Ventilation vs draft

[Ridgerunner]

In snow country ridge vents can be blocked by snow. They are great in the summer and for many of us during the winter even, but we all live in different climates. It’s just something to consider.

We all have different styles of coops and roofs. Some roofs are peaked like the one shown in the first post. Many are single sloped because they are generally small and the sloped roofs are so easy to build if you have a relatively short span. In either type the area under the overhang is one of my favorite places to add ventilation. Instead of using the traditional soffit vents you would use on your house, I use the opening between the top of the wall and the roof, just covering that opening created by the rafters with hardware cloth. Just use furring strips to cover the edges if you are worried about appearance, though these areas are usually not noticeable. But we all have our opinions on how pretty it needs to be. In suburban areas especially you don’t want your neighbors worrying about an ugly building bringing property values down.

If you have a single sloped roof and that high point is in a direction rain comes from you might need to do some type of rain protection. Mine points east and that’s the only direction I don’t get rain.

I don’t see what the problem is with gable vents. Perhaps you can enlighten us? They are openings that keep out rain and let air move. For the coop shown in the first post, one great way to get good ventilation would be to vent under the overhang on the sides and put gable vents at the peaks of the ends. On the days the air outside is cooler than the air inside, the cooler air will come in under the overhang and the warmer air will exit through the gable vents. If you have any breeze at all from any direction, you will have air going in one side and out the other, all over the chicken’s heads.

 

[Indoroowet]

<<<snipped>>>
. Simply opening up a space at the top for warm air to leave is not enough.

So you need air to be able to escape from the very highest point, and enter from a lower point to create airflow that will push the moisture out. You just need to make sure that your lower point where air enters is not low enough to blow air across sleeping chickens.

When I started out, I had only a few holes in each end of the coop
and then I read that for each chicken you needed one square foot of opening.
So before I added the suggestion, I did measure the temp and humidity at night and it was relatively high !

Then I added the one square foot openings per chicken in the utmost top of the coop and measured again.
The humidity stayed at the level where it was during the rest of the day,
which is the same as the ambient humidity,
and the temperature was about 10 degrees higher than the outside.
I was amazed actually how much *heat* those chicks do generate !

I live in Utah, and the outside humidity ranges between 25 and 40 %

I did not add openings for the rising hot air to enter the coop,
since my coop has so many cracks and small openings already ..
Around the flip up door, on the outside of the floor where the floor meet the walls,
around the cracks of the service door, etc..

I really doubt that any coop is airtight below the chicks ....
Also, I really doubt that a good ventilation principle will generate windy or drafty conditions inside a coop.
One just has to make sure there is enough space to get the moist air out !

 

[LanceTN]

@Ridgerunner It's a matter of how you want air to flow. If you are using the gable vent as the intake it's coming in at a relatively high point, and not pulling enough up from below.

If you are using the gable as an outflow then you are not getting the warmest most humid air from the very top.

In both circumstances you would be better off with a ridge and soffit, just with out the actual soffit itself on the chicken coop if you don't need it to look so pretty.

And a gable mixed with ridge and soffit vents just screws up what would otherwise be a smooth and orderly airflow from the bottom of the roof to the top.

Then again maybe I'm holding too high of standards for chickens lol

 

[LanceTN]

Also this discussion is made more complex based on the roof design in the coop pictured.

I solved the problem on the coop I just built very simply.

 

[CrazyTalk]

Ventilation is removing bad air. Draft is a wind blowing on them. Two different things.

I think the problem is the term "draft".

People think of leaky windows or cold air near the bottom of an apartment door.

Cold air isn't a problem - wind blowing on them and blowing their feathers apart is the problem - if they can keep their feathers in place and stay dry, they'll be fine.

 

[ECBW]

@Ridgerunner It's a matter of how you want air to flow. If you are using the gable vent as the intake it's coming in at a relatively high point, and not pulling enough up from below.

If you are using the gable as an outflow then you are not getting the warmest most humid air from the very top.

In both circumstances you would be better off with a ridge and soffit, just with out the actual soffit itself on the chicken coop if you don't need it to look so pretty.

And a gable mixed with ridge and soffit vents just screws up what would otherwise be a smooth and orderly airflow from the bottom of the roof to the top.

Then again maybe I'm holding too high of standards for chickens lol

Gable vents work fine. I have a small "ridge vent" but it does get snow covered and not have the opening area as the gable vents. So in winter when it counts, I'll say the gable vents are doing the heavy lifting. Keep in mind, no chickens are poking their heads up there, besides air is very fluid and it mixes itself well.

 

[EagleEyes]

So, it seems like we are getting this draft/ventilation thing narrowed down. If I keep my pop door open and the 2'X4' window open along with two 7"X15" vents (north and south side) up toward the top of the coop open, I should be good for at least some of the winter. I'll close down the big window when it gets serious out there, like below 0deg.
My big window and pop door open out into the run which is protected from the north and west, and from above. It is hinged at the top, so I can close it off if I want, or some of it. The roost has been moved since this pic, and is on the west wall now, away from any drafts.

 

[Robotmomma]

Suggestions for how to proceed with ventilation? I am trying not to spend a lot. I have fence pickets inside as the floor so thinking that would provide clean air to enter from the bottom, now I need to know just how big the openings at the top should be. That coop is about 4x4, might have to hold six chickens since they won't let people sell less than six here.