Where to buy vents?

[lhousesoccer]

Hi everyone .... I built my first coop this spring. It is 6' x 8' and has 11 layer chickens in it. The birds are doing well, and cranking out the eggs (10 to 11 per day!). Now that it's getting colder (I live in Vermont) I've noticed some condensation on the inside of the single-pane windows I installed, which I keep open about 1 inch at night. I don't have any soffit or gable vents, and I think I probably need to put them in.

I've scoured Home Depot and everything they have seems to be meant for house construction, and not sized for small "sheds" or coops. Any tips on where I can find decent louvered gable vents would be appreciated. Also, do you think I need soffit vents (difficult to install now after the fact) or will I be OK with a gable vent at each end?

For reference, here's my coop:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=371140

Thanks!

 

[Schroeder]

In mine, I used vents in the peaks designed for foundations. They open and close so that I can pull them shut on the few nights when temperatures are below zero.

 

[lhousesoccer]

Hmmm, those sound interesting. Where did you buy them? Do you have any pictures so I can see what you're talking about?

 

[Dunkopf]

Nice coop. You can use regular floor heat vents. They close too. I would put them along the long section on each side. That way there would be an overhang to help keep direct precipitation off them. Put them away from the roost by about 4'. The airflow from side to side will suck out the ammonia and the condensation. They are avail at H/D in the HVAC aisle.

 

[patandchickens]

Why buy?

Just make the vents yourself, that way you can have whatever size and shape is best suited to your coop structure.

Honestly the premade built-in-fixed-louvers jobbies are a bit of a ripoff anyway in terms of you are NOT getting the amount of ventilation opening that it LOOKS like you're getting. In some cases it is fairly close, but in many cases it is a *lot* less than the area of the vent assembly itself. (Because what counts is the total area of *openings*, and also because the smaller and narrower the slit, the less good it does per square inch)

All you really have to do is cut an opening in the coop, secure hardwarecloth over it (*not* with just staples, either), and then in most cases you will want to make a hinged or sliding cover for it, so you can adjust how open the vent is on any given day. If the cover is on the outside and hinged at the top, with some sort of rigid prop to hold it adjustably open, it will also help keep rain out if your vents are in locations not protected by roof overhang. Or to a lesser extent you can get similar benefits by having the flap on the *inside* and hinged at the *bottom*.

Note that unless you have a drop ceiling in your coop, one obvious (and good) place to put some vents is under the eaves in the spaces between the rafters (or trusses). Screen these the same way as any other vents. Often you can make them closeable simply by laying a piece of 2x4 up there as needed

or by jamming some old rags into them to close them, if you don't mind being a bit rough-and-ready about it

That's usually not enough total ventilation (esp. for summertime) but is a good PART of a ventilation system, and in the winter may sometimes be all you need if you have a dry clean coop and not lots of birds in it. (I apologize if this is irrelevant to your coop design -I did try to view your pics but am on dialup and only got about 1/3 of them loaded in 10 minutes

)

Pat

 

[lichick28]

Very Nice Coop. You Can Make Any Size Vent You Want Just Be Careful To Make It Predator Proof. When A Friend Converted Her Shed Into A Coop A Raccoon Ripped Right Through The Flimsy Vent It Came With. To Make My Coop More Interesting I Used Antique Wall Heat Vents Made Out Of Cast Iron With Louvers From Homes Of The 20's-30's. I Open Or Close As Much As Needed. My Favorite One Is Arched Top With A "c" In The Center For What Else? "chickens" The Most I Ever Paid For One Is About $25. In Pa. It Was Worth It To Have Some Interesting Looking & Different

 

[elmo]

I agree with Patandchickens: build your own. You'll get just the size you want, you can secure them by covering with hardware cloth, and you can make your own adjustable flaps to close and open them as you wish.

 

[Judy]

I'd cut out both the gables and install hardware cloth, as a start. You may have to lower the roost, though, to prevent their being in a draft. I'm not at all sure opening up both gables will be enough, but it's a start, and then you'll be able to tell. You need the gables open in order to have a high place for the air to go out -- otherwise it will collect at the roof peak, since the warmest air is also the humid air.