It allows air to pass upwards in the wall and out through the top of the wall by convection without drafts. This system has proven to eliminate excess moisture, drafts, fans, heat and no maintenance. All openings at the top and bottom of the wall are sealed with hardware cloth.

 

[aart]

I built our coop as a passive solar building. Ventilation is achieved by convection up through the walls while at the same time eliminating any drafts. It works well especially during hot months without need of fans etc.

I built our coop as a passive solar building. The walls are sealed or covered both on the outside and inside with open air passages running inside the wall from the bottom up to the top of the wall. That means building the wall with no inside framing obstructions. It allows air to pass upwards in the wall and out through the top of the wall by convection without drafts. This system has proven to eliminate excess moisture, drafts, fans, heat and no maintenance. All openings at the top and bottom of the wall are sealed with hardware cloth.

Not sure how sealed wall cavities benefit the inside of the coop much, other than to help regulate temperature convection. How would that remove ammonia and moisture laden air in the coop?

Welcome to BYC! @Sarvepalli ..please do share some photos of your coop's ventilation...
....and please let us know:
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!

 

[Sarvepalli]

The wall isn't completely sealed from the inside of the coop even though it's covered. The wall ends a few inches below the ceiling/roof leaving an air space around the top perimeter of the coop both inside and out. As air moves up through the wall, bottom to top, by convection it draws or exhausts air from inside the coop as it leaves the wall and through the top. I used stick incense smoke to follow the movement of the air.

I have several friends who've built their homes using passive solar so having learned from them. I designed our coop along those lines with modifications.

I'm new here by minutes so haven't yet filled in details of location, climate, pictures etc. but will do asap. Just added my avatar which is a tile piece I made of a blue orpington. Thanks.

 

[aart]

I'm new here by minutes so haven't yet filled in details of location, climate, pictures etc. but will do asap. Just added my avatar which is a tile piece I made of a blue orpington. Thanks.

No Hurry....the tiles are gorgeous!