Ventilation question

[patandchickens]

Quote:
If they are at floor or roost level they're more l8kely to be a problem than ones high up.

To see if they're a problem, go into coop on windy day, close door behind you, and use a strip of kleenex (or look at cobwebs) to test for breeze. If kleenex or cobwebs blow significantly, you have a potential cold-weather problem.

However even if this indicates the possibility of cold-weather problems, if it were me I would not caulk the gaps. Any at 'chicken level' I would nail or glue battens, instead, to close the gaps. But higher up I would wait til actual cold weather then stuff strips of folded newspaper or old socks or whatnot into the gaps. These can be removed in the spring, partly in case pest control is needed but mainly to restore ventilation for warmer weather.

That is not to say you may not oughta have 'real' ventilation too, of course, with closeable flaps.

The amount presumably depends a LOT on your climate, winter in-coop humidity, and management style. I think Damerow's book on chickens suggests 1 square foot per chicken if that gives some vague starting point.

Pat

 

[patandchickens]

BTW, here is a good example of how NOT to arrange ventilation in a small tractor. (I love the tractor otherwise, but it sucks for frosty weather).

There is nothing inherently wrong with either type of vent - the closeable heat-register vents or the long screened vent with wood 'door'.

The problem is that the big vent is right along the roost, so chilly air comes right in on the chickens (tho a tighter door for the vent would help), while the other vents are basically at floor level so that any stiff breeze kicks up dusty litter like crazy.

If I were to do it again, I would make the end vents much larger but with some sort of (ugly) external baffle to stop wind, and make a door for the top vent that closed near-airtight.

Although, with a waterer in there I would still quite possibly have cold weather humidity problems, I dunno...


Pat

 

[bills]

Oh, I have two controlable vents at the roofline as well as a window that will open for fresh air. I just didn't know about the draft situation. The wind certainly won't blast throught the small cracks I mentioned, but will allow air through them especially on a windy day.

I just don't know how much of a draft is too much for chicken health.