Ventilation

[Strawberry delight]

I am in the making of a chicken hut and wondered how much ventilation is needed. i was thinking of putting a length of ventilation (hole with chicke wire) along the over-hang of the roof. will this work?

[polo]

Hi, it depends on the the height of the ventilation compared to the height of the hens when they are roosting. To explain, the ventilation should be well above their heads when they are roosting as hens don't like draughts. I prefer a smaller vent, one on each side high up in the apex so you get a good throughput of air. If you build a sliding cover then you have the flexibility of covering it up if very windy.

Alternatively, you can build a plain box type coop then you can just cover it with onduline = as it doesnt fit flush it provides ventilation high up.

I like the idea of putting mesh along the hole but consider fine weld mesh as that would make it more difficult for rats to get in.

Good luck. There are some good designs in the sticky at the top of the list to look through