Draft vs. Ventilation

OK, so I just posted pics of my coop in the "Tour de Coop" thread, but didn't want to muddy it up with a question. When Anya got sick and I called her previous owner the question of draft came up.

I had read that the coops need good ventilation for summer and to get the coop air out. I also read that these vents are best placed on the north and south sides of your coop.

So here's the question in picture one you can see that there is an entire "

Bleh - that got cut off for some reason...

It must not like the symbol I'm using... 3rd times a charm?!?!

"horzontal V - like the less than sign" above the horizontal support and the roof line that is mesh wire... due to the small nature of the coop, the fact that it is ON the ground, I put the roost as high as i could, I believe 2 1/2 to 3 feet up. So when the girls are roosting at night, if they stand up their little heads are right in line with the mesh, but when they sit on their feet (perch is it?) they are below.

Are the vents close enough to them that I could be making them sick with a "draft" versus ventilation? I live in Zone8 so we don't have terribly drastic weather. I have "Plugs" for the vents for when it gets really cold in the winter, but I could also fill up more of the vent and just leave a couple inches at the part closest to the shed (furthest from the roost).

What do you think???

My pens are off ground so i don't think i would be much help here. I do know ventilation is important but all my pens are open air and only have a roost in the back.

As far as drafts mine get that 24/7 and mine have never got sick from it summer or winter.
The only ones not in a draft are my chicks but even they go in an open pen when they feather out.

I hope someone can help you.

To my understanding ventilation is fresh air entering the enclosure where it can't hit the birds directly.
A draft is air that crosses and hits them in the same spot for long periods of time.
I can't mentally picture the coop as you describe it so I can't say if you should plug the vents or not. Do note in Harmony's picture the open area is along the front only so the birds get ventilation but do not sit in a draft.

MollyD

Molly et al,
I took a couple more pictures in hopes of clarification...
Here is a side shot of the coop (this is the south side).

Here's a close up where you can see straight through and see that there's a vent the exact same size and shape directly across from it (on the north side)...

Its hard to get a good pic of the inside but here's one at a bit of an angle...

One last one from the outside. I've placed a board in line with where the roost is. So you can see where the girls are sitting at night in reference to where the vents are...

I'm no expert but to me, it doesn't look like they would be getting a severe draft in there. I think the worst drafts are the ones that come up underneath them. This one is going over the top of them when they are roosted. Maybe for very cold winter days (do you even get any of those? LOL!!) you could have optional boards that could attach over the vents for night time or blizzards. I live in a place that gets to -20 with some regularity so I'm thinking of it in terms of my weather but that would probably be overkill for your situation.

The worst we get is MAYBE sometimes low 20s (not even below 0). I kept the pieces that were cut out. DH was going to put little knobs on them and we could completely plug it up for the worst of the winter.

***lightbulb on!***

I'm bouncing topics here now, but I just thought of something in terms of drafts or just plain keeping warm. Lacey and Talula cuddle up against one wall together. The two nights that Anya was with them, she cuddled with them one night (on the outside of Lacey) and the other night she roosted by herself. So she could have gotten a bit cooler, but we're talking the nights are still mid-40s and above right now!

My 10 week old chickens are outside in a wire "pet exercise" enclosure and they are going in plastic flower (tree) pots turned on their sides at night. My bantams are currently in a very large dog crate and roost on 1 x 2 lumber rods at night. The only ones that go inside the coop right now are the big hens. I would not even begin to worry about your Anya getting a draft in that weather.

I am working on another coop, quite furiously, in order to get it done for winter so these other chickens will have an "inside" place.

Thanks Claire!

hi, just catching up with this post. In my coop the windows are below the roost. so my girls (crossing fingers they are girls! lol) get a cross breeze for ventilation but its under them and not on them. on cool nights, I've been just leaning a board on the windows so they still get air...just not a direct wind! lol!

I'm in about the same zone as you... I dont think you'll need to worry about them getting too cold, but can wind driven rain get in the vents?

