Venting - is it really 1 sq ft of vent per chicken???

[BlueBetween]

Seems as if it would be easy enough to pick two sides and cut some vent holes, cover with wire, and make some doors for opening and closing. Or the louvered vent covers if that would work better for your climate/weather.

This is what we've done... there are two on this side and two on the opposite side, in the covered run area. My coop is much smaller than yours, obviously.

 

[teach1rusl]

Venting into the rear wall sounds like a wonderful idea for winter time!! Don't know why the rest of us didn't see that??? You'll still want vents elsewhere for summertime though...easy to close them off if you get severe weather, like BB did or with plastic, plexiglass, or even cloth. Nothing worse than seeing a hen up on the roost for the night or in the nest box - panting. It's a sorry sight.

 

[samana]

Oops I now realize I didn't make some things too clear in my OP- for the floor registers I was thinking of sticking those at the highest points in my coop (just an easy open/close device, with a nice narrow intake slots which may negate needing to add hardware cloth). Maybe not - just a rough idea at this point.

I hope I did not offend the author of the article - my question is purely out of curiousity because whenever I see coops, I don't notice huge areas of ventilation so the article caught me off guard. I was figuring on adding a few 2"x8" slots near the highest point on the east and west sides, but I don't think that will hardly be enough?? I don't want to skimp, I am aware of how important it is to keep them comfortable and dry and breathing fresh air. For an 8x11 shed (and 8 tall at front, 11 ft at back - sloped) and with a max of 22 birds, I should be creating 22 sq feet of venting in the walls? This is where I'm confused. I think the storm door screen on the north side takes care of about 6 square feet that I can fully open in the summer (too low down obviously for the winter, save for the top couple inches).

I guess I will do vents on all sides? Is cross ventilation important? I know west would be the worst in the winter but best in the summer here in west MI...

The shed is very well insulated at this point, minus the door I suppose conducting some cold and condensation possibly in the winter - so I do need to make sure venting is done well for my little guys. Never thought of venting into the barn its attached to, seems like a good idea - just planning on adding goats in a year there is all.

Thank you so much for all the help and pics.

 

[kdcolorado]

yeah the dogs!
WOW!
the one on the right is just screaming I am beautiful and I have attitude and I will love you and the other one looks like ,"Where's the ball!"

 

[elmo]

Ventilation serves a couple of different purposes. For those of you with cold winters, it helps keep the moisture level down inside the coop which in turn helps to avoid frostbitten chickens. For those of us with hot summers, lots of ventilation helps keep the inside of the coop from heating up in the sun and roasting our chickens. Finally, something that isn't often discussed, ventilation helps keep the air quality inside the coop healthy for chickens.

Chickens, like all birds, have very efficient respiratory systems. They have a set of air sacs from which air flows to their lungs even while they are exhaling. Remember how miners used to bring a canary down into the mine to monitor air quality? A similarly sized mammal isn't as sensitive to air quality problems as a bird. This is also why you have to avoid exposing birds to paint fumes, etc.

I like the 1 square foot per chicken rule of thumb because it gives you a simple calculation and (I think) good leeway. I don't think you'll find a coop with that amount of insulation underventilated in winter. And with awning style flaps over the vents, it's very easy to open and shut vents as needed.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
If it is convenient/feasible to do vents on all or most sides, IMO that's the most satisfactory arrangement b/c it gives you the most flexibility. I'm all about designing in FLEXIBILITY

-- it is so much easier to be able to cope with whatever Nature throws at you by simply opening and closing different parts of whatcha got, than it is to have to get out the Sawzall and retrofit the coop when the weather changes, or be stuck with poor conditions in there for the birds.

It is just so EASY to make big rectangular holes and slap some hwc over them (and typical coop construction also allows you to simply screen in the gaps between rafters, too) that I don't personally quite get the appeal of fiddling around with making lotsa little holes for lotsa little floor-register vents that will begin to rust up in a few years. But, in principle, if you LIKE cutting lotsa little holes and don't MIND replacing them when they rust enough to weaken or jam, then sure, there is nothing wrong with the floor-register approach (installed high, as you say).

Never thought of venting into the barn its attached to, seems like a good idea - just planning on adding goats in a year there is all.

That shouldn't be a problem... the barn will need to be well-ventilated (itself) for the goats anyhow, so whatever dust escapes from the chicken side of things into the goat side of things is pretty unlikely to be an issue. And it is just SO nice, when it is minus A Lot and blizzardy-windy in January, to have your coop ventilated into somewhere without wind and maybe a bit warmer than the great outdoors. So I think you'd be real happy with that arrangement (as part, not total, of your ventilation setup) if you chose to do it.​

 

[samana]

(The floor registers are out haha - beings as I am now educated on how much venting is needed, those won't be nearly big enough.)

So far the plan will be for these vents:

the door which is about 2x2 screen (north)
a triangular 4x1ish vent on each side (east/west) near the upper back
a 1x7 rectangle at the back venting into the barn. (south)
So...a total of 19ish sq ft of venting (will have about that birds max)

In the winter the door screen won't be able to be that size it'd be too cold and low, so it will be down to just a slit open and then the rest are still available though.

I suppose I may need to close the west once in awhile due to wind patterns....

Would it be correct to assume winter will be ok with slightly less venting. Since I will probably need to close some off. In the summer I will have plenty I think. They will be ranging outside as much as possible too, but not probably as much in the winter I assume.

Thanks for any last thoughts. I sincerely appreciate all the help given here, what a great forum.

 

[BlueBetween]

just an fyi, about the triangle thing... they were a bit of a pain, needed sanding on some corners so that it would open and shut the way we have ours... perhaps a different way of putting the hinges on would have worked better. Rectangles would be easiest.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Oh yes, for sure. First because you only need it for humidity/ammonia control not to prevent the coop overheating; and second because less moisture and ammonia go INTO the air (from poo etc) in wintertime.

It sounds to me like you should be pretty well set up, the way you describe, to deal with whatever happens simply by adjusting what you've got. So I think you'll be in good shape

Good luck, have fun,

Pat