Ventilation question

[Jenna0822]

Hello! We are building this coop based on plans we purchased online.

We have 5 chickens. Turns out, the plans don’t have any ventilation worked into their plan.

Here’s what we’re adding:
-screens and hardware cloth so we can keep the top of the Dutch door open in the summer.
- tilting windows (the windows in the plan were set but ours will tilt out at the bottom)
- a roof ridge at the top
- Soffit vents

Is this enough do you think?
Should we also cut some holes in the walls under the roof?

Thanks!

Also here are some other questions : should we insulate or put plywood under the metal roof or keep it exposed as the plans have it? I don’t think we’re unsustainable the walls.

Thanks!

 

[NatJ]

A common guideline is one square foot of ventilation per adult chicken, that stays open all year in all kinds of weather. Some climates and some coop styles need more than that. (If you're measuring vents in inches, remember that one square foot equals 144 square inches.)

In addition, it is usually good to have more areas you can open for the hot summer months, like the door and windows you mention.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Its easy to have too much breeze. Its almost impossible to have too much ventilation. and with any snow load at all, your ridge vent will be blocked. Under rafter insulation you can add later - if its needed.

Sadly, an open half door is (depending on where the perches are located) likely to create a breeze. You may (again, depending on perch heights) have similar difficulties with the windows. That's not to say you shouldn't do those things, just that they may not solve your potential problems. Probably won't, actually.

The good news is, you have a covered run - that helps a lot. Depending on your construction "comfort level", there are some easy fixes you can make to improve your 24/7/365 weather sheltered ventilation.

Also, this thing is SERIOUSLY overbuilt.

^ that would obviously alter your fascia boards as well, and require a different trim at the front and back walls to provide a surface to secure hardware cloth to for predator protection.

Alternatively, use 2x4s, don't birdsmouth, just secure with hurricane ties, and don't block the gaps between them. Similar to my goat shed. Detail picture below. This rpovides approx 1 sq ft free ventilation for each four linear foot of length. 2x6s would provide approx 1 sq ft free venting for each 2.5' of length. On each side.

Hope these offer some easy ideas to upgrade the ventilation while keeping the birds from being drafty. Welcome to BYC!

/edit final note. Chicken wire keeps chickens in. It keeps nothing out, except other chickens. If that's enough predator ptotection for you, fine - but it is overwhelmingly NOT what this community recommends.

 

[Saveria]

These are in draft stage (no pun intended), but these drawings from 3KillerBees helped me so much to understand how ventilation works for chickens. What you want is air movement from the bottom up, but no wind getting at them where they will be sleeping at night.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...e-ventilation-cartoons.1527692/#post-25750806

 

[Shadrach]

Just about everything @U_Stormcrow mentioned above plus a bit.
The really important point about ventilation in coops is about airflow, not area.
For example, if I built the type of coop I hve often in the past with one square foot of ventilation per chicken they would spend their lives soaked at every heavy rainfall and frozen every winter. None of these often quoted ratios and minimums are particulalry useful.
What is worth considering looking at your planned completely over specified construction (Good for you if you can afford it. I'm sure the chickens will appreciate the space) is making the run as secure as the coop. If you do this right and provide roost bars in the run, then the chickens can make their own minds up about their roosting conditions. I have chickens currently that roost in the run when the weather is warmer and in the coop when it's cold.
Choice, chickens are quite capable of making their own.

 

[mowin]

I would open up both gable ends (above the doors) and cover in HC. As mentioned above, you can't have too much ventilation, especially in the summer. However, some ventilation is not able to be used during the winter months because it causes to many drafts.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

You've gotten a lot of excellent advice. I'm just going to add a couple notes and recommend an article.

First, the article, if you haven't read it already: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

Second, given your location, you might be tempted to try to keep chickens warm. Don't. Keep them dry and out of the wind and they'll keep themselves warm with their built-in down parkas.

Third, since you haven't built it yet, now is a very good time to think of how you'll winterize your run and make it easy to do. Many cold-climate people wrap the run in clear plastic for the winter -- leaving vents around the top. Others make removable panels that they can put on and take off. It's not critical, but something to think about.

