How to go about building a chicken coop with only 3 walls instead of 4

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I want to have my chickens live like wild chickens, only go into their house for shelter when it's raining badly, stormy, and to sleep. I want to have my birds live out there once they are 6 weeks old and fully feathered, I was hoping this would keep down the parasites too and respitaroary issues since the coop will be ventilated by the air. I was planning on having a deep litter method.

I like the idea of this coop, but I definatly want them to have roosts, I feel like chickens without them will get stressed. I Live in WA by the way.

I also do want to be able to put a heat lamp in there when it gets below freezing on some nights.

 
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Do you get much snow?
The heat lamp will do no good with an entire wall open. What about wind? If you get below freezing and there is a wind or breeze blowing they may have trouble keeping the warmth in with their feathers.
What breeds of chickens are you looking at getting? Heartiness is important with that kind of set up since some breeds are looser feathered than others or have the wrong kind of feathers to keep the heat in.
I think the 3 wall set up would work better in the deep south personally.
What about having a 4th wall but having a lot of windows you can open? That way you CAN close them if there is a severe storm.

Just my thoughts on it.

Babs
 
21hens-incharge said:
Do you get much snow?
The heat lamp will do no good with an entire wall open. What about wind? If you get below freezing and there is a wind or breeze blowing they may have trouble keeping the warmth in with their feathers.
What breeds of chickens are you looking at getting? Heartiness is important with that kind of set up since some breeds are looser feathered than others or have the wrong kind of feathers to keep the heat in.
I think the 3 wall set up would work better in the deep south personally.
What about having a 4th wall but having a lot of windows you can open? That way you CAN close them if there is a severe storm.

Just my thoughts on it.

Babs
Click to expand...
I RARLEY get snow. But yes sometimes it gets stormy. What if I put in 3/4 of a full wall and leave 1/4 of it open?
 
That would give them a place to get out of the wind or blowing rain. You could put hatches that you could lower if needed on the upper 1/4 that would not be walled in too. Not a bad idea at all.
My coop is made so I can basically open it up on all sides. I have 11 windows in mine and an open soffit on the west side (it is my high side of my coop). My windows open awning style and some were even made just using the siding I had cut out to make the window opening. Easier to show than describe.

These were taken during construction. I had to cover them due to a heavy sudden rain. The roof was just trusses and one massive tarp in this pic.

The inside before I got the roosts done or nest boxes.


This is the west side after it was all built.

I get a lot of airflow when I open it all up. There are windows on every side.
 
elizabet253 said:
I want to have my chickens live like wild chickens, only go into their house for shelter when it's raining badly, stormy, and to sleep. I want to have my birds live out there once they are 6 weeks old and fully feathered, I was hoping this would keep down the parasites too and respitaroary issues since the coop will be ventilated by the air. I was planning on having a deep litter method.

I like the idea of this coop, but I definatly want them to have roosts, I feel like chickens without them will get stressed. I Live in WA by the way.

I also do want to be able to put a heat lamp in there when it gets below freezing on some nights.
Click to expand...
Those two things don't go together...just sayin'.
 
aart said:
Those two things don't go together...just sayin'.
Click to expand...
Well I also don't want them to die from the cold. I want to care for them as best as I can, but I don't belive in having them confined in a box especially with so many birds.
 
Do you mean live like wild chickens or free range. You can take care of them, let them have a warm safe coop and run, But let them have free roam of the property when you want. To live like wild chickens they would most likely be skittish and not lay eggs in the coop but were ever they please. Also they will be easy prey without a safe closed area at night.
 
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As owners of chickens we have a certain responsibility we take on. We are responsible for their care and health.
Today's chickens are in large not like the wild chickens that they originated from. Today's chickens have been bred for certain characteristics like being super great layers, heavy for meet production or foofy for looks etc. Since we, man, has bred the things needed to survive in the "wild" out of them we have a responsibility to provide for them as needed.
Small birds like bantams or polish need extra protection from hawks and predators while others like silkies require even more protection from the elements. Dual purpose birds are great layers and good for meat but lack the ability to fly well enough to get away from most predators so requirements of protection from things that want to eat them are greater than say a game cock.

They cannot do it for themselves so we must, if we want them to live, do it for them.

Mine have quite a nice "box" to live in and a large run to get some sun in and scratch around safely. I sleep soundly at night knowing mine are well cared for.
 

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