Building a Woods Coop for DLM in the Shenandoah Valley

[Howard E]

Looks like you are off to a good start.

My thoughts on DLM......is while you may be able to make it work on a wooden floor, it will work better on either dirt or cement. If you want to make this more or less permanent......consider cement. It's not too late.

My concern with DLM on a wood floor is the moisture and wood. Unless it's pressure treated or otherwise kept from getting wet, the wood floor will eventually rot (compost?) same as the litter.

Cement avoids the rot issue, and can be kept moist and sanitary with no issues.......and is A#1 when it comes to keeping a house rat proof. Dirt floors are not rat proof or sanitary.......and over time the soil is fouled....(fowled)?

Whatever the case, make absolutely certain you locate the house on top of a well drained site.......any water that falls will flow away from the house and not towards it.....from any direction.......and without fail......open side faces south. Always south towards the winter sun.

 

[DoozyWombat]

Great comments, Kusanar and Howard E.

I hear the comments about cement, but I'm already putting in GC PT 3/4" plywood, which I'm going to let dry thoroughly, then paint with Black Jack 57, in however many coats I can get out of a gallon.

I'm not worried about moisture rotting the wood, but I had not thought about how much moisture is required to compost. One of the things I'd been reading about is the importance of keeping the coop dry, for the health of the birds. So I wonder if trying to compost in the coop will have a negative impact on the birds. Does anyone have information on that?

I do like the idea of introducing pill bugs. Among other things, it will get the birds interested in stirring the litter.

 

[Howard E]

With a wood floor, my advice would be to go the dry route......which was traditionally how it was done. A cup of oats tossed on top of the litter will get it stirred up PDQ!

 

[jane s chickens]

I'm still on the fence about how much overhang to build in. I've seen arguments for little to none, but I think I do want about six inches of overhang all around, just to keep the rain off when it's coming straight down.

If others have built Woods designs, I'd love to hear how much overhang you have, and how it has worked for you.

I have very little overhang & regret it Everytime it rains cause it wets my litter.

 

[JackE]

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 monitor roof section. The red paint has held up great. The white trim needs more upkeep. As far as rain goes, unless you live in a rainforest, it's no problem with a Woods. After a rain, parts of the floor may get damp. But, because the coop has so much air going through, it drys out very quickly. Best coop you can have.

 

[Kusanar]

Great comments, Kusanar and Howard E.

I hear the comments about cement, but I'm already putting in GC PT 3/4" plywood, which I'm going to let dry thoroughly, then paint with Black Jack 57, in however many coats I can get out of a gallon.

I'm not worried about moisture rotting the wood, but I had not thought about how much moisture is required to compost. One of the things I'd been reading about is the importance of keeping the coop dry, for the health of the birds. So I wonder if trying to compost in the coop will have a negative impact on the birds. Does anyone have information on that?

I do like the idea of introducing pill bugs. Among other things, it will get the birds interested in stirring the litter.

The entire floor does not need to be kept damp, you could simply dump their water out each day into a different place, then there will be a "wet" area and the rest will be mostly dry, then next day you dump it somewhere else and the previous place will be mostly dry again or just damp. You never want the wet to last more than a day or 2 anyway, that's when the anaerobic bacteria start up and you don't want those at all.

 

[aart]

You need to make sure that at least some of it stays moist

This is why I would never do it, it's humid enough in my climate.

 

[MiaS]

If others have built Woods designs, I'd love to hear how much overhang you have, and how it has worked for you.

I have overhang on the fronts of about 10-12" and also on the upper roof sides to shed water, but with the 6x10' Woods the height of the lower roof makes an overhang a challenge. My concern was taking my eyes out as I come out of the door of the coop - hitting the lower overhang.

 

[DoozyWombat]

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 monitor roof section. The red paint has held up great. The white trim needs more upkeep. As far as rain goes, unless you live in a rainforest, it's no problem with a Woods. After a rain, parts of the floor may get damp. But, because the coop has so much air going through, it drys out very quickly. Best coop you can have.

Very useful feedback, thanks.

 

[DoozyWombat]

I have overhang on the fronts of about 10-12" and also on the upper roof sides to shed water, but with the 6x10' Woods the height of the lower roof makes an overhang a challenge. My concern was taking my eyes out as I come out of the door of the coop - hitting the lower overhang.

I am also concerned about this. I'm 6'1", and have a tendency to not watch where I'm going.