Vents vs drafts

[naturababe]

I know a coop needs lots of venting but how do I make sure the vents don't make it drafty? I see so many people say chickens hate drafts - isn't wind coming through a vent a draft?

Also do the vents need to be closable for deep winter time?

 

[bantybev]

You can start by placing vents higher than the roosting area. From what I have seen and read, the higher, the better.
Depends on where you live if you need to make the vents closable. I am in Michigan, where it gets pretty cold. We also get wind from every direction in the winter, so I made mine closable so I can close them to high winds and blowing snow on the side the wind and snow are coming from. Having them covered is helpful when winds are blowing rain in, also.

 

[kickinchicken]

I was scanning the building section for material for my coop and found this vent in their roofing section.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...n.endeca.EndecaDataBean@6da650dc&ddkey=Search

It supposedly opens at 70 degrees and closes at 40 degrees. I was thinking of adding four of these at the upper walls of my 5x5 coop. Its 6 feet high and I will only have 5 hens. I am also thinking of adding a 6-inch high opening at the top walls, between the roof, and having plexi-glass on hinges in case we get some nasty New England weather.

So at least I will have tons of ventilation in the summer and adequate ventilation in the winter. Does this sound fine or is it overkill?

 

[teach1rusl]

In warm weather, you can't really have too much ventilation. Drafts feel nice in warm/hot weather, especially if they're cool breezy drafts. Who doesn't like a breeze blowing through your hair (or feathers) when it's hot? You still need ventilation in winter/cold weather, but now that cold air blowing on you doesn't feel so good, because it's 30 degrees outside.

That's why vent openings are generally place up high, above the roosts. You still have a place for that warm(er), moist air to escape, but no cold air is blowing on the chickens. Extra ventilation for warm weather, that has the ability to be closed off for winter time is ideal.

kickenchicken - didn't look at your link. But I would want my ventilation to come on/open before 70 degrees...and you might not want them closed at only 40 degrees....

 

[kickinchicken]

teach1rusl: I was thinking the same thing about those vents, too. I wish there was a way to adjust the vents to open at 50 and close at 30. But I figured, if I had those 4 vents for the really warm days, the 6-inch-high openings along the roof (the shed is 5x5) so lots of ventilation at the very top way above the roosts, and I was thinking of adding one of those wind turbine vents on the roof too! We live near Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island and its pretty much a constant wind. I also plan on putting the old patio umbrella next to the coop on those balmy days (its like 8 ft high) and maybe even getting an old box fan and putting it on the south-facing window (the only window) to help circulate the air for my girls. We only have 5...one is a bantam and they will have a nice big run that is well shaded with some great sunny patches..

 

[patandchickens]

See my Big Ol' Ventilation Page, link in .sig below, for fuller discussion of the subject.

Readers' Digest version: what you want to avoid is cold air blowin' at the chickens, that's what people are calling a draft. A breeze on the chickens in hot weather is GOOD, of course. In cold weather e.g. winter, the idea is to have the air come in GENTLY and NOT AT THE CHICKENS.

It is not a bad idea to have vents be closeable, more because of wind shifts than because of winter per se. You need vents open ALL WINTER, unless your weather is getting down to like -50 F. Really truly. When chickens get frostbite, it seems like it is usually not because of temperature per se but because of high humidity in the coop with not-really-all-that-low temps.

In the worst of winter, you want to be able to ventilate your coop adequately just from vents atop the downwind side. That will prevent drafts.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Beckyinma]

What about coops where the pop out is in the floor, and the ramp up is under the coop? Do you put a door on that somehow?