Is it possible to have to much ventilation? Open air coop questions.

[DarkAngel77]

I'm still in the planning process for my coop, I have a general idea of the style of coop I want to build. I'm wanting an open air/open faced/3 sided coop, with a slanted/lean to roof, it will be a walk in coop. I was thinking of having the open part (covered in hardware cloth) faced towards the south, and the open air side will have like a partial wall, I was thinking about a foot or 2 tall then having the rest hardware cloth. I was reading that it is good to have a window faced towards the east for coops, so will likely have a east facing window.


So my question is, can there be to much ventilation? I was thinking to also have ventilation in the top, between the roof and wall (also covered in hardware mesh), and possibly a screen (hardware mesh) human door to use in the summer but when it's rainy or cold a solid door. So would that be to much ventilation?

I live in the southern US. So our summers are hot and humid (sometimes 100+F for several days/weeks, and our winter are usually mild with occasional cooler days but can get a cold front that can be as cold as single digits and a couple years ago got below 0) but our summers are longer then our winters.

Any advice, tips, or anything is welcome.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Just out of curiosity, you wouldn't happen to have a picture or know where I could find one? I guess it's just hard to imagine a coop with large gaps.

My plan for the coop is to have the south side open (or atleast mostly open) a window on the east (not a glass window but a window covered in hardware mesh that will have like a shutter to close if the weather gets to cold, or be able to just partially open to allow ventilation) and the human door on the west side that way there will kind of be some cross ventilation on warm/hot days, most of the air/breezes will be coming from the south (open face) and the west, since all of the areas on that side is essentially open field, on the east side not far from where the coop will be is an entire tree line/bushes that get really thick and will block winds from the east, but in the winter it thins out a bit so there may be some breeze from that side in late fall-early spring. I'm sorry if any of that is confusing, I'm not the best at explaining stuff.

It would look like this, with the following descriptors:

1. The tall side would be the front. It would face south. It would be left open as it currently is in the picture.

2. The short side would be the back of the coop. It would face north. You would wall it from the top to about 6 or 8 inches off the ground. That wall will block the winter north wind but the gap underneath would let air circulate in the summer.

3. The left and right sides would be oriented east and west. They would be walled like the back and you’d leave equal gaps on the ground like you did on the back wall. However, you would also leave a gap along the roof also 6-8 inches. That will let hot air escape the sides in the summer.

4. Inside you’d place an incline of roosting bars ascending from the front of the coop to the back.

5. You’d place your nesting boxes on the east and west walls, making sure that either the roof of the coop or the roofs of the nesting boxes hang over enough to shield the nesting boxes from blowing rain.

This style of coop is only intended to give your chickens a sheltered place to roost. It does not afford predator security beyond allowing chickens to fly out the open front of attacked at night. Security comes from either your run or free range dogs. This is the style coop I had growing up. It had a secure run but the run was left open 24-7. The dogs kept predators away and I never lot a chicken at night in the coop.

 

[Kiki]

Thank you. My only concern with having four walls of hardware cloth is how would they get out of the elements when it rains or is cold (spring and early summer is usually rainy and tornado-y) so I'd assume having 3 solid walls would allow them to get out of the elements and offer some type of protection.

Yes...mine is actually completely open on two walls and it works great. I was just stressing that open on all sides isn't too much ventilation.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Traditional coops in the deep south were usually lien-tos with the back wall facing north, east and west walls having large gaps between the bottom and the roof, and were totally open in the south. That lets the hot breezes blow through in the summer and shields the chickens from the cold north wind in the winter.

 

[DarkAngel77]

I agree...no such thing for the south.
A roof with four walls of hardware cloth works down here.

Thank you. My only concern with having four walls of hardware cloth is how would they get out of the elements when it rains or is cold (spring and early summer is usually rainy and tornado-y) so I'd assume having 3 solid walls would allow them to get out of the elements and offer some type of protection.

 

[TooCheep]

I have two coops, one of which is only covered on the north and west sides where the prevailing winds come from. They have deep litter and it is covered from rain. They do fine even in Indiana winters.

Three sides with walls would be perfectly fine. They have plenty of fresh air. Just protect them from rain and cold winds.

 

[TooCheep]

I partially covered the east side (~85%) with plastic which still provides plenty of ventilation along with the open south side. They handled the cold down to 0F this winter just fine.

That's why I'm not worried about a 3-sided cover. Just make sure they don't get hit directly by cold winds or precipitation.

 

[DarkAngel77]

Yes...mine is actually completely open on two walls and it works great. I was just stressing that open on all sides isn't too much ventilation.

Oh ok. I think I was just over thinking the ventilation thing because I keep reading on almost every forum I've been trying to learn from "1 Sq ft ventilation per chicken", and that has made me wonder if to much is bad, will it cause them to get sick, freeze to death, etc. "You have to ventilate, it needs cross ventilation" and ofcourse "no drafts, that can be deadly". So I think reading all of that, I took it in a different way then was intended and was starting to wonder if my plans for a 3 sided coop with that much ventilation will cause more harm then good.

Honestly I'm so glad I did post in here about that, because I was so close to coming up with a different coop that was fully enclosed with only the 1 Sq ft ventilation, but everyone who has commented on my post have really eased my worries about having a 3 sided coop, and honestly have given me ideas on stuff I think I will change about my original plan (thankfully before we started building ), and that post you tagged me in definitely was helpful, I still haven't went all the way through it yet though.

 

[Kiki]

I agree...no such thing for the south.
A roof with four walls of hardware cloth works down here.

 

[DarkAngel77]

I partially covered the east side (~85%) with plastic which still provides plenty of ventilation along with the open south side. They handled the cold down to 0F this winter just fine.

That's why I'm not worried about a 3-sided cover. Just make sure they don't get hit directly by cold winds or precipitation.

Thank you. It definitely makes me feel better about having an open faced coop.