Ventilation

[gammaflock]

Hi all! My husband finally finished our coop, and it is gorgeous! I have asked him to put cross ventilation in it several times, but he was on a mission and did not. There is a lift down window that runs the long length of the top of the coop, if you open it it is covered with hardware cloth. I am concerned it's not enough ventilation! My girls are 9 weeks old and we were going to move them in tonight, but its pouring rain and dropping to 45 overnight so I am going to keep them in the garage another night I think.

 

[3KillerBs]

The rule of thumb is 1 square foot of ventilation per chicken.

 

[aart]

We need pics to even make a guess.

 

[gammaflock]

We need pics to even make a guess.

It was raining so hard I couldn't get out there. Will post one after work. Thanks.

 

[middle TN Nancy]

Even without pics, from your description I think you will need a lower window for air intake. This will allow fresh air to enter and will encourage
hot moist air to exit through the long window at the top.
I just cut another window in my coop today because it seemed stuffy, even though one entire side of the coop where it meets the covered run is open, covered only with hardware cloth. There is ventilation under the eaves on 2 of the other 3 walls too. It seemed like the breezes were not all that effective since to reach the coop they had to come in under the (full height) run. The new window is on the adjacent wall and made a big difference.