wind block for vent holes...

[TurtleChick]

coop sq.footage is 5'x4'... right now the only ventilation holes our coop has are two rectangular vents about 4"x8" on the north and south sides of the house (east and west sides are roofed - it's an a-frame). the vents are about 12-18" higher than the highest place they could (and probably will) roost - the top of their nest boxes. i was thinking that it could get chilly with drafts blowing through in the winter. have you guys seen those clear plexiglass heat-duct covers for the in-the-floor heat vents in your house? they're covered at an angle, to blow heat from your furnace in a particular direction. i was thinking of having dh screw a couple of those over the vents, with the open section facing downwards... does that make sense? and if yes, do you think it would be worth doing? or should i just install some higher vents (at the top along the roofline), and make some hinged or sliding covers for the lower vents? i'll try and get pics and post later......

thanks in advance!

 

[speckledhen]

Sounds like it could work. We just put hinged board across our full width of the coop vents and then put a hook to hold it open. I can prop things in there to open it to various sizes as well. Here's a pic during construction of that.

 

[TurtleChick]

hey, that's fancy! unfortunately, there's nothing directly above the low vents to hinge them partly open - it'd have to be all open or all closed (unless i put sliders on somehow...). if i just rig something to close them up all the way at night, i worry about ventilation. does yours get stuffy/wet when it's all closed up? we'll have 4 standard sized girls in there - in about 18sf of interior floor space (tighter up higher since it's a-frame)... dh thinks i'm nutso to worry about them so much. what can i say? i'm their mother hen!!!