Ventilation

[e2l4]

Hello! Currently building my first coop, and wanting to get a second opinion on ventilation before I get too far

My current plans for the coop are for 40” wide and 12’ long (I’m using pallets, hence the weird dimensions lol). Sloped roof, with one of the long walls being 5’ tall and the other being 6’ tall.

For ventilation I’m planning on having the top 6” of both long walls be open with hardware cloth. It’ll be a total of 12 sq feet of ventilation, and a good 18” above the roost bars. Initial plan is for 8 chickens.

However…I’m in Maine, so I worry about having too much ventilation in winter or not enough in summer. I’m planning on being able to wrap the coop below the hardware cloth in plastic for winter draft-proofing. Do I need to have a way to shield the hardware cloth ventilation openings from blowing wind/snow in winter?

 

[DobieLover]

Do I need to have a way to shield the hardware cloth

Yes. It's called a large roof overhang.
Are you not planning on putting solid walls on the coop? How will they be predator proofed?
Do you have any pictures of your progress?

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

I have 2 articles for you:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

 

[e2l4]

Yes. It's called a large roof overhang.
Are you not planning on putting solid walls on the coop? How will they be predator proofed?
Do you have any pictures of your progress?

Sorry, walls will be solid below the hardware cloth section up top, but with an addition of plastic in the winter just to be sure of no drafts.

I am planning on a roof overhang, but since the roof only slopes one direction it seems like a large overhang on the top wouldn’t do anything?

My current progress pic is a driveway covered in pallets I’m still working on my blueprints with the intention to start working after this heatwave passes

 

[3KillerBs]

Sorry, walls will be solid below the hardware cloth section up top, but with an addition of plastic in the winter just to be sure of no drafts.

Don't close off too much of the ventilation.

The usual guideline is to have at least 1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation per adult, standard-size hen -- ventilation that is NEVER closed or covered over.

Plus additional supplemental ventilation that can be adjusted according to the current weather.

Soffit venting at the top and bottom of the slope plus top-hinged windows are probably your best bet here.

Also, if you can raise both the low and high walls by at least a foot it would be a good idea. The bedding will build up inside during the winter and you will end up walked around all stooped over.

 

[DobieLover]

Sorry, walls will be solid below the hardware cloth section up top, but with an addition of plastic in the winter just to be sure of no drafts.

I am planning on a roof overhang, but since the roof only slopes one direction it seems like a large overhang on the top wouldn’t do anything?

The plastic is unnecessary. Small drafts the don't open feathers are fine.
If you put a 12"-18" overhang on a mono-pitch roof with ventilation just below it, it will keep out rain and snow.

 

[3KillerBs]

The plastic is unnecessary. Small drafts the don't open feathers are fine.
If you put a 12"-18" overhang on a mono-pitch roof with ventilation just below it, it will keep out rain and snow.

You didn't include a link to your coop do I have to: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-mulligan.74743/

It's such a splendid example for people in variable climates.

 

[DobieLover]

The bedding will build up inside during the winter and you will end up walked around all stooped over.

Not if poop boards are used. The walls in my coop are about those heights.

 

[e2l4]

Thank you all so much for all of articles and input!!

This is a sketch of a cross section of my current coop plan (1sq = 2”). I’m building entirely out of pallets, so the walls below the ventilation space will be solid (board and batten I think is the term? Using spare boards from broken pallets to cover the spaces in between the boards on the coop pallets). Ventilation space being open but covered with hardware cloth. The higher ventilation opening under a single pitch roof is the part that had me concerned that it would be acting like a giant snow funnel.

I’m hoping to get a solid 18 months out of this coop, then re-evaluate. Chickens weren’t in the budget this year, but pallets are free, the house had a random roll of tar paper and maybe a stack of shingles hanging around. So hopefully my only expenses (beyond the chickens/bedding/food/etc) will be hinges, latches, hardware cloth, chicken wire, and a tarp to help shelter some of the run. So I want to make sure that the coop will have adequate space and keep the chickens safe, but I’m also working with limited materials lol.

Since the coop is so long and narrow (interior being 144” x 40”) I’m planning on several smaller access windows/doors/portals and doing a deep bedding or deep litter method. I’ll have an access to the nest boxes, a Dutch door to access where their food and water is (lower portion of that door being for when I need to clean out the coop), and another small access to the side with the roosting bars. Other than when the coop needs cleaning I’m not planning to ever need to be in it to care for the chickens.

(A local friend got chicks this summer to add to her flock but overestimated her current full size chicken capacity. The hopeful plan is that I’ll be able to get a decent coop and serviceable run together to be able to buy 8 pullets from her at the beginning of fall and have our own bird herd)

 

[3KillerBs]

(board and batten I think is the term? Using spare boards from broken pallets to cover the spaces in between the boards on the coop pallets).

That makes a nice, solid, sturdy wall with, IMO, an attractive, old-fashioned look.

You'll want to make sure that your roost is at a height where the birds' heads are well below the ventilation, but venting the top and bottom of a shed roof should be good year round.