Ventilation in North Alabama

[R Wind]

So we're ready to add battens to the gaps in the old fence boards. Or not. Or partially. Help?

I read some artricles here, and was originally planning to cover the top two foot of the vertical gaps with hardware cloth, leaving that extra ventilation between boards, and add battens just to the bottom 3ft or so.

But we can cover the gaps totally for solid walls then add a screened coverable window (or windows) to either face, too.
Prevailing winds are usually from the Corner with the nest boxes, though being sheltered a bit by the house in that direction and under the trees, don't know how much that'll mitigate the winds. Sometimes we do get a storm coming from the SE -- corner diagonal to the nest boxes.

At the top under and between the rafters on sides and front, it'll be hardware cloth. So the front will have about 7.5 sq ft of open screening, plus some in that triangle under the rafter on each side.

 

[drycreek]

I‘m just south of Birmingham and have the south side of my coop completely open, covered with HW cloth The other three sides have a 14 inch high opening at the top all the way around Covered with HW cloth. As hot as Alabama gets you need a lot of ventilation you can always drop a tarp down on the open side to block the bottom draft in the winter. Chickens can take a lot of cold but don’t do well with heat. I even insulated the roof to help with the heat reflection.

 

[R Wind]

Hi, @drycreek.

I wish I'd talked to you before we started. We've already got four walls up. Hard to back out now. I don't have as much ventilation up above the walls, as you can see in the photo. Nor an open wall.

I guess I could put a screened door panel on the inside of the "3ft wide wooden panel people door" in Summer. Pin the actual door back against the wall. That would open up a lot more on the Western side. (It's under the trees totally, has the most shade in the yard, a huge elm tree covers it there, not just the oak trees in the photo.)
I also already planned to open up some window areas -- awning-type shutters, hinged on the top side, with hardware cloth. I guess I'd best figure that out before bothering to put in battens on the gaps between fence boards.

No electricity -- but could put in a fan if necessary.
We're in full shade -- do you think a white painted metal roof needs insulation? That's gotten very expensive or I'd put some of the foil-backed foam board. Put that in an upstairs attic closet and it made a huge diff.
Hmm, I could get some cheap solar blankets - the emergency type - and put it between the roof layers. That would be a reflective layer. What do you think?


Edit:
The only sun-loading this will get will be in the early hours of Summer. And we're meaning to extend the white roof panels down to that Eastern side -- put a lean-to against the coop where you see the small boat tarped up near the coop. The lean-to should shade that area of the chicken run even more.

 

[drycreek]

I would not do a fan my self due to fire hazards. Sounds like you might be okay on ventilation with the shade you’ll have. If the sun doesn’t hit the tin to long hopefully you’ll be okay there as well. It’s looking good.

I‘d definitely put the battens on to seal the cracks.

 

[R Wind]

I‘d definitely put the battens on to seal the cracks.

Full battens, I assume you mean. (As opposed to covering the cracks with hardware cloth and getting that extra ventilation ingress on the upper half of the walls.) It's certainly easier to put full height battens.

 

[drycreek]

Yeah I think you would be okay with full battens.