Ventilated but Free of Drafts

[aart]

Okay will do - I will go out and shoot some pix of the ventillation and then I will add it to my thread. Thanks so much

This thread, right?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-insulation-of-the-inside-of-my-coop.1423887/

 

[Dhkoenig]

This thread, right?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-insulation-of-the-inside-of-my-coop.1423887/

Yes just posted them on that thread. LMK your thoughts and thank you!!!

 

[Jonidoodle]

So my coop is 4x8 and slants from front to back. Front 4 ft back 3 ft where should I put the vents

 

[aart]

So my coop is 4x8 and slants from front to back. Front 4 ft back 3 ft where should I put the vents

Would be good if you started new thread here with pics of the coop inside and out.
Also ..... Welcome to BYC! @Jonidoodle
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, and then it's always there!

 

[Rodrad]

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.

Great article!

 

[Dhkoenig]

Great article!

This was such a thoughtful and helpful detailed reply - I really appreciate the time you put in to it. Very helpful!! Have a great day

 

[Rodrad]

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

It looks like you did very well by adjusting ventilation to be right in the super cold weather. In my area it gets extremely rare so cold but for a week of time, several times in the winter, it is in mid teens and over night to low teens. Some years ago, the temp for a few days was in mid to low single digit!

Could you please provide some concrete matrix, based on your good experience, how much ventilation area (in ft2) you have per 10 ft2 of the floor area? Or, since you may have not “standard” 4 ft2 per chicken, than the better matrix would be your ft2/chicken. That would be a great input in my design of the coop.

I know that the rule of thumb is to have 1 ft2/chicken, but I am considering that is for the summer ventilation. I am convinced, and got some info from people in my area, that in the winter they have much less, like 0.1-0.2 ft2/chicken with various success. Obviously that depends on several factors, like litter management, tightness of the building walls/eves, wind barriers near the coop, etc.

thank you

 

[3KillerBs]

I know that the rule of thumb is to have 1 ft2/chicken, but I am considering that is for the summer ventilation.

No. One square foot per chicken is the rule for PERMANENT, 24-HOUR, YEAR-ROUND ventilation -- necessary to remove the ammonia and moisture that chickens generate by their biological processes of excreting and breathing.

Summer heat may require more ventilation than that, but generous winter ventilation is necessary to prevent frostbite due to moisture settling on the chickens' combs and wattles and freezing there.

Chickens keep themselves warm if we keep them dry and shelter them from direct wind that would ruffle their feathers.

 

[Rodrad]

No. One square foot per chicken is the rule for PERMANENT, 24-HOUR, YEAR-ROUND ventilation -- necessary to remove the ammonia and moisture that chickens generate by their biological processes of excreting and breathing.

Summer heat may require more ventilation than that, but generous winter ventilation is necessary to prevent frostbite due to moisture settling on the chickens' combs and wattles and freezing there.

Chickens keep themselves warm if we keep them dry and shelter them from direct wind that would ruffle their feathers.

I don’t think 1 ft2/chicken in winter is right for the very cold climate. Most local people have much less. Would like to hear from people in the Midwest.
I am still in design stage for my coop. BTW, plan to have 1 ft2/chicken in summer, plus my coop will be in the shade after noon. I plan to have the shutters for all ventilation area on the walls except for the two ventilation high in the gables, which will stay open in the winter. The total area of these two ventilation is 2 ft2, which for my target of 10 chickens makes 0.2 ft2/chicken.

 

[3KillerBs]

The total area of these two ventilation is 2 ft2, which for my target of 10 chickens makes 0.2 ft2/chicken.

That cannot possibly do an adequate job of removing ammonia and moisture.

You can test this by both your senses and appropriate equipment. If you can smell ammonia you need more ventilation. If you go inside the coop and feel that it is warmer inside than out you need more ventilation. If you use a hygrometer to measure humidity and get a higher reading inside than out you need more ventilation.

I suggest that you contact your local Ag Department and inquire into the minimums for commercial chicken keeping. Most backyarders attempt to do better for our birds than commercial operations do.

This is BackYard Chickens definitive article on chickens in cold climates: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/