AkHenMama
In the Brooder
I hope if you have a ventilation question you can read this and look at your coop to assess whether or not your ventilation is active or passive and which will help keep your animals happier and healthier!
Active ventilation: forces air movement.
Passive ventilation: relies on nature to move air.
When referring to ventilation there are two types: active and passive. Passive is usually just an opening that allows air movement, think open window or a peak vent. Active is something the forces air movement, think a fan or motorized exhaust vent.
As I was writing out my description of my problem I realized I had no ‘active ventilation’ only an extreme amount of ‘passive ventilation’. This ‘passive’ style was allowing freezing cold air into my coop and not moving any of the moisture out. A big problem for chickens in frigid/moist climates.
To fix this, I put hard foam insulation in my top ‘passive vents’ to stop cold air and outside moisture from getting in. There are now only 2 exterior vents, passive, that are away from their roosting bars so there is no cross draft. Next, we added a small fan (4” diameter) to create ‘active ventilation’ on one open ‘passive vent’ and that has made the coop dry AND SUPER WARM! After I did this I put my hand in at night after an hour of the coop being closed up, it was WARM and the ammonia smell was almost gone. Temperatures outside that day were in the teens and the girls had been enjoying the cold winter sunshine from the comfort of their run.
I have one heating plate I put in for my girls, the one I used for them as chicks, that is mounted to the wall away from the roosting bars. It is a small amount of ambient heat. Not enough to turn outside temperatures into a cozy environment for my girls inside.
A bit of proof it has worked. During our first cold snap with only ‘passive vents’ we were down to 2 eggs a day. Now that we have, mostly, sorted out the ventilation we are back to 5-7 eggs a day even after our most recent cold snap! And yes, I use artificial lights to simulate an earlier sun rise but only in the run.
Active ventilation: forces air movement.
Passive ventilation: relies on nature to move air.
When referring to ventilation there are two types: active and passive. Passive is usually just an opening that allows air movement, think open window or a peak vent. Active is something the forces air movement, think a fan or motorized exhaust vent.
As I was writing out my description of my problem I realized I had no ‘active ventilation’ only an extreme amount of ‘passive ventilation’. This ‘passive’ style was allowing freezing cold air into my coop and not moving any of the moisture out. A big problem for chickens in frigid/moist climates.
To fix this, I put hard foam insulation in my top ‘passive vents’ to stop cold air and outside moisture from getting in. There are now only 2 exterior vents, passive, that are away from their roosting bars so there is no cross draft. Next, we added a small fan (4” diameter) to create ‘active ventilation’ on one open ‘passive vent’ and that has made the coop dry AND SUPER WARM! After I did this I put my hand in at night after an hour of the coop being closed up, it was WARM and the ammonia smell was almost gone. Temperatures outside that day were in the teens and the girls had been enjoying the cold winter sunshine from the comfort of their run.
I have one heating plate I put in for my girls, the one I used for them as chicks, that is mounted to the wall away from the roosting bars. It is a small amount of ambient heat. Not enough to turn outside temperatures into a cozy environment for my girls inside.
A bit of proof it has worked. During our first cold snap with only ‘passive vents’ we were down to 2 eggs a day. Now that we have, mostly, sorted out the ventilation we are back to 5-7 eggs a day even after our most recent cold snap! And yes, I use artificial lights to simulate an earlier sun rise but only in the run.