Here’s what we’re adding:
-screens and hardware cloth so we can keep the top of the Dutch door open in the summer.
- tilting windows (the windows in the plan were set but ours will tilt out at the bottom)
- a roof ridge at the top
- Soffit vents

In Massachusetts your ridge vent will be blocked in the winter when the snow piles up. I recommend adding gable venting, especially under the roof of the run where it will be protected from blowing snow.

The tilting windows will be perfect supplemental ventilation for the summer.

should we insulate or put plywood under the metal roof or keep it exposed as the plans have it?

Insulation is, under most circumstances, a bad idea in a chicken coop. The insulation creates a cozy home for rodents and, if your ventilation is adequate, doesn't do anything meaningful to keep the coop warm.

HOWEVER, in some places and New England with it's wet climate, frequent fogs, and wild swings in temperature (I used to live in Monson, MA but didn't keep chickens then), is one of them, a metal roof can have a condensation problem.

Much of the solution to condensation problems (which can occur with other roof types too), is ensuring sufficient airFLOW under the roof. But your location may be one of the places where a thermal break under the metal is desirable. Are you prone to get condensation in enclosed porches or similar structures where warm air inside might be warmer than the roof?

(If you're measuring vents in inches, remember that one square foot equals 144 square inches.)

IMO, if you're measuring anything chicken related other than a nestbox or a pop door in inches it's too small.

These are in draft stage (no pun intended), but these drawings from 3KillerBees helped me so much to understand how ventilation works for chickens. What you want is air movement from the bottom up, but no wind getting at them where they will be sleeping at night.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...e-ventilation-cartoons.1527692/#post-25750806

Thank you so much for mentioning my drawings.

Choice, chickens are quite capable of making their own.

IIRC, you were one of the people who originally taught me to set things up to give chickens options.

When well-acclimated, chickens are remarkably tough and adaptable. If they have a place where they *can* be out of the weather I never worry about my birds choosing to be out in it instead.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Two more thoughts, adjacent to ventilation.

ONE) The time to think about drainage is BEFORE you set the foundation of your coop. If your yard has a slope, you want to ensure that slope isn't directing water into your run and coop. Similarly if your coop is close to an impermeable surface like a house or a driveway, which will magnify the amount of fallen rain that will have to be dealt with in some fashion.

Altered slopes, berms, swales are generally adequate with a bit of planning. French drains and similar efforts are a lot of work - best avoided - and can still be overwhelmed in intense rainfall events.

TWO) Orientation. Given the choice, you want to place your coop to take advantage of your prevailing wind directions (thank you for offering your location, it helps us help you). Your rainfall is pretty steady year round - set that aside for a moment, there is no advantage or disadvantage to any particular orientation on account of rainfall.

Optimally, you want to minimize winds blowing into the coop in winter, and maximize in summer, since birds are far less heat tolerant than cold tolerant. Your strongest winds tend to be in Feb/March, but begin trending up in November - so those are the wind directions we most want to buffer.

As it turns out, none of these are particularly strong, you are fortunate in that regard. Even so, capturing what little steady breeze you do get in the summer has value, while ensuring that windblown snow doesn't accumulate in an inconvenient location (like up against the people door) in winter is a "nice to have".

Based on this, and some consideration of your heaviest snwofall months...

I would try to orient the coop/run so the double window wall of the coop was in the west or north west, with the gable end of the run in the south or south east, so you work with nature, rather than against her. That would put your people door facing either south or south west. And consider ways to allow light into the top half of the people door.

I have minimal snow experience (see my location), but I mostly didn't like it (again, see my location - I moved back here), so I would orient West to East to minimize the amount of snow likely to be blown up against the door.

...in a perfect world, of course.

(edited)

 

[3KillerBs]

Given the choice, you want to place your coop to take advantage of your prevailing wind directions

I have lived in Massachusetts. One of it's weather challenges, just like in my current location in Central NC, is that you can get strong storms from any point on the compass -- though nor'easters are the worst -- even though the prevailing winter winds in the area I was in usually had a western component.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I have lived in Massachusetts. One of it's weather challenges, just like in my current location in Central NC, is that you can get strong storms from any point on the compass -- though nor'easters are the worst -- even though the prevailing winter winds in the area I was in usually had a western component.

There are no perfect solutions, just playing the odds. Same down here. Which way the wind blows is largely dependent on where the eye wall is, relative to me.