LL..I am not a whole lot of help to you but I think these pictures will say what you need to know...My Brooder house is over 100 years old...It has been extremely well maintained over the years, and must be kept up as this farm is on the National registry... I will show and hopefully explain one side at a time...
In this pic the side with the windows faces North.. hence what you were told is correct.. Every window used to open..Notice different heights..For night protection, they were closed but it was July 4th and hotter than all get out, and birds are dying.. Gotta fix that...so if you look reallllly close along the upper wall over the windows, you will see 6 foot sections that are hinged and raise up to again allow the air through....Mind you, this is about 1880...Notice wall facing you...It has a rolling door next to those shrubs...Inside that door is a handmade screen door that faces West...

Next pics coming...

The reason the wall is lower to the North is for the bitter winters...The South wall is higher with more windows to absorb as much sun as possible to keep the hens warm, but it also has the Summer vents under the roof...With the advent of electricity, a fan was installed high on the east wall to blow OUT, which sucked all of the hot air out of the Brooder during the day, pulling air from the screen door across the entire length of the brooder..Remember heat rises... Summer or Winter... so to put vents where yours are is good for summer to allow the heat to rise and leave as it keeps the hens comfortable, but in winter it would suck all the heat upward and out unless you close the vents...If it gets too warm from their body heat, then crack open a vent on the south side in the winter...Words of my wise old GrandFather, **The Winter winds of death blow from the north...Turn your back to the North..**

Awesome, Dusty! Thank you very much! I had planned to block the vents in the winter, so that's just what I'll do!

I just love your property -- it is so gorgeous!

Thank you my dear...I love it too...I can't wait to get into it full bore come this Spring...

Digressing from ventilation issue, but feeling more confident about that...

DH says I should be in real state, I just love looking. So was this in your family for generations or did you purchase it? I've mentioned it before by DH and I'd love to be on more land and make a living off of it. Hard work, but I think well worth it at the end of the day.

PS.
1AnjL,
I think right now driving rain could get in there. We've had a couple of really good rains this week and I see some splash type marks on the wall that only that could explain.

I still intend to put a enclosed pen off of it (that's where we had to stop when DH broke his foot) and the part that is over the hen house will be covered with that clear plastic roofing. I think that'll help a bit. I'll have to see though. I may just have to batten down the hatches when rain storms are predicted. HA! Who am I kidding? ... this is SW Washington, I better just batten down the hatches now. ;-)

lol @ WA and rain...thats the exact reason I cant wait to move there!

I was just thinking that wet chickens are more prone to getting chilled even with a slight breeze...if they are wet too, that may not be a good thing. I am really new to chickens tho, so still learning :)
and still waiting for eggs! sometime soon I hope I hope! lol!

It doesnt get wet here in Cali, so we just put one of those cheap sun shades up over the entire run. the run is 6 x 6 nad the shade is 10 x 10 so hoping that rains wont blow into the windows on my coop. I think mine are low enough that girls will still be okay.... only time will tell.

1Anjl,
I'm with you... still waiting for eggs and have spent WAY more than I care to admit on this endeavor so far! The coop and run were fine. The girls were more than I expected because I didn't buy them as chicks... and this latest visit to the vet for very little information was quite costly. I was joking with DH and said they had better start laying SOON and they had better be eggcellent eggs!

wait...what trip to the vet?!

i was just there today :( $305 today adnd $1800 on monday for surgery :(
all for something that could have been prevented if they would have told me about glucosimine (sp?) 4 years ago! ugh!

not for the chickens??? mine was only $87, but still feeling foolish for spending that kind of money on a bird I've had for just a week to the day that I took her in and the original price was less than a 4th of that!

Glucosimine, huh? that sounds like a dog or other four legged friend?? My dog has had 3 ruptured discs and now had arthritis of the spin. So I'm very familiar with the spendy vet trips, glucosimine, and prednisone. :-S

ya :( My lil want-to-be chicken herder.... has knee patella fluxation (sp?) in both back legs :( he was born with it... vet told me it would be many years before he needed surgery.... never told me about glucosamine preventing surgery. now he is only 4 yo and has to have surgery ASAP... as both back legs are basically un-usable most days :(

Oh poor baby, best of luck! He's awfully cute. I hope he does well with surgery and recovery.