Rural Gardening: I have a coop ventilation question....., 1 by Glenda_Michigan

Glenda_Michigan wrote:
Thanks Haystack! I just knew that those fumes couldn't be good for them! yuk!

Here’s a picture that will help….

I have had my chickens in this coop for 4 years now with no ammonia problems, and no problems with my chicken’s feet from the wire floor. The ammonia gas is a recent problem that started when I tried to make some changes, this year, with how I keep the coop warm through the winter. Since I’ve had chickens, through the winter,I have hung a double thickness blanket over the doors you see in the bottom right picture; and even with the blanket covering the doors, there has not been any ammonia problem. (The doors have ¼” screen insets.) Actually, because the wire floor allows the droppings to dry so quickly, my coop has had very little smell at all, which has been nice. ….Anyways, this year I bought and cut to size, a sheet of 1/2" thick ridged foam insulation to put inside the doors you see in the bottom right of the photo. Worked like a dream, the chickens could not get to it, and held in a lot more warmth than the blanket, but THAT is when I first had trouble with the ammonia smell. So, yesterday I cut the ridged foam insulation panels in half – only covering the top half of the doors, and will see if that allows enough ventilation to remove the ammonia. If it does, it will at least help hold in the heat in the top half of the coop - hopefully. If all else fails, I can remove the panels and go back to my blanket. It has worked for 4 years…….but it’s just a pain in the tail to take off and put back on every time I need to get into the coop during the winter. :-[