BeckyRK1974
Chirping
I made a trip to the builder that is making my coop today. Because of all you wonderful folks that have taken time to answer questions and post articles about ventilation, I started feeling like the standard build for my coop will be lacking. Therefore, I wanted to ask them some questions and make some changes hopefully before they got too far into building. Thankfully they haven't started yet so I could make changes.
I have attached pictures of the style I'm getting for reference. These are all from his show lot that I took while I was there this afternoon. All of them in the pics are 6' x 8', which is what I'm getting. Their standard build has 6 nesting boxes, but I asked for just 4 because I want it to open on the side rather than the top. I'm also having them put a metal roof on, and the side with 2 windows will swing open from the bottom rather than like those in the picture. He called the ones in getting awning style windows? All of this was already in the build instructions when I placed the order.
As you can see, the opposite 8' wall from the nest boxes has a reasonable sized ventilation area. It's about 12" tall. The 6' wall opposite the walk-in door has nothing except a vent in the peak (not sure if it's the right term, but I call it a gable vent).
Now for what I changed/added today... First, the gable vents in the standard design are 4" x 16". He said he can make them 8" x 16" so that's what I'm going with. There will be one on each end. Second, I asked him to put in a ridge vent on the roof.
So in summary there will be the opening on the 8' wall (opposite the nest boxes), the two 8" x 16" gable vents and the roof vent that would run the 8' length.
I'm not counting the windows because in the winter I'll have to have them closed. The roosts will be too much in line with them, and I'm assuming that's okay in summertime so I'm focused on accommodating winter.
He said they will be starting on it next week, so if I need any other adjustments to just give them a call. I would love it if some of you more experienced chicken parents could let me know if it seems like I'm covered now. Or if I should have them do more?
I'm starting with 6 baby chicks, but I'm planning to add a few more in a couple years to keep future egg production going. And everyone knows we all need to allow for chicken math!
Thank you in advance for your input!
I have attached pictures of the style I'm getting for reference. These are all from his show lot that I took while I was there this afternoon. All of them in the pics are 6' x 8', which is what I'm getting. Their standard build has 6 nesting boxes, but I asked for just 4 because I want it to open on the side rather than the top. I'm also having them put a metal roof on, and the side with 2 windows will swing open from the bottom rather than like those in the picture. He called the ones in getting awning style windows? All of this was already in the build instructions when I placed the order.
As you can see, the opposite 8' wall from the nest boxes has a reasonable sized ventilation area. It's about 12" tall. The 6' wall opposite the walk-in door has nothing except a vent in the peak (not sure if it's the right term, but I call it a gable vent).
Now for what I changed/added today... First, the gable vents in the standard design are 4" x 16". He said he can make them 8" x 16" so that's what I'm going with. There will be one on each end. Second, I asked him to put in a ridge vent on the roof.
So in summary there will be the opening on the 8' wall (opposite the nest boxes), the two 8" x 16" gable vents and the roof vent that would run the 8' length.
I'm not counting the windows because in the winter I'll have to have them closed. The roosts will be too much in line with them, and I'm assuming that's okay in summertime so I'm focused on accommodating winter.
He said they will be starting on it next week, so if I need any other adjustments to just give them a call. I would love it if some of you more experienced chicken parents could let me know if it seems like I'm covered now. Or if I should have them do more?
I'm starting with 6 baby chicks, but I'm planning to add a few more in a couple years to keep future egg production going. And everyone knows we all need to allow for chicken math!
Thank you in advance for your input!
