What temperature constitutes closing ALL windows in hen house?

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

They can handle 20s. Mine regularly experience -20 days, and colder still nights and they do fine. They need ventilation though, so I always keep at least the pop door open, usually a window too if they have any on the coops

The birds need ventilation! There needs to be hardware cloth covered openings high up in the coop, all year. The windward sides should be covered in very cold weather, and openings on the leeward side or sides should be open.
Pictures here help us make recommendations.
Mary

inside of coop is 7ft tall and I think I'm gonna have to cut some holes above the windows. thanks for your time.

 

[Sueby]

I am also in CT. I would do as others have suggested & cut a nice big triangle on the covered run side, that would be perfect & probably all you'd need. Just sweep the snow off the ridge vent too as needed. I use a big shop broom for mine.

I don't close any windows during the winter, I stuff them with filters even though they are at roost height, you could do the same if you needed more ventilation. I also have the soffits open year round, but my set up is different than yours.

A little modification & you'll be perfect - it's so nice having a covered run & you will totally appreciate it!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thank you RMT. You send the message perfectly. hopefully the pitch of roof has the snow sliding off! We shall see! The coop was built May 2021 so this is our first official winter in New England. Hindsight gets ya every time. I do wish we did cutouts along the roof line with hardware cloth. ah, my guy is gonna love me when I request he cut holes is his precious coop, lol. my instincts tell me that the ridge vent is not 100% because sometimes i notice on the outside of the roof, above where they roost, when its cold, there is a visible area that appears warmed over. Does this make sense? i dont know how to explain it, but maybe you understand. Maybe condensation build up? I'm going to hang a feather and see about the wind and leave any windows open this winter. unfortunately their windows are ALL roost level with No windows above. In order to move roosts to lower than windows, its impossible because the nesting boxes are on both walls. Wait....... maybe I can change the roosts to the other direction...... so instead of having two 4ft long roosts, I can do four 2ft roosts. Look at pic, and tell me if you see what I mean. That would mean their roosts would be much lower. Does that matter? the roosts will be only inches above their deep bedding which is about 4-6 inches deep. i assume as long as they are on a roost it shouldnt matter how high they are, or, would they be too close to where their poop falls? huh..... just thought of that and will consider before next winter. Thanks again for sharing your time and knowledge. You are a gem!

My roof is decently pitched but no, snow doesn't slide down, so my ridge vent gets fully blocked in snow. Hmm, I have no coop-in-snow photos but you can see the pitch here:

Seeing some condensation doesn't surprise me since it's a metal roof. Mine's metal too but we have an extra layer of plywood under it to ward off condensation drips, since we've had issues with that before.

Yes, check for drafts during a windstorm so you can make the best decision possible about what windows are least problematic to leave open. For now, I wouldn't want to lower the roosts (especially if the birds are using them happily) - birds are less inclined to use low roosts, especially if they end up lower than the nest boxes.

For this winter might want to look into using some sort of baffles to slow any wind flow in the windows that you do leave open, so there's still some air exchange but less risk of winds/weather making it in. Aart uses furnace filters, I've recommended burlap before (though it's been pointed out that real burlap is actually harder to find now).

 

[Mrs. K]

So much advice: haha - I go with the cut the triangle on the lee side of the wind, leave the roosts, and shut the windows. This will allow the warm wet air to rise and leave the coop, while no drafts around the birds.