Venting a coop

[weimarmama]

&

from Alabama. Glad you joined us.

 

[NonnasBabies]

Welcome!

 

[ridgewood chickens]

I don't mind snow, but this is way too early, even for New Hampshire!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

That's a very nice coop and run. It really is too early for snow, though!

A good place to put a vent on your coop is just under the roof, on the highest wall. Warmer air rising will exit there. The larger roof overhang will protect the opening from precipitation.

If you have the chickens roosting at the back and don't have any vents open on the back 1/2 of the coop, they won't be in any drafts during the winter. No air will be entering or exiting back there, so the chickens won't be roosting in the path of that air. You can open any other ventilation openings you want in any other areas, where air can come in.

I only worry about drafts in very cold weather, as it adds a wind chill factor to have wind or air blowing on them. In extreme heat, air movement on the chickens can be beneficial and help cool them. I have extra ventilation open for the summer. In my coop, it's windows.

Chickens always need fresh air to breath. You don't want a coop to be sealed up enough to be stuffy. They give off a lot of moisture that you need to vent, also. In the summer, you need to vent a lot of heat, both from the chickens and the sun beating down on the coop. The more crowded a coop is, the more ventilation it needs.

In the summer, I have a lot open, to keep them from over-heating. It gets hot and humid here. They get a nice cross breeze in the coop and it cools off pretty quickly at night. At least as cool as it's going to get. In the middle of winter the air is dry here, so not much is open. Milder winter temperatures are usually more humid and can need more ventilation than the more extreme winter temperatures. Spring and fall, I adjust as needed.

 

[ridgewood chickens]

Thanks for the ideas - I am considering putting one on the end (on the door side) high up in the corner. The chickens roost is on the other side, directly in line with the big front window - my thinking on that was that since that window faces the southeast, the morning sun will shine in and warm the roost area (I have the walls lined with black tar paper to hopefully give some residual heating effect). By putting the vent on the other end, I'm hoping that any draft that does come through it will not go directly to the chickens.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

That sounds like it would work well for winter ventilation. It will give you more flow through ventilation in the summer, too.

 

[ridgewood chickens]

Winter has arrived here in New Hampshire, at least temporarily as we got 14" of snow over the weekend. My question concerns venting my new coop, I have insulated it, do not plan on heating it, but have read various opinions on venting it in winter, both on this forum and elsewhere. Wondering what other people do and why? Thanks.


http://ridgewoodchickens.blogspot.com/

Just a quick update, everything was fine with my coop until we had our first single digit night a couple of weeks ago, and a couple of the hens got frostbite on their combs. After that, I put 2 3" vents in each end of the coop, up high, and last night we dropped down to 2 degrees and they seem to have come through it fine. I have to admit that I had reservations about cutting holes in my new coop for winter ventilation, but it appears to be the answer!