This is our first year with chickens here in the Pacific Northwest. We have four hens (I think they're all hens) that are about 5 months old--no eggs yet. We built a coop and run based on lots of information about ventilation for the summer and protection in the winter. Winters are pretty mild here (occasional lows in the mid-20s), but it rains a lot. This last summer we had a few days around 116 degrees, so ventilation seemed important.
Our coop measures 3' x 5.5 feet and is 3--3.5' high. There's a run beneath the coop and beside the coop that they have free run in as you can see in the photo. We don't close the hatch between the coop and the run at night. We also have a fenced but not secure yard we let them out into when we're outside so we can watch for neighborhood dogs, hawks, etc. Unfortunately, the roof doesn't have much overhang at all--maybe 1-2", but it is attached 0.5-1 inch above a layer of hardware cloth so air can move around there somewhat. Most of the walls are plywood with the exception of two small-ish windows (hardware cloth-covered) on one of the long sides, a hatch down into the run, and one entire side that is hardware cloth.
The whole setup is only about 10 feet from our 2-story house with the open (hardware cloth-covered) side facing our house. So I thought having the open side face our house would provide enough protection from the rain and cold and provide lots of ventilation, but I find myself losing sleep now that it's begun to rain hard at night with wind. The hens go up into their coop every evening and every morning they seem just fine and happy, but I'm not really sure what to watch for, being new to chickens. The coop doesn't seem to be drenched or even very wet at all.
I would welcome any thoughts about whether we should add a removable piece of plywood to the open side of the coop. If so, I keep hearing that ventilation at the top is most important, but whatever rain might get into the coop is going to come from above, obviously. Should I leave the coop as is to maximize ventilation and just stop worrying about the chickens, or should I add some protection? I attached a photo. I see that it looks dreary in the photo--needs a clean-out!
Thanks so much for your help! I'm new-ish to this thread and did try to find this kind of info in previous threads, but mostly found info about converted sheds, etc., that had much less ventilation than our coop.
Our coop measures 3' x 5.5 feet and is 3--3.5' high. There's a run beneath the coop and beside the coop that they have free run in as you can see in the photo. We don't close the hatch between the coop and the run at night. We also have a fenced but not secure yard we let them out into when we're outside so we can watch for neighborhood dogs, hawks, etc. Unfortunately, the roof doesn't have much overhang at all--maybe 1-2", but it is attached 0.5-1 inch above a layer of hardware cloth so air can move around there somewhat. Most of the walls are plywood with the exception of two small-ish windows (hardware cloth-covered) on one of the long sides, a hatch down into the run, and one entire side that is hardware cloth.
The whole setup is only about 10 feet from our 2-story house with the open (hardware cloth-covered) side facing our house. So I thought having the open side face our house would provide enough protection from the rain and cold and provide lots of ventilation, but I find myself losing sleep now that it's begun to rain hard at night with wind. The hens go up into their coop every evening and every morning they seem just fine and happy, but I'm not really sure what to watch for, being new to chickens. The coop doesn't seem to be drenched or even very wet at all.
I would welcome any thoughts about whether we should add a removable piece of plywood to the open side of the coop. If so, I keep hearing that ventilation at the top is most important, but whatever rain might get into the coop is going to come from above, obviously. Should I leave the coop as is to maximize ventilation and just stop worrying about the chickens, or should I add some protection? I attached a photo. I see that it looks dreary in the photo--needs a clean-out!
Thanks so much for your help! I'm new-ish to this thread and did try to find this kind of info in previous threads, but mostly found info about converted sheds, etc., that had much less ventilation than our coop.
