Ventilation on Amish Style Coop

[U_Stormcrow]

It's too cold to go out there, so here's a pic from when it was new. I cut out the parts circled with a sawzall & covered them with HC. I did every one of the eaves, front & back. Super simple but adds lots of good ventilation.View attachment 2596018

ETA: Ok, I took a pic.
View attachment 2596502

^^^ THIS is exactly what @aart and myself and many others are talking about when discussing under eave ventilation. High up, weather sheltered, well above the birds' roosts so no drafts on them. When combined with a ridge vent or monitor-style roof it encourages passive airflow from cold (lower) to hot (upper) even in still air, drawing ammonia vapors out and reducing heat radiated from the underside of the roof surface, whether metal or shingled decking.

Great photo. Nice clean work.

 

[3KillerBs]

Our birds can be raised in better.

Indeed.

We backyarders can aspire to give our chickens the best possible management -- even when we're raising them for production purposes.

 

[roy2636]

Thing is, outside of forums like this, there’s no-one else telling consumers that those coops aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. The company doesn’t look bad to anyone who‘s in the market for a backyard coop for the simple reason is that among the chicken keepers who buy one of the pre-fab style coops, and then go on to cram the “intended” number of chickens in there, very few will ever *know* that the reason they’re experiencing poor production, or sick & dying chickens is somehow related to a too-small coop with too little ventilation. Most will think of a thousand other reasons before they suspect that. Even if they are one of the rare keepers who seek vet care for their birds, it’s unlikely to be identified as the cause— or even a contributing factor. Unlike the people here, I have yet to hear a vet ask, “What is your coop like? How big is it & how many birds are in there?” More often, the keepers just replace the chicken and assume it was just “one of those things”.

The companies who produce the flimsy coops are the same ones who sell similarly produced rabbit hutches & dog houses. As a matter of fact, frequently you can find an almost identical model chicken coop as a rabbit hutch— they bump out a portion to make a nest box area, and remove a shelf inside and add a roosting bar instead. Sometimes it’s exactly the same thing, with a dowel in the box and in the instructions it outlines where to install it. By the time the purchaser realizes the coop/hutch/house is crap... they’ve usually already bought the animals that need the structure, and they're stuck using it anyway.

Until I found this site, I never knew a chicken could have a life expectancy longer than 3-4 years. I was raised thinking that the more eggs you got from a hen, the shorter her life would be. That was just the way it was. No one was taking a hen to a vet. Actually, you counted yourself lucky if you had a hen who popped out eggs like a gum-ball machine and lived into her 3rd year! Any eggs you got that year were a bonus! Now, admittedly, this was nearly 4 decades ago.

Plenty of people have these coops. I would think people would be posting about sick or dying bird eventually if the coop was the issue. Ive seen one post where ventilation was somewhat of an issue, and that is only because the person was using a heat lamp in winter. Other than that I havnt found anything else. I added 4, 4", vents in the soffit between the rafters. I will have 13 birds in each coop. I guess we will see what happens. I also free range mine. I see how too much space can be an issue as well. I think the space issue goes both ways.

 

[saysfaa]

... I see how too much space can be an issue as well. I think the space issue goes both ways.

This is the first I have heard that too much space can be an issue... other than for baby chicks. Could you explain what issues it could cause?

My first coop is ordered, I'm trying to limit numbers and expand space to give them as much as possible but if there is a too big, I would like to know the how/why of it.

 

[aart]

Plenty of people have these coops. I would think people would be posting about sick or dying bird eventually if the coop was the issue.

I've read plenty of problems caused by crowding in small coops....
.....maybe not sick and dying, but still.

This is the first I have heard that too much space can be an issue... other than for baby chicks. Could you explain what issues it could cause?

I'd like to know that too.

 

[roy2636]

I've read plenty of problems caused by crowding in small coops....
.....maybe not sick and dying, but still.


I'd like to know that too.

but with the specific coop? as popular as they are it doesnt seem to be an issue. most people are adding extra ventilation though.

 

[roy2636]

This is the first I have heard that too much space can be an issue... other than for baby chicks. Could you explain what issues it could cause?

My first coop is ordered, I'm trying to limit numbers and expand space to give them as much as possible but if there is a too big, I would like to know the how/why of it.

Winter in the mid west. it takes more to heat bigger spaces.

 

[aart]

Winter in the mid west. it takes more to heat bigger spaces.

That's the fallacy...you don't want coops to 'hold heat',
they should have copious ventilation so temps and humidity are about the same inside and outside the coop.

 

[aart]

but with the specific coop? as popular as they are it doesnt seem to be an issue. most people are adding extra ventilation though.

Not so much as the tiny dollhouse coops,
but yes I've seen these over-crowded too.

 

[saysfaa]

Winter in the mid west. it takes more to heat bigger spaces.

Thank you. I appreciate you answering. I live in the upper midwest, so have been looking for how to handle the cold. I found a lot of evidence for the unheated open-air Woods's style being the least likely to have frostbite or respiratory problems even much further north than I am. Not just the Woods' book but also things like looking up what kind of housing people use (and what else might be factors) when I find posts about frostbite or related issues. I'm going with one end open all the time, all year. And soffits, ridge vent, and windows opened on both sides spring, summer, and fall. If I'm wrong, I'll post about next year so other people can find it.