I'm not real good with these little coops like this, but I'll give you my opinion the way I visualize your plans. I'd expect the lowest temperatures you are likely to face will be in the teens Fahrenheit, and most years probably in the 20's. If I'm off, please let me know. That is not super cold for chickens at all.
- The pop door and the blank wall will each have two smallish (6"x6" to 4"x4" depending on what we have room for) windows covered in hardware wire up near the roof. I am not planning on ever winterizing these.
I'd agree with this.
- The cleaning/access hatch will have a removable door, and right now the plan is to make two versions, a solid winter version and a "screen door" made out of hardware cloth in a frame, which I can switch out as the seasons change by undoing the hinges. The access door will be huge, the majority of the wall on that side.
Sounds real good.
- On the opposite wall, above the nest boxes, I have room for a large window that runs the length of the coop, 3' 10" by 7". This will be covered in hardware cloth, and this is the window for which in my mind there is debate about whether we'll need to winterize it or not. It will be up at the top half of the coop. There will not be cross breezes coming through it as the opposite wall will be winterized in the cold season.
Yes, this one is the question. I don't think those other two vent holes (the 4x4 and 6x6) will give you enough ventilation in the winter without some help from this one, considering both moisture and ammonia. The way I understand this, those are the only ones you plan to have. I personally do not think it will be too much at all with this one left open. My real concern is that it is not just the opposite wall that can create cross breezes. You can get some cross breeze on the diagonal with those 4x4 or 6x6 vents, A lot will depend on wind direction. As long as the roosts are low enough that they will not be in one of these cross breezes, you should be OK. I expect you will have the pop door closed at night, which is the danger period.
If somehow this doesn't turn out to be enough ventilation, we still have the option of cutting holes along the bottom of the blank wall, and cutting out another window in the small portion of wall above the access hatch so that it really is the case that the whole side is hardware cloth.
The way you plan to handle the access side, you should have plenty of ventilation in the summer and I don't think you will have too much in the winter. Your challenge will be knowing when to switch from one to the other. I don't know how wild your temperature swings in the spring and summer but I expect you will be able to handle that.
I don't have experience with coops that small and elevated, so take what I say wioth some suspicion, but I think you will be OK as liong as the roosts are low enough to be out of diagonal drafts.
- The pop door and the blank wall will each have two smallish (6"x6" to 4"x4" depending on what we have room for) windows covered in hardware wire up near the roof. I am not planning on ever winterizing these.
I'd agree with this.
- The cleaning/access hatch will have a removable door, and right now the plan is to make two versions, a solid winter version and a "screen door" made out of hardware cloth in a frame, which I can switch out as the seasons change by undoing the hinges. The access door will be huge, the majority of the wall on that side.
Sounds real good.
- On the opposite wall, above the nest boxes, I have room for a large window that runs the length of the coop, 3' 10" by 7". This will be covered in hardware cloth, and this is the window for which in my mind there is debate about whether we'll need to winterize it or not. It will be up at the top half of the coop. There will not be cross breezes coming through it as the opposite wall will be winterized in the cold season.
Yes, this one is the question. I don't think those other two vent holes (the 4x4 and 6x6) will give you enough ventilation in the winter without some help from this one, considering both moisture and ammonia. The way I understand this, those are the only ones you plan to have. I personally do not think it will be too much at all with this one left open. My real concern is that it is not just the opposite wall that can create cross breezes. You can get some cross breeze on the diagonal with those 4x4 or 6x6 vents, A lot will depend on wind direction. As long as the roosts are low enough that they will not be in one of these cross breezes, you should be OK. I expect you will have the pop door closed at night, which is the danger period.
If somehow this doesn't turn out to be enough ventilation, we still have the option of cutting holes along the bottom of the blank wall, and cutting out another window in the small portion of wall above the access hatch so that it really is the case that the whole side is hardware cloth.
The way you plan to handle the access side, you should have plenty of ventilation in the summer and I don't think you will have too much in the winter. Your challenge will be knowing when to switch from one to the other. I don't know how wild your temperature swings in the spring and summer but I expect you will be able to handle that.
I don't have experience with coops that small and elevated, so take what I say wioth some suspicion, but I think you will be OK as liong as the roosts are low enough to be out of diagonal drafts.
