Ventilation for Florida Heat

[cmom]

I moved to Ocala area about 20 years ago but did live in St Pete before moving here. That is a nice coop @Alaskan posted. You could make one like it only with a slanted roof. All of my coops have slanted roofs with overhangs. Originally I put rolled roofing on them but a couple of years ago we put metal roofs on all of the coops. These coops are open on one side. I did put netting up to cover all of the pens because I lost some birds to an owl. Since I put the netting up over the pens, I haven't had a loss. I also have electric wire around the coops and pens and concrete under the gates. All was done because of losses due to predators, coyotes, bobcat, fox, possum, hawks and owls.

 

[cmom]

These are older pictures. Each coop is different.

These coops face east. I put the tarps up to keep their feed dry during the rainy season.

 

[cmom]

I also have trees in all of the pens and shade/rain tables for the birds to get under and sprinklers in some of the pens but they cover all of the pens and cool the ground down on the really hot days. I realize your situation is different but maybe you will get some ideas to help. Good luck and have fun...

 

[jthornton]

Actually there are Crocs in Florida but they are in the everglades. Around here we have Alligators.

i'll be darned, crocodiles from the Americas, with populations present from South Florida and the coasts of Mexico to as far south as Peru and Venezuela.

JT

 

[so lucky]

You probably need to take a little time to figure out which direction you are oriented, where the sun is when it is hottest in the afternoon, which way the prevailing wind blows, etc.

Mistakes can be made by blocking off the nice cooling breeze accidentally by the one full wall you may have, or orienting the coop so the winter rains blow in on the roosts. So it pays to study your back yard and the weather patterns there.

You will want to make sure the bottom of the coop is not easy to tunnel under. Some people place rocks or concrete blocks around the bottom outside of the coop/pen, to keep critters from burrowing or digging under. We did an apron buried for my coop, but I think blocks/boulders would work well, too.

Living in Missouri, we needed to protect the birds from the winter north/west wind, but also allow the summer breeze to blow through. I (sort of) solved this by having the south end of the cage 1/2" hardware cloth. Open all the time. The north end is hardware cloth, but with a same- size door that I close during the winter or a hard rain. The west side has the nest boxes, and the east side has a pop door and a people door.

I have had to modify a little for extreme weather: in deep winter I use plastic to close off about 2/3 of the south screened area. It still lets the light in, but keeps some of the snow out.
In hot weather I have had a window fan sitting at the south side, to help cool the inside.
Now I have electricity to the inside of the coop, so I will hang a small fan inside this summer, I think.

Sorry this is so long, but one more thing that might interest you: We built the coop about 2' off the ground, so the chickens can go under the coop in the shade. Some days they spend the whole day lying around in the cool soil under there. I have a 12'x12' heavy wire fenced area which includes the 4'x8' coop. I have had poultry netting on the top of the run, but we are installing wire this week, hopefully.

 

[jthornton]

@so lucky do you have a photo of your setup?

I did the same with plastic covered panels last winter to cover the open walls of the run and the underside of the coop.

JT

 

[so lucky]

@so lucky do you have a photo of your setup?

I did the same with plastic covered panels last winter to cover the open walls of the run and the underside of the coop.

JT

ehh, I'll have to see if I can log onto BYC on my phone, so I can post a pic.

 

[No More Empty Nest]

Good for you for learning all you can before getting chicks!

 

[jthornton]

ehh, I'll have to see if I can log onto BYC on my phone, so I can post a pic.

Not using a PC? I'm guessing a tablet or something you can't copy photos into? No problem if it's a hassle don't worry about it.

What part of SE Missouri are you in?

JT

 

[so lucky]

Not using a PC? I'm guessing a tablet or something you can't copy photos into? No problem if it's a hassle don't worry about it.

What part of SE Missouri are you in?

JT

I'm using a laptop but I am tech challenged. I will try to do this. I always think people think "no pics, no proof" when I say something, lol. Occasionally I post over on TEG, but they are few and far between.
I live near Jackson, west of town.