Venting ?

[crooked stripe]

What about the roof vents that are available at all home improvement outlets? They are cut in the roof and you cut about a 10" circle in the shingled roof when installing insulation. With a 4x8 coop I am afraid of installing to much ventilation. I am just not sure about the cold. How do poultry and the extreme temps get along? John

 

[patandchickens]

They will let wind-driven snow sift in (like ridge vents), plus they do not really offer very much total vent area, unfortunately. (It's just the width of the edge 'slot' times the length of the circumference, NOT the entire area of the hole you cut in the roof). Vents under the soffits on each side of the coop, with sliders or hinged flaps to close 'em partway or all the way, would be a much better arrangement IMO.

There is no such thing as too much ventilation... you just close down any amount of it that you do not want at the moment (e.g. the upwind side in a howlng blizzard).

Chickens do pretty well in cold air (into the twenties F and even below, depending on breed etcetera) as long as it is non-drafty (at chicken level) and DRY. However, damp air can give you frostbite even just at the freezing point (will also predispose to respiratory illnesses) -- and chickens produce SO much moisture each day that a lack of ventilation WILL give you a humid damp coop. Thus, build lots of ventilation that can be used or not-used at will, just don't have it pointed right AT the chickens (not right above their roost, and no cold wind blowing in near the floor of the coop)

Have fun,

Pat

 

[Jenski]

We have used metal vents from Home Depot - around 8 x 10 or 10 x 12, I guess. We place them about 6" from the ceiling, and we have ventilation on diagonal walls (not on windward side, though) so we get air flow but not drafts down where the girls are. I caulked around the vents and faced the vent slants downward on installation to keep moisture out. Our coops are beneath covered run roofs, though, so we generally would not get rain underneath.

This has worked pretty well for us so far. Just in case that was not enough, we also created a summer "screen door" for the coop, that has reinforced wire mesh and window screen across a large center opening. (again, within a secure covered run)

. . . And just in case THAT was not enough, DH also installed a small computer fan in one of the vent holes and hooked it up to power. It is turned so that it sucks air OUT of the coop, instead of blowing it on the girls. That really does help the air flow in the summer. In winter we have a plastic outlet cover we close over it.

I think one of my articles about the first coop construction has a photo of the first vent down near the bottom of the page ~

http://theworldofjenotopia.com/cmsjoomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64&Itemid=27

Hope that helps.

 

[cthrash1]

Ours is built under a leanto so it is vented around 2 to 4 inches down from the roof on 3 sides.

 

[crooked stripe]

My coop has a screened door in the run. It leads to the coop some 8' away with another solid door. I have been keeping the solid door open for ventilation. The coop also has a double hung window on the south wall that can be opened if need be. I will post pictures tomorrow. John