Ventilation Questions

[FirewifeJess]

Please read all, I need your advice you seasoned chicken people! Thanks in advance

So here is my coop:

With one more vent at the top in the back:

Does it have enough ventilation? I know more is better but I also don't want my girls to be cold in the winter. I live in the Pacific Northwest and it never gets below about 15 degrees Fahrenheit. We see snow for (maybe) a couple weeks per year, and during the summer we might have streaks of 90+ degrees for a week or so, but generally it's mild here, with a TON of rain. The small hole you see isn't their door, it's a window covered with hardware cloth and will always be open, and their door is on the other side of the coop; this may or may not always be open depending how secure we can make their permanent run once it's built. We obviously have our work cut out for us! Do I need more ventilation than the 2 top vents (also covered with hardware cloth) and the window? I could always bust out the glass of the man-door and cover that with hardware cloth...what do you think?

 

[Joe.G]

How many birds are you going to have? What size is the coop?

 

[perchie.girl]

Please read all, I need your advice you seasoned chicken people! Thanks in advance

So here is my coop:

With one more vent at the top in the back:

Does it have enough ventilation? I know more is better but I also don't want my girls to be cold in the winter. I live in the Pacific Northwest and it never gets below about 15 degrees Fahrenheit. We see snow for (maybe) a couple weeks per year, and during the summer we might have streaks of 90+ degrees for a week or so, but generally it's mild here, with a TON of rain. The small hole you see isn't their door, it's a window covered with hardware cloth and will always be open, and their door is on the other side of the coop; this may or may not always be open depending how secure we can make their permanent run once it's built. We obviously have our work cut out for us! Do I need more ventilation than the 2 top vents (also covered with hardware cloth) and the window? I could always bust out the glass of the man-door and cover that with hardware cloth...what do you think?

This looks very good to me. The only time interior temps are important are those days where the chicken will want to be inside. Cold is not necessarily a defining factor for that. Put a thermometer in there and trust your own instincts... watch your chickens and adjust accordingly.

deb

 

[FirewifeJess]

bump! I have been leaving the window open full time now since the girls have a lot of body feathers and will be 5 weeks old on Wednesday. Should I bust out the glass in the door and cover with hardware cloth? We got the coop in position yesterday and just have to saw off the hitch and axle and drop it onto concrete blocks to make it permanent!

 

[4 the Birds]

Hmmm... It could get pretty hot inside that coup if it is closed with temps in the 90's. You may consider a cut-out in the side and adding a 3' x 2' double hung window. You can find windows with screens for under 30 bucks and they are really easy to install. This would also give the coop some light inside. The thin window in the door would add a little ventillation and you could cut a sheet of plywood with hinges as a storm shutter I suppose.

 

[Fred's Hens]

In the PNW, super high temps are rather rare, are they not?

The vents look great, btw.

 

[FirewifeJess]

High temps are, indeed, rare. Our summers are generally mild, in the high 70s, sometimes 80s, and very occasionally 90s (meaning, perhaps 7 days a year total). I think I am going to break out the glass on the window on the door right now and add hardware cloth, and then just let things be and wait and see.