Winterizing Coop - Draft Free… but still has ventilation? Confused!

[rosemarythyme]

And they are only about 4 months so maybe they won’t get that ugly molt afterall! Lol

They will have multiple smaller juvenile molts as they mature, but you won't see the big annual molt until about 18 months and up.

 

[NatJ]

The chickens roost on their bar right below the top opening, so the opening on the sides and front are ABOVE their heads, but not by too much - few inches maybe, definitely less than a foot I would guess.

I’ll attach photos of the inside.

After looking at the inside, I see a way to make more space between the chickens' heads and the top vents: lower the roost a bit.

If you put the roost about halfway up the front of the nests instead of at their top, it will still be the highest place to sleep (so they should prefer to sleep on the roost, not in the nests). But there will be more space between the roosting chickens and the moving air from the vents.

 

[NatJ]

After looking at the inside, I see a way to make more space between the chickens' heads and the top vents: lower the roost a bit.

If you put the roost about halfway up the front of the nests instead of at their top, it will still be the highest place to sleep (so they should prefer to sleep on the roost, not in the nests). But there will be more space between the roosting chickens and the moving air from the vents.

Oh, I just remembered a reason you might not want to do that. Where the roost is now, they can probably walk underneath comfortably, so they can make good use of the floor space. If you lower it, they will have to jump over or duck under, so they cannot use the floor as easily. If they need to stay inside because of bad weather, that might not be good either.

Now I'm not sure which is better, the current height or a lower one.

 

[TinaRew]

After looking at the inside, I see a way to make more space between the chickens' heads and the top vents: lower the roost a bit.

If you put the roost about halfway up the front of the nests instead of at their top, it will still be the highest place to sleep (so they should prefer to sleep on the roost, not in the nests). But there will be more space between the roosting chickens and the moving air from the vents.

If we move it there, you don’t think it would make it difficult for the gens to get in and out of the nesting area on either side when they jump/fly in and out? That’s my only hesitation with lowering.

 

[NatJ]

If we move it there, you don’t think it would make it difficult for the gens to get in and out of the nesting area on either side when they jump/fly in and out? That’s my only hesitation with lowering.

Do they usually spread their wings and fly to the edge of the nestboxes? Or just jump with their wings closed?

I think jumping would be fine, but if they try to spread their wings to fly I agree they might smack into a lower roosting bar.

 

[TinaRew]

Do they usually spread their wings and fly to the edge of the nestboxes? Or just jump with their wings closed?

I think jumping would be fine, but if they try to spread their wings to fly I agree they might smack into a lower roosting bar.

I haven’t seen them go in yet, they’re not laying quite yet and we only just removed the cardboard we had blocking that area… so I’m not sure. As it gets colder, hopefully I have a better idea by then.

 

[LittleMamaBigPapa]

We live in Bellevue Nebraska. We don’t get near as much snow as we got 20 years ago but we do get high winds and -10 to -20 degree windchill. If you get cold winds, I’d recommend covering all the venting in the red circle because the venting at the roofline in green in plenty. Not sure I saw a comment on how many chickens you have. If you have 5 or less, that opening on green is plenty of ventilation. We’ve had chickens for 14 years, starting with 5 now we have 21. Our first coop has octagon gable vents as well as a ridge vent (similar to a home). Our chickens have all done great. One thing for certain to avoid if you get temps below freezing is so not put a heat source in the coop. A heated base for water is fine but no heater. Our very first year we put a heater out there and our rooster got frost bite on his comb. Newbie lessons are hard EDIT: After looking at the backside of your coop, i’d say you don’t need to cover that mesh in the red. Doesn’t look like you would have a significant cross wind. Your coop is very lovely

 

[Vicker]

Open air coops are used successfully even in cold climates. Like already mentioned, you just don't want a blustery wind blowing directly in at them.

 

[LittleMamaBigPapa]

Posting a picture of our two coops. You can see the octagon gable vent on the blue coop. Here’s a video tour of both our coops. We also extended the chicken run which you can find a video of that on my channel as well. I LOVE your coop!

 

[bethnlee]

I wonder if you can lower your roosts a little bit. I think your coop looks awesome! I love the ventilation, it should keep all that icky ammonia or whatever it is that hurts the chickens, vented out. I read somewhere, when I was building my cop, that their heads, when on the roosts, should be several inches to a foot below the vents. So my roosts are lower than yours. My girls can walk under them, but they kinda have to squat to do it . But my girls don’t spend any time in their coop other than sleeping, and going into their nesting boxes….your run is awesome and I would expect that your girls won’t hang out in the coop either…anywa, consider lowering your roosts a bit…it looks like you have room to do that…