Ventilation for winter

[christina owens]

There was a miniature house / Playhouse in our backyard so we made it into a chicken coop. There are 2 windows and we made a 1 ft by 2 ft door with wood to slide up and down for them to get in and out. There was about 4 inch Gap from the top of the walls to the roof so we put plywood up to make a ceiling so nothing could get in and reduce amount of cold getting in as much as possible.

I recently was looking into drafts vs ventilation and am wondering if it's adequate to keep them warm. And what counts as good ventilation. If i should have not put up the ceiling or if the gap was too much for ventilation or if the few cracks between each sheet of plywood is enough ventilation. Also if it's ok to leave the chicken door open all the time as I currently do for them to get outside or if this is draft central. Lol. Especially if I'm supose to put their water outside to prevent moisture. And how to keep the water from freezing outside.

Also. It is raised off the ground somewhat with wood floor so should I be putting something down on the floor under the hay to keep cold air from going under and up through the floor.

 

[christina owens]

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC!
That's a sweet little building!!

Need to know your climate/location.
(putting location in your profile would be most helpful)
Sounds like your somewhere cold enough for freezing to a concern,
do you have power to the coop?
I use a 'sealed' heated waterer inside coop.

Some pics of the inside, and other views around the outside would be great.

 

[scottcaddy]

Location is the key here, not your street addy, but your part of what state?
Very nice playcoop you have there!
Scott

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, knowing something about your climate would help, and knowing something about how the insides are laid out (height of roosts and clearance above specifically). But in general, summer or winter, I'd probably remove that top 4" you put in and replace it with hardware cloth for predator protection. High ventilation like that is good in winter and summer. But there might be cross breeze problems if the roosts are right up against the ceiling.

 

[christina owens]

Welcome to BYC!
That's a sweet little building!!

Need to know your climate/location.
(putting location in your profile would be most helpful)
Sounds like your somewhere cold enough for freezing to a concern,
do you have power to the coop?
I use a 'sealed' heated waterer inside coop.

Some pics of the inside, and other views around the outside would be great.

Welcome to BYC!
That's a sweet little building!!

Need to know your climate/location.
(putting location in your profile would be most helpful)
Sounds like your somewhere cold enough for freezing to a concern,
do you have power to the coop?
I use a 'sealed' heated waterer inside coop.

Some pics of the inside, and other views around the outside would be great.

 

[christina owens]

Wisconsin.

 

[christina owens]

This was the gap on top of walls and below roof

 

[christina owens]

So I put boards for a ceiling but there's a few cracks between the 3 sheets

 

[christina owens]

Wood floor