Ventilation & Insulation Question

[MalcolmReynolds]

Hi, I am a newbie on this forum and to chickens so please be gentle.

I am in the process of building a coop for 8 to 10 chickens and I have some questions about ventilation and insulation. We live in northern New Mexico and winter night lows can be 0 degrees or colder. The sun shines most days during the winter so I have a big south facing window in my coop for some solar gain. The coop dimensions are 7 feet wide x 6 feet deep and the height is 6.5 feet at the front and sloping down to 5 feet at the back.

Here are some pics that shows the ventilation I have built in so far:

- West Side:

- South Side:

- East Side:

The side wall ventilation slots will have a sliding cover to allow for venting adjustments.

Will I need more ventilation and if so, where should I put it?

The north wall has no venting because the roost will run parallel to this wall (above the poop slide that you can see in the West Side picture). I could add some vents to the underside of the north side roof overhang but this would cause the air to flow up over the roost. Not sure if that would be a good idea?

The walls are 2 x 4 framed and have fiberglass insulation on all 4 sides. Do I need to insulate the roof as well? Currently the rafters are exposed so it would be easy to run fiberglass insulation between those and screw on some OSB as a ceiling. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Malcolm Reynolds

 

[dacjohns]

It looks good to me. The main reason for ventilation is to keep ammonia from building up. If you check the coop daily and keep the litter stirred and the waste from building up too much you should be OK. My only concern is the glass front door and maybe the coop getting too cold but on the other hand chickens are supposed to be pretty hardy and do well in the cold.

Are you near Raton?

 

[krcote]

Wow! Great coop! You are doing just fine- much better than most of us when we just got started. Your girls should be very happy, and lay you many eggs! If it really does get that cold at night, I would consider reducing the size of your vents with small doors or the like to lessen those deadly drafts everyone is always talking about. Other than that, my girls would be very very jealous of your coop!
WELCOME TO BYC!

 

[LynneP]

I'm assuming the vents will be fastened securely and covered, and that your eave space will be screened with hardware cloth? Nice little coop, and if your openings are predator proof along with your run, you'll be in great shape.

 

[barnkat]

Captain Tightpants! I've been wondering what you've been up to. So does this mean you've finally settled, you know, moved to the country, built yourself a chicken coop, parked the old Firefly out in a cow pasture somewhere?

Nice work on the coop, Mal. Really. It looks warm, sturdy, safe, and I'm sure the chickens are going to love it! The first two coops I built didn't have any insulation at all, and the chickens seemed fine, even in New England winters. Just as long as it's not drafty, they seem to do allright. The next coop I'm building will be insulated though, probably on the roof as well as the sides, because I worry about my chickens too much and the insulation would let ME sleep better on cold nights. So I'd only really suggest insulating the roof if it will make YOU feel better, if you're a worrier like me, because otherwise I don't really think the chickens need it.

But if you ever fire up Serenity again, let me know. I'd love to rent out one of the shuttles, or maybe I could even help out with "business". We should definitely think about putting in a little chicken coop somewhere, though. Fresh eggs in space--doesn't get better than that!

 

[Momo]

Mal! Woo Hoo!
(Firefly ROCKS!)

 

[willheveland]

I think if you leave your rafters open like it is,that is perfect for venting.I don't think you need to insulate,I don't and it's much colder here.Nice coop. Will

 

[MalcolmReynolds]

Thanks for all the information and kind words. I ended up insulating the ceiling (just for my own peace of mind

) except between 2 of the rafters so I can cut a hole in the ceiling and let air circulate through those rafters and out through the eaves.

I'll try to post some more pics when I get everything done.

P.S. - The Firefly love is shiny!