Venting questions:

[fourpawsfarm]

So it appears there is no correct answer here. Both leaving the vents open and closing them have been used for generations. There is no scientific proof that opening vents is healthier for your birds. There is plenty of scientific research that exposure to the elements will kill just about every animal. Frostbite has more to do with the roos vulnerability to the cold than with leaving vents open or closed. I am currently doing research on this. The problem is that many people breed their roos for color and appearance and not for how well it will survive in the cold. And then they complain that the beautiful comb got frostbite.

If you live in an area with prolonged subzero temps, you should choose a breed that is best suited for your climate and not one for show.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Actually there is scientific proof of bare minimums each livestock type needs for proper ventilation to provide best health. The minimum air exchange rate is 0.5 cubic feet per minute of air exchange per large fowl chicken.

Agricultural colleges have done a lot of research over the past century.

http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/ageng/resource/agvent.htm

If someone was so inclined they can build for naturally aspirated venting and calculate exchange or even be so bold as to monitor via an exhaust fan.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/aex-fact/0113.html

But some common sense with error on side of caution and eye for symptoms of poor ventilation to correct is all one needs.

In my case the coop that did not prove enough venting this past winter as it was seriously extended cold after wet was the one I designed for minimum exchange of air. It's not that my calculation or build was wrong it is that the model does not scale down as far as I built the small coop. I'll make adjustments due to the observation.

 

[Arielle]

I think you misunderstand.

THe building itself holds some heat and certainly prevents wind from blowing on the chickens. ANd keeps them dry when it is raining and snowing. As for the lg open section, mychickens enjoy the breeze in the summer but not in the winter so I close that section.

In the woods design which is a 12 x 24 structure, the front 12 is open, and windows placed up high facilitate air movement and exchannge. THe woods design was used for many years commercially in many different climates including the cold north.

Sufficient air movement is critical for the health of the birds. CLosed up birds will die of respriatory problems-- been there, done that. I opened the coops up and problem solved. Is that scientific proof enough? OTherwiseI can only offer that the huge commercial operations have huge ventilation systems-- heaven forbid if they lose power.


I look at the old coop designs used by long time poultrymen-- woods, monitor, etc design.

THis can be a frustrting subject. Answers can depend on location, TN v. MA. Size of coop.

 

[centrarchid]

Density of birds can also be a factor. If density high, then ventilation is more important. If density is low, then tight as a drum OK. Moisture buildup where cause is not always limited to respiration of birds is biggest concern for me. Can mean increased exchange of respiratory pathogens but concern directly related to frostbite is where condensate which occurs in early morning hours degrades insulator value of feathers making it much harder for birds to stay warm. Cold stressed birds shunt blood away from extremities (comb, wattles, feet) setting stage for frost bite.

 

[JackE]

Open air coops were proven to be the way to go 100yrs ago. Versions of the Wood's coop were the standard of the egg industry back in the day. They were used throughout the northern U.S. and up into Canada. It is not just a mild weather coop. In the link below, you can read about open air coops, in use in -40 temps. Like Centrachild posted, in a bigger coop with a low number of fowl, you can maybe get away with shutting up the coop. It's still wrong, but you may get away with it. But you shut in a sizable flock with poor coop ventilation, in winter, you WILL have problems. Not maybe, WILL. With the Woods, with the whole front wall open, the chickens are really not exposed to the worst, that winter can throw at them. The winter winds can blast right at the open front, and inside the coop, it's as calm as you sitting there in your den watching TV. It's funny to me, this debate still goes on, on something that was proven 100yrs ago.


http://archive.org/stream/openairpoultryho00wood#page/n0/mode/2up

 

[Arielle]

JackE-- it took me a couple years to find the woods design after not likeing the performanceof the other designs I had tried-- good info isnot easy to find until a person gets connected with those in the know. Fred's Hens had/has his coop as his avatar, and as an old timer with chickens I then started finding tried and true designs.

