What type of fan works best inside coop?

[ZoomuKeeper]

I have put frozen jugs and ice in the water. They will not drink the water when its cold and they are afraid of the jugs so I will have to install a fan.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I just bought a misting system for my run, but it's super dry here and temps get into the 100s all summer long. It's over 90 today.

And my birds don't drink ice water. They wade in it. They like chasing the ice cubes. Super cute!

Last summer, I used a box fan with frozen two liters in front in the run, and the birds enjoyed it. I bought a window fan and stuck that in the window. One fan blew in, one blew out. My windows are high enough that it didn't blow on my birds nor did it circulate too much dust. It was kinda like this one (this one'sfrom Home Depot):

 

[dawg53]

I use waterers and add containers with ice in them during the summer. I dont like using the plastic frozen jugs in the containers. When the ice melts in the jug, it floats around in the container and scares off the chickens. My waterers are located in the shade and I add ice around noon or 1pm when it first starts to really heat up in the afternoons. Try it, the water is still cool/drinkable when it's time for them to go to roost for the night.

 

[Grapeguy]

I've never used one, personally don't think they need it. But I don't knock anyone that does.
Don't understand why some think the fan/wind will harm them?
My birds do just fine with tons of vent, really open coops, open pop door, high winds negative F temps. I'm sure they'd be fine 95-100 summer temps with some wind, probably welcome it lol.
Just be careful with dust in the fan, saw this on FB awhile back, and coops can get pretty dusty.
View attachment 1735459 View attachment 1735468

I've never used one, personally don't think they need it. But I don't knock anyone that does.
Don't understand why some think the fan/wind will harm them?
My birds do just fine with tons of vent, really open coops, open pop door, high winds negative F temps. I'm sure they'd be fine 95-100 summer temps with some wind, probably welcome it lol.
Just be careful with dust in the fan, saw this on FB awhile back, and coops can get pretty dusty.
View attachment 1735459 View attachment 1735468

So, if dust in the fans are causing fire hazards then it seems having a fan sucking air from outside would be best for keeping the fans clean, assuming there was an overhang to keep rainwater out of the fan. Single louver venting to the outside for hot air and dust to exit the henhouse. Anyone set up this way?

 

[Aunt Angus]

I'm not nearly that gifted, but I have 2 12v fans plugged into a solar unit. They can blow air in or suck air out depending on how I turn them. The window shutter sits over it and has kept it free from rain. But my coop is a pretty small affair. My girls only go in there to sleep and lay eggs, so there isn't much dust. I still like to cool it down for them on hot days so that they are comfy when in the nesting boxes.

 

[Blooie]

When we first built our coop several years ago, we did what I still maintain is the best ventilation system. We went to a web site that carries parts for old mobile homes and bought an exhaust fan exactly like the one we have in our old mobile home kitchen. It has a pull chain on it that opens the cover on the outside and turns the fan motor on. Like this one:

Hubby is an electrician (he hardwired our coop and run to code) and has a degree in electrical engineering and one in electrical instrumentation. He rewired the fan so that if we pull the chain without flipping the switch, the outside cover opens; and if we pull the chain then flip on the light switch on the coop wall the fan motor runs. We mounted it above the people door of our walk-in coop. Then we made a vent near the floor on the wall directly opposite the fan. This pulls cool, fresh air in from the lower vent and up and out via the gable vent, the window, and the exhaust fan. Since the lilac thicket is right behind the coop, that’s where the cooler, fresh air is pulled from - the shade there behind the coop. You can really feel the sir exchange with absolutely no draft. The cover is open 24/7, 365 for passive ventilation when our temps are 20 to 30 below zero, and at least once a week while doing chores we flip the light switch to operate the fan, just to clear out stale, musty air and replace it with fresh. In the summer we just flip the light switch and the motor and fan give us active ventilation and it runs all season through wind, rain, and sun. In winter just the cover is opened.

