Ventilation questions?????

[ABHanna4d]

My wife and I recently converted and old dog house into a chicken coop.

I am a little worried about the ventilation and the sizing of the entry door.

We live in Wichita Ks so it does get chili in the winter time but very rarely below zero. I am not really worried about the winter the summer (is what worries me I am afraid that they will cook in there. They will be pretty much free range because we will allow them to have the entire back yard durring the day.

We are thinking about getting 5-7 orpingtons and the coop itself is about 15sq. It has a second floor for the nesting box. We put two floor registers one on each side of the house and the overhang of the roof is not sealed.

1. my question is should I be worried about them in the summer at night when they are all in the coop?

2. What size should I make the entry/exit door for the ladies?

 

[HEChicken]

Don't have an answer for you exactly but welcome from Wichita, KS! I grew up with chooks in a milder climate and never had to worry about such thing. However I am new to keeping them in Wichita and learning as I go. I'm also a little concerned about the summers but I know there are a few others around here so it must be doable. I'll keep an eye on this thread....

 

[giasmom]

Anyway you could show us some pics ?

 

[ABHanna4d]

As you can see it is comming along pretty well. I wish I was a little more of a craftsman, we had some great ideas, but lack the skill to get it done.

The nest box will be up above and hopefully we will be able to fasten a perch somewhere without sacrificing too much space.

 

[Tala]

My chicks spent the summer in a large doghouse turned chicken tractor.

This is an inside view from the top, without the roof put on yet:

It has two gable vent windows so it gets air flow straight through, the large door which is open all day, and where the roof attaches on both sides there is over 2" wide sofit vents. I think the sofit vents helpa lot.

THE MAIN complication that I personally have with the doghouse coop is not roost space itself - but space for them to "fly" up to the roosts. My RIR rooster (the biggest one) has a little trouble flying up with the space limits. The Leghorns don't seem to have a problem because they are smaller.

 

[ABHanna4d]

Quote:
Thank you for the help: we are wanting to get orpingtons and we are curious about the amount of space they will need at night. We are going to let them free range during the day in our large yard, that is completely fenced but at night will five in that coop be too many?

 

[Tala]

I am unsure where you are putting your roosts?

My nest box is under the roosts - covered to keep most of the poo out. That way you don't need a ramp, which takes up valuable "take off" and "landing" space for getting up and down from the roost.

You say 15 sq ft. and 5 birds? That's slightly under the recommended 4sq ft each, but if they free range that shouldn't be a problem -assuming you have good ventilation. Orptingtons are a big breed, so you certainly won't want to go over 5 birds, and again my biggest bird is the only one who has any problem fitting getting up with limited take-off room.

MINE technically are cramped because originally I didn't intend to keep the rooster, so I'm a whole bird over "limit" but so far no problems. I'm building a permanent structure that's big enough for about 13 chickens to have plenty of room, and I will grow next years' chicks in the tractor again. Construction would go a LOT faster if it didn't rain EVERY day

 

[2txmedics]

I have my buffs in a dog kennel but its one of those plastic with the top part having the openings and the wire door...its temporary until I set up the Play Skool house I got free in a trash of someone that moved!!!

I had covered it with the tarp incase of rain and we live in Texas

Can you up to the top, maybe make a opening larger than that vent thing and put some sort of wire covering, and add a slant roof coming out alittle so water doesnt get in?...I might also cut out an area for some added roost...

Like maybe take off the back wall, and add to it??? is that possible.

HAD ANOTHER IDEA!!!! might work...what if you can take the roof off....and add corner Poles from the house corners up...like stilts...and cover that on two sides with chicken wire or something like that...then attach the roof over that?....kind of like an upper deck floor but the surround circle of the coop, two walls are opened with wire....but they can still get away from teh elements by going up further or staying down.

 

[patandchickens]

That's a kind of snug coop, and not overly ventilated. If you want to stick with that coop, you could at least enlarge the gable end vent as much as physically possible, like to become the entire triangular area. It can be closed with a matching flap for wintertime. You could even leave your smaller adjustible metal vent IN the flap, so's to have it available for winter use. You may have trouble with winter ventilation too, I fear, although I can't see how *much* opening is along the eaves. Five large chickens put out an amazing amount of moisture, especially when it is in a small air volume like that.

You may find yourself needing to switch the nestbox elsewhere, as otherwise they will all (or the most dominant) try to sleep in there. Chickens want to sleep in the highest location available. Thus it is important that the roost be higher than the nestbox. You might move the nestbox down so that its ceiling is the height where its floor is now, but that may not be sufficient and you might find yourself wanting to lower it to floor level. If you plan on keeping the eaves openings open all winter, you will not want the roost too high up...

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[ABHanna4d]

Thank you thank you every one all of these suggestions are great I think I will try to work my design a little bit and get back to you all.