Ventilation during day and night question.

[kittyacid]

If I have good ventilation during the day but close some of the doors at night, will I still have good overall ventilation? I have two small high vents and one medium size door in front. Then on each side I have two large screened doors that I want to close at night to make the coop more predator proof. The coop is 4x7 and I have 3 standards and 2 bantams. I will be using the DLM with a vinyl over wood floor.

 

[tackyrama]

Here's a suggestion. Go into the coop at night with a lighted candle. Hold it by the vents and you should be able to see air movement. If no air movement then you probably need more ventilation.

 

[SpunkyTheMonkey]

ditto if you can smell ammonia.

 

[Judy]

Have you looked at Pat's ventilation page?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-VENTILATION

 

[patandchickens]

Two small vents is almost certainly not enough unless by "small" you mean "actually fairly large".

There is no realistic way to calculate how much square footage of ventilation a given coop will need -- depends on too many factors -- but a good general number to aim for, that will usually keep things working well in all but hot climates, is something on the order of one square foot per chicken. That's *actual ventilation space* -- note that storeboughten louvered vents intended for sheds or attics may have large overall dimensions but if you hold them up to the light you will see that the actual area of 'hole space' in them is actually much, much smaller.

You can get adequate ventilation even with just one vent opening in use, provided it is large enough (and, ideally, towards the top of the wall and most of the length of the wall) -- while air is exiting through the upper portion of the opening, fresh air is pouring down along the wall from the lower portion of the opening. You will certainly get a lot *more* air exchange going with good-sized vents open on two or more walls, though -- this tends to be especially important in summertime when your ventilation is needed not just for air quality but to cool the coop back down after hot days.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[kittyacid]

I have good ventilation, about 1.5 feet per chicken, but because of predators, I want to close some of it off at night, down to about .5 square feet per bird. Logic tells me that the best ventilation should be at night when the birds are in there, but since that seems dangerous, I wanted to leave all of the doors (screened with hardware cloth) open during the day and closed at night. I'm wondering if this will air out the coop enough during the day for the chickens to be in in at night. Or am I completely missing the idea and it is that it is not the coop that needs to be ventilated, it is the chickens?

 

[mamaKate]

Has anybody used the spinning roof turbos?

 

[elmo]

Quote:
If I understand the question you're asking, it's the chickens who need to have good ventilation. Chickens, like other birds, have very efficient respiratory systems and are sensitive to poor air quality. If they're cooped up all night in a place with very little fresh air, over time it can cause health problems.

Something to consider, also, is how hot and stuffy your coop might get shut up at night during the warmer months of the year.

 

[patandchickens]

The spinning roof turbines are okay in a breeze, but if there's a breeze then you don't really NEED them because a breeze will ventilate a small coop just fine on its own (assuming decent ventilation openings) and without a breeze they're just a small hole in the roof. In the north you sometimes have to plug the opening in wintertime to prevent a buncha snow blowing in. Honestly I wouldn't bother.

I am not getting why the O.P. is feeling it's necessary to close vents for predatorproofing? Just predatorproof the VENTS. Like, with strong hardwarecloth or etc. firmly-attached across the opening. Done properly, only a bear will go through it (and frankly a bear will go through ANYthing unless you have some very high-voltage electric around the coop).

If your coop air quality is excellent and you have few chickens for the size of the coop, you can sometimes get away with closing the ventilation at night but it isn't something you'd want to plan to do on a normal ongoing basis. Nighttime is when you're most apt to have air-quality *problems*, in fact (because the air is cooler and thus more humid, and because nighttime is when the birds are in the coop full-time).

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[kittyacid]

I am not getting why the O.P. is feeling it's necessary to close vents for predatorproofing? Just predatorproof the VENTS. Like, with strong hardwarecloth or etc. firmly-attached across the opening.

The O.P. is an overprotective and somewhat paranoid new chick mom! My large "vents" are actually windows screened with hardware cloth, but the large area of screening seems to yield with pressure, even though it is firmly attached. After seeing that cage bent by a raccoon someone posted, I am afraid that I can't make it strong enough to stop a determined raccoon. The screens can be removed and the window shut to make the opening more secure, but reducing the ventilation. That is why I was thinking about leaving the windows open during the day and closed at night, which only leaves a few small 4"x10" true vents open at night.​