ventilation.

[70monte]

How much ventilation is needed in a coup and what size openings are preferred? What kind of ventilation is preferred? Thanks.

Wayne

 

[patandchickens]

Q.: How much? A.: As much as you can provide, or slightly more. Make it closeable so you don't have to be using all of it all of the time e.g. in winter. As a VERY ROUGH ballpark guesstimate, for many situations it will work well if you have between "1 sq ft per 10 sq ft of coop floor" to "1 sq ft per hen"... but in very hot climates you will need more than that.

Q.:What size openings? A.: For hot climates, just make most or all of some [or, in some cases, all] of the walls mesh. For climates with Real Actual Winter, have some openings like that -- either large conventional windows that are openable, or large areas where a panel of siding lifts off to reveal a mesh covered opening -- but also some long openings high on the wall, perhaps 6-12" high and most of the length of the wall, preferably protected by the roof overhang, for use in wintertime.

Q: What kind of ventilation is preferrred? A: By whom?

In industrial sized chicken factories, mechanical ventilation (fans) is required because of the dense chicken population. In a typical backyard coop there is absolutely no need for mechanical ventilation (except in some very hot climates where it can be useful, either alone or as a swamp cooler) and it is far simpler, cheaper, more flexible and overall BETTER to just rely on passive ventilation thru openings in the walls, as described above.

There is some more discussion of the subject on my ventilation page (link below in .sig) if that helps.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[70monte]

Thanks for the reply. What about using vents that are used in the floors of houses for central heating and air. These can be opened and closed as needed?

Wayne

 

[patandchickens]

You *could* - and I've used them in my tractor - but I would really not recommend them. The basic problem is, they are really darn SMALL.

The easiest and most practical thing is to just have hardwarecloth-covered openings in the wall, with flaps or sliders or whatever (weatherstripped in harsh winter areas) to close them down as needed. For large wall openings (again, hole in wall covered with hardwarecloth) you can use large openable windows out of a house, or, easier, just a panel that hinges closed according to the weather or bolts/hooks on for winter and removes entirely for summer. in a hot climate you may not need covers for most of theopenings, just have several mesh walls and call it good.

There are of course lots of ways of doing it, but that's what IMO is easiest and produces the best conditions for the chickens (and the easiest management for you)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[70monte]

Ok, thanks alot. I have an existing coop but it doesn't have enough ventilation IMO. It just has the entry door into the house, the exit door/ramp into the yard, and a window with a flap next to the entry door.

Wayne