When to stop opening windows

[Gwhite3678]

When do you stop opening the coop windows in the winter? Is it determined by temperature or if it’s windy/ snowing out?
I want to give them as much fresh air as possible but also want to make sure they have a warm place to go.
This is my first winter with my flock. I’m in New Hampshire so will eventually get to be pretty cold out there!
Right now it’s in the 40’s- 60’s and still have two of the four windows opened during the day.
Thanks!

 

[azygous]

You need to be able to discern between ventilation and a drafty breeze. In winter, you do not want a drafty breeze that can blow freezing air into the coop, drastically lowing temperature and causing freezing of live tissue.

Ventilation, on the other hand, relies on convection to move the air in the coop. The way you do this is to take advantage of physics - the movement of cooler air from an opening at the floor level (pop door) to push warm, moist air up and out of a vent above where the chickens are sleeping. This is called convection. It relies on the principle of thermodynamics where heavier cold air causes lighter warm air to be discharged as it is pushed upwards.

This movement prevents condensation of water particles on live tissue that would result in freezing just as frost settles on plant tissue on a cold, windless night.

 

[Gwhite3678]

You need to be able to discern between ventilation and a drafty breeze. In winter, you do not want a drafty breeze that can blow freezing air into the coop, drastically lowing temperature and causing freezing of live tissue.

Ventilation, on the other hand, relies on convection to move the air in the coop. The way you do this is to take advantage of physics - the movement of cooler air from an opening at the floor level (pop door) to push warm, moist air up and out of a vent above where the chickens are sleeping. This is called convection. It relies on the principle of thermodynamics where heavier cold air causes lighter warm air to be discharged as it is pushed upwards.

This movement prevents condensation of water particles on live tissue that would result in freezing just as frost settles on plant tissue on a cold, windless night.

Thanks for the reply.
I’m not relying on the windows for ventilation just nice fresh air in addition to the ventilation in the coop.
I figure the more fresh air the better while the weather is appropriate but unsure how to determine what weather would be considered appropriate in the winter months

 

[azygous]

Above freezing.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Quite possibly below freezing as well. Depend on if there's drafts and the type of weather and temperatures you're dealing with.

I have 2 windows flanking my roosts (you can see one here, there's another mirrored on other side). I had both open down to 12F last winter, and the birds still choose to sleep right up against them. I only closed the one seen here when sideways winds started blowing snow through it.

 

[Mrs. K]

A lot depends on your set up. I have mine set up, so that the heads of birds when on the roost has a clearance of 12 + inches from the ceiling, and my roosts are set up so that they can get away from the wall.

A bird needs to be dry. Being dry is way more important than being warm. Warm birds are DRY birds. Letting out that damp air is of most importance. You don't want to keep the coop warm, you want it to be a wind block. When you can get out of the wind, it is much warmer. I keep the bedding on the floor deep to absorb moisture.

So out of the wind, and dry, that is what you want. Think of being in a cold car with a bunch of teenagers in the cold. Almost immediately, it begins to fog up...that is what you need to avoid.

Mrs K