Those wonderful fans work in our kitchen, the coop, and our hot tub room, because mobile home walls like ours are darn sure not built with 4 inch studs 16 inches on center. Window replacements, doors, and these fans are designed for our much thinner walls, which also makes them perfect to adapt to the less ‘house-like” walls of our coops. We love it, and all we do is disconnect power twice a year and clean the dust off the internal parts. Then it’s right back in service. This is how it looks hard at work in our coop. It’s the open cover just above the people door. Mounted easily and has withstood everything Wyoming winters have thrown at it.

 

[gtaus]

What type of fan works best to install to keep the chickens cooler from the summers heat?

I talked to an older gentleman who has raised chickens for 40+ years in my area in northern Minnesota. He uses, and recommends, the cheap bathroom exhaust fans (just the replacement fan - not the complete light kit, etc...). They are built for humid areas and will last longer than a regular house fan, he says. You mount the fan to exhaust the humid air in such a place that the fan is easy to replace, because they will eventually die. You can buy switches that turn on/off the power depending on the humidity level. Our concern is not so much too hot summers, but rather very cold winters and the chicken coops get very humid because our chickens don't want to go outside in the snow.

At any rate, using a cheap bathroom fan to exhaust humid air will help. We are not very concerned about cooling off birds where I live, so this gentleman never mentioned anything about box fans blowing on the birds. I have a hard time thinking a blowing fan on a sleeping chicken is a good thing. I would think an exhaust fan removing humid air and pulling in fresh air from windows is better. Don't we always say, ventilation good, drafts bad? Again, I don't live down south and we don't have terribly hot summers where I live. When it does get hot here, it's also very humid and that makes it miserable.

 

[aart]

So, if dust in the fans are causing fire hazards then it seems having a fan sucking air from outside would be best for keeping the fans clean, assuming there was an overhang to keep rainwater out of the fan.

Yep, that's my theory.
This fan is hanging inside coop sucking air from shaded(most the day) east side of coop and hopefully pushing some hot air out the other windows and vents. It still gets pretty dusty, but I only run it from late afternoon to lock up at dark. It helps cool the coop a bit and is protected from rain by the top hinged window.
Plans to mount fan in plywood that will cover the window to block some early morning sun and make air flow more efficient when running.

 

[Peepsi]

I've never used one, personally don't think they need it. But I don't knock anyone that does.
Don't understand why some think the fan/wind will harm them?
My birds do just fine with tons of vent, really open coops, open pop door, high winds negative F temps. I'm sure they'd be fine 95-100 summer temps with some wind, probably welcome it lol.
Just be careful with dust in the fan, saw this on FB awhile back, and coops can get pretty dusty.

That's why it's suggested that people should use "Agriculture Fans" in the chicken coop/run. They're specially designed to handle the dust in a coop/outdoor environment. Example: https://www.industrialfansdirect.co...culation-fans/air-circulator-agriculture-fans

 

[gtaus]

That's why it's suggested that people should use "Agriculture Fans" in the chicken coop/run. They're specially designed to handle the dust in a coop/outdoor environment. Example: https://www.industrialfansdirect.co...culation-fans/air-circulator-agriculture-fans

That's a great link. I did not realize that those Agriculture Fans are within the price range of a backyard flock. Yes, a $120 Agriculture Fan costs more up front than a $15 box fan for the house, but I bet it is a lot safer and would last a lot longer so maybe the better option over the longer term.

When I was a young kid in the 70's, I went to school with a girl whose father was a commercial chicken farmer. He had 1000's of birds in those small 10x12 wire chicken cages. Just big enough to lay an egg but not much more. Anyway, he lost power to his chicken barn, the fans went out, the heat and humidity soared, and he lost almost all his birds within a few hours while he was in town. That fast. I don't live in the south and don't know much about building a coop that has a better cooling design. But I would think such coops exist and maybe the ultimate choice is to build a coop design that does not need a fan?