Wake up to wet backs on the two birds who roost at the far end. Coop is a converted shed, about 6x4 feet, six hens. There are two vents at roost height on the door side and I keep them open all winter. Outside temps have been around -5C. Bedding is dry, no obvious leak in the roof, but the underside of the roof panel is wet in the mornings. What am I missing?
Also check your bedding depth and how often you're turning it. Droppings under a roost are a big moisture source in a small coop. A droppings board you scrape every morning removes maybe half the water going into that air.
Metal roof? If so, insulating the underside with foil-faced board or even a layer of cardboard stops the panel dropping below dew point and cures most of the dripping on its own. Combine that with high vents and it's fixed.
Same principle applies. Anything that puts a warmer surface between the birds and the sheet will stop the condensation forming right above them.
It's corrugated bitumen sheet. Cold to the touch in the mornings.
Don't be tempted by a heat lamp as a fix. It raises the humidity, makes the birds less cold-hardy and is the single most common cause of coop fires.
Six birds in 24 square feet is on the tight side too, particularly if they're shut in during bad weather. Not the cause of the drip but it's making everything worse.
@shallow_well_shea · 8mo ago · 3 replies
Your vents are in the wrong place. Ventilation has to be above the birds' heads, not level with them — warm damp air rises off the roost, hits the cold roof panel, condenses and falls back on them. Vents at roost height do almost nothing for that and they also put a draught straight across the birds, which is worse for them than cold.
Cut openings in the gable ends right up under the ridge, cover with hardware cloth, and leave them open permanently. Rough guide is about 1 square foot of vent per bird for a coop your size, which sounds like a lot until you realise damp is what causes frostbite, not cold.
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@shallow_well_shea · 8mo ago
It is, and it feels wrong the first winter. But chickens are wearing a down jacket — they handle dry cold to well below freezing. What kills them is sitting in a humid box breathing ammonia.
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@leggy_seedling · 8mo ago
1 square foot per bird genuinely shocked me. That's most of a gable end for six hens.
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