Ventilation

[Fricasee]

 

[Joannimal]

Hi, Fricasee. I am finishing my coop and have been thinking a lot about ventilation recently. Right now I have open sides (covered with 1 cm hardware mesh) in both gable ends of my coop-- when winter comes (I am in Maine) I will cover those gable ends with wood, but am planning some kind vent there to improve air... was thinking about putting in a whirlygig or turbine vent, but then my brother suggested the kind of pipes that are used in outhouses to vent the waste pits-- apparently you can paint them black so that they heat up with the sun, and the bad air flows up and out by convection. I haven't tried this yet, does anyone think it might work? I found a lovely metal pipe at the transfer station the other day...

 

[Fricasee]

Hi, Fricasee. I am finishing my coop and have been thinking a lot about ventilation recently. Right now I have open sides (covered with 1 cm hardware mesh) in both gable ends of my coop-- when winter comes (I am in Maine) I will cover those gable ends with wood, but am planning some kind vent there to improve air... was thinking about putting in a whirlygig or turbine vent, but then my brother suggested the kind of pipes that are used in outhouses to vent the waste pits-- apparently you can paint them black so that they heat up with the sun, and the bad air flows up and out by convection. I haven't tried this yet, does anyone think it might work? I found a lovely metal pipe at the transfer station the other day...

I think that's a fabulous idea. My boyfriend showed me something similar done with flat panels.

I looked at a turbine yesterday at Home Depot and it was huge. Way too big for my situation. So I ended up with a metal gable vent that I've installed in my sidewall. I intend to lay siding over the flange. The hardware cloth in it is very sturdy and it was the safest option I could find. I can lay a flat magnet over a portion of the opening to prevent cold drafts. I'm still going to put a small fan in the wall on the other side of the coop to improve ventilation when the door is closed.

 

[biophiliac]

As I said before the ceiling in my coop is non existent since the clearance is about four feet. If I install opposite vents the birds will be in direct way of the air flow since their roost bars are right up against the ceiling.

This is the first floor of a two floor coop. The roost bars are near the ceiling of the first floor but there is a whole other second story above.

Just wondering if you put a couple of holes [covered w/wire screen to prevent injuries] in the ceiling of the first floor to connect with the ventilation of the 2nd floor. Then you could have a 1st floor vent down low below the roosts? Don't know if this would work to connect both into one air flow system, just a thought.

 

[jeria]

The turbines are outdated technology. Newbie so no expert, but my house turbines were replaced a couple years ago . You might want to check into some modern attic vents, cheaper and more effective than those old turbines. Also predators can get in through them if they aren't spinning. I had coons in my attic and there were signs in the turbines that the coons were using them as one of the points of access. That is if you want a vent on your roof.

 

[Fricasee]

Just wondering if you put a couple of holes [covered w/wire screen to prevent injuries] in the ceiling of the first floor to connect with the ventilation of the 2nd floor. Then you could have a 1st floor vent down low below the roosts? Don't know if this would work to connect both into one air flow system, just a thought.

I thought about doing this and running the pipe all the way through second floor to the roof but the only turbine I saw at Home Depot is huge.