About 20" or so, on center. Far enough so one bird can't bother another on the next roost. (But sometimes, a bird can get willful, and hop over to the same bar.)
As another long time Woods owner, I agree with Ted. Don't mess with the design. Block off the gaps with wood. With the front and rear soffits open, you will create quite the wind tunnel in the winter.
My Wood's coop is 10yrs old. It was the first one that I know of, on this site. I have, as it states in the book/plan, 6" eave/overhangs off of each end of the roofs. No overhang on the sides, or over the monitor section. I used aluminum drip edge, from Lowes, along each roof side, and...
With a wood floor, you will not have a true deep litter setup. Even if you let it get two feet deep. A true deep litter setup has a dirt floor. There are a bunch of posts on this forum about them. One thing though, OSB is not the best choice for a coop's floor. That stuff absorbs moisture...
The Wood's coop faces to the south/southeast, to take in all the sunlight possible. The sunlight coming in through the side and top windows, absolutely floods the coop with light. This is not a dark, shadowy coop. As I posted before, wind direction and wind speed, doesn't mean anything to...
The coop was designed to be used in cold climates. In the book, it is documented to have been used in -40 temps, up into Maine and Canada. With the open front, you get mass fresh air exchange, with Absolutely NO drafts, when it is in winter mode. (All windows shut). It just works through a...
Unless you have chicks, with no feathers, 38 degrees, is NOTHING, to a chicken. Get the heatlamp, out of the coop. There has been plenty of coops, and the birds, burned to the ground, in some baseless attempt to "KeepThemWarm". Insulation, where you live, is also a total waste of time, and...
The reason I have sand up front in my Woods, is because the chicken entry door is up front. And I didn't want them to drag all the shavings out, as they come and go.
The inner screen windows help keep wild birds out of the coop. Over the yrs, I had a couple of sparrows come through the pop door anyway. But they were quickly evicted. I used Smartside for the sheathing for my coop. It has a 50yr guarantee. Going on 10 yrs, it looks as good as the day I...
I have a Woods. I was the first on this forum to build one, and post it here. Like ten yrs ago. I have found, during the winter, especially if there is snow on the ground, my birds will spend a lot more time in the coop. If you have 20 or so birds in there, it can start to get a bit smelly. I...
For my coop, I've built two lightweight temporary walls, with 2X3"s and chickenwire. With them, I block off a 4X6' area (The low roofed area up front), in the front corner of the coop, opposite the entry door. There is a chickenwire door in one wall to access the area. Again, 2X3" framed...
I have a screen door for my Woods. It can get over 100 here, on occasion, and I want all the fresh air flow/ventilation, I can get. The outside door is hooked open in the spring, and doesn't get shut until Late fall. The door was made with 1X4, and 1X6" pine, sandwiching a panel of hardware cloth.
Yes, as I said, a MUCH larger area, for LESS. Try fencing the area I have, with hardware cloth, for less money. And, I did not buy it all at once. Started with 300', bought the rest over a couple years. After a couple of near total wipeouts by the local foxes, installing this fence was one...
You can surround a much larger area for less $$$, with electrified poultry net. It's a whole lot easier to install, also. No digging and setting posts, and wrestling with yards of high dollar hardware cloth. I have my coop surrounded with 650' of it, and have not lost a bird to a ground...
Sounds like it wasn't properly stirred. You REALLY have to stir this stuff WELL. If not, it will never really dry. Should be dry within 24hrs, unless it's cold and rainy.