A big coop has more value than a small coop. If a small coop is necessary then also I would pick a small comb breed with a larger body weight ( std fowl v hatchery) and cold hardy.

Many factors add up to success.

 

[fourpawsfarm]

Open air coops were proven to be the way to go 100yrs ago. Versions of the Wood's coop were the standard of the egg industry back in the day. They were used throughout the northern U.S. and up into Canada. It is not just a mild weather coop. In the link below, you can read about open air coops, in use in -40 temps. Like Centrachild posted, in a bigger coop with a low number of fowl, you can maybe get away with shutting up the coop. It's still wrong, but you may get away with it. But you shut in a sizable flock with poor coop ventilation, in winter, you WILL have problems. Not maybe, WILL. With the Woods, with the whole front wall open, the chickens are really not exposed to the worst, that winter can throw at them. The winter winds can blast right at the open front, and inside the coop, it's as calm as you sitting there in your den watching TV. It's funny to me, this debate still goes on, on something that was proven 100yrs ago.


http://archive.org/stream/openairpoultryho00wood#page/n0/mode/2up

Do you have a scientific study published in a recognized scholarly journal that proves the shutup coop WILL have problems? There is a difference between a single study by a university and one that is vetted by a peer reviewed journal. Because if not, please do not provide such incorrect information. Animals exposed to subzero temps in the open will die. This does not not have to be proven as it is fact, unless the species has specifically evolved to have an adaptation to the cold.

If you want to keep your chickens alive in the winter, close up their coop unless you live in a mild winter zone like the East Coast or the South.

 

[rfeyer]

Fantastic article!
JackE - have you made any changes to the original design in this booklet? If so, would it be possible to get pictures/ thoughts? And, are the windows in the lower front open in summer?

Rainer

 

[centrarchid]

I will attest to problems associated with insufficient ventilation.

What must be taken into account here is actual atmospheric conditions of the coop. What one might call air tight may be drafty by another especially since no one here has quantified actual air exchange rates.

The conditions most of us keep chickens under are well beyond those explored by any studies of environmental requirements. Once interests in doing such were realized producers were already well into using much more climate control with heating to temperatures exceeding those posing a risk for frostbite, since such were needed to optimize egg or meat production.

I have many of my birds sleeping under stars in blizzard conditions of the Midwest. They can handle such but egg production is suppressed and the frost bite challenge we face is different in how it impacts tissue relative to birds kept in airspaces with insufficient are turnover rates.

 

[JackE]

Do you have a scientific study published in a recognized scholarly journal that proves the shutup coop WILL have problems? There is a difference between a single study by a university and one that is vetted by a peer reviewed journal. Because if not, please do not provide such incorrect information. Animals exposed to subzero temps in the open will die. This does not not have to be proven as it is fact, unless the species has specifically evolved to have an adaptation to the cold.

If you want to keep your chickens alive in the winter, close up their coop unless you live in a mild winter zone like the East Coast or the South.

I surprised to be arguing with somebody, who claims knowledge of "Generations" with experience raising chickens, about proper coop ventilation. Below is some basic ABC type information, about the need for Year round ventilation in a coop.

http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/ageng/resource/agvent.htm

I think nowadays, it's just common knowledge, that a chicken coop needs to be ventilated, year round. You go on about "Animals exposed to subzero temps will die". We are not talking about some poor lost chicken out on the tundra somewhere, exposed to all the wind and ice nature can throw at it. Yeah, I'll agree that, could be fatal. We're talking about chickens that are properly housed in a 100yr old proven design. Also, we are talking birds here, with a perfectly insulating suit of feathers. Are you going to tell me, that the wide spread use of open-air coops, throughout the northern hemisphere, with pictures and written history, was all a work of fiction? Even in modern poultry houses, broiler or layer, they ventilate the heck out of them. Do you think they just shut down the fans, and close off the shutters, in the winter? Maybe you, ought to do a little more research.