Vents

[pseudoyams]

I read articles on coop design and they all mention having vents is very important in the winter to prevent frost bite and for, well, venting.

They all are kinda vague and dont give any size recommendations. My coop has a 4x6 foot section and a 8x8 ft section (new addition) which are connected. How big should the vents be? I live in North East Wisconsin so I want to have proper ventilation but dont want them to be too big and have a lot of cold air enter the coop.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Imp]

Quote:
I think patandchickens is the authority on vents. Here's a link to her page about ventilation.

Imp

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-VENTILATION

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
The problem is, how much you "need" (aka "can get away with" <g>) depends on too many factors that will be peculiar to each person's setup and management and location. So it is not really possible to have an accurate cookbook formula.

I'm stickin' with what's on my ventilation page -- that unless you have very hot summers (in which case you'll need more), most people will be well-served by something like 1 sq ft of vent per chicken, or (if you want a somewhat smaller number that will still most often work for you) 1 sq ft per 10 sq ft of coop floorspace. Make it closeable so you can reduce the amount as conditions require in winter; and make at least some of it "winter type" vents that are high atop the walls, preferably under the roof overhang; and you are likely to have enough ventilation capacity available to suit any situation.

Sometimes you can get away with less (in a few situations, much less), but the safest thing, especially to espouse as a rule of thumb on a large forum <g>, is to build as much vent area as you can stand, then you KNOW you will be able to cope with any situation.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[pseudoyams]

I think more than anything, Im wondering how much ventilation Ill need over the winter. My coop has 6 large windows (at least one on each side) so ventilation in the summer should be fine. It can get very cold where I live....well below zero and I live in a pretty open area so windchill can be a real issue as well.

-Rob

 

[patandchickens]

So, build an ample amount (see my earlier post) and then you have nothing to worry about, just open/close things as trial-and-error teach you works for your coop.

GOod luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[chickendude]

Sorry to hijack the post. But Pat what is a good retaliative humidity level. I understand temps make the acceptable humidity level change but is there a max or possibly a min level. I understand it is a learn as you go thing. I was also looking to by a wireless thermometer / hygrometer. My problem is I can't find one with a 300 foot range. Anybody know of one that may work with me?

 

[patandchickens]

Commercial chicken barns aim for 55% relative humidity, if that helps you any. I'd say basically you just want to avoid *high* r.h., like in the 75%+ range.

I don't know of a wireless unit with that range, but it seems to me you would be nearly as well served by just a plain vanilla unit with a max-min function on the temperature. You may not be able to roll over in bed at 4 am. and know what temp it is in the coop that way, but you can find out three hours later when you get up and go out there what temp it got down to (and it won't take too long before you can predict what coop temps will be based on outdoor temps); and humidity does not vary all that much except as temp does, so if you go out there at 7 a.m. and see that it's like 65% r.h. at 22 F, you can easily look up what the r.h. would have been at your nightly low temp. (R.h. will be higher at lower temperatures, lower in warmer temperatures, for a given amount of water in the air).

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[chickendude]

Thanks again Pat you are extremely helpful and very generous with your knowledge.