Non-Heated, Open-Air Coop in Northern Climates: Yes or No?

[Alaskan]

Oh, so she has both Woods and hoops, and the hoops function with an air cushion.

yes.

exactly

 

[Eelantha]

Good luck to you. I can’t provide much, but you can look up Woods coop on BYC, but maybe you are already familiar with it and why/how it works. How many chickens do you have, or plan to have?

I've seen a few wood coops for 2-3 chickens, but while those are great, most of them don't seem insulated much with their small size. I'm also not sure if small coops are good protectors in very cold temperatures.... to be honest they leave me uneasy. Cleaning them is heaven though, since their small size make for easy litter replacements. The rollout drawers are a deluxe feature I wish I could integrate into bigger coops. I am highly tempted to build a new chicken coop that would better fit all of my needs, but as I said I have little construction experience and I'm not sure where to place it plus its run in my backyard for easy access in winter, since the cabanon is in the ideal spot already.

I plan to have at least 5-6 hens to get all base colors of the rainbow eggs, plus a rooster for pure and mutt chicks in spring. The current coop that I have, if pushed to max capacity, could hold around 12 chickens in total at ground floor, plus four additional ones if I unfold the heated coop above. (I've put six chickens in there the previous winter since they were middle-weights, but one of the leghorn hens started eating more feathers than grains so that's how I realized I'd overcrowded the place). The landlady also used to have a poney in her backyard, and its 6 ft long x 3 ft large stall is glued to the cabanon coop, so I can use that stall for a brooding hen and her chicks in spring to give the rest of my coop a space break. Otherwise in winter the stall is closed off; it's inside the chicken run and unaccessible unless I sneak around two sets of fences with my snow plower to it. Getting there is a hassling business.

Here, this is how my chicken coop is made and placed, for upper visual reference:

Due to this year's bad run-in with parasites, I don't want to go over 10 chickens top, in case bad luck strikes again and I have to euthanize some of them. I'm too soft-hearted to kill anything, so dog and cat vets are the next best thing when it comes to humanely ending the suffering of my chickens. So yeah, no more than 10 chickens, and a prayer to god that the future specimens I get are of good quality and excellent health xP

 

[Alaskan]

No... a Woods coop is a specific coop design. The idea is that in the winter all ventilation is from the big wire front.

the high up little widows are only open in a hot summer.

like this:

or

So a Woods coop is not a tiny wooden coop...

 

[Alaskan]

Due to this year's bad run-in with parasites, I don't want to go over 10 chickens top, in case bad luck strikes again and I have to euthanize some of them

Parasites can come in from wild birds... VERY hard to keep them completely out.

However, there are many drugs that can be used to kill them off, there shouldn't be any need to kill any birds due to a parasite load.

I know Canada has stricter drug laws... but I am sure you could find something up there that works.

 

[Acre4Me]

No... a Woods coop is a specific coop design. The idea is that in the winter all ventilation is from the big wire front.

the high up little widows are only open in a hot summer.

like this:
View attachment 1327296
or
View attachment 1327298

So a Woods coop is not a tiny wooden coop...

Was just about to say the same thing! I'll attach the link to the book as well.
http://www.nortoncreekpress.com/wordpress/poultry/fresh_air_poultry_houses_a/

This is a reprint of the 1924 version.

 

[Alaskan]

So... the lady I was talking about who lives in a climate similar to yours (where I am it is a bit more mild, and I NEVER get hot in the summer), she has one Woods style coop (like the photos I posted up above) and then a few hoop coops that are fully tarped on the top and back wall, front wall open... like this:

because yes, it WOULD be a terrible idea to stick your chickens into a tiny wooden box in the winter. ... not what any of us meant.

 

[Alaskan]

I've seen a few wood coops for 2-3 chickens, but while those are great, most of them don't seem insulated much with their small size. I'm also not sure if small coops are good protectors in very cold temperatures.... to be honest they leave me uneasy. Cleaning them is heaven though, since their small size make for easy litter replacements. The rollout drawers are a deluxe feature I wish I could integrate into bigger coops. I am highly tempted to build a new chicken coop that would better fit all of my needs, but as I said I have little construction experience and I'm not sure where to place it plus its run in my backyard for easy access in winter, since the cabanon is in the ideal spot already.

I plan to have at least 5-6 hens to get all base colors of the rainbow eggs, plus a rooster for pure and mutt chicks in spring. The current coop that I have, if pushed to max capacity, could hold around 12 chickens in total at ground floor, plus four additional ones if I unfold the heated coop above. (I've put six chickens in there the previous winter since they were middle-weights, but one of the leghorn hens started eating more feathers than grains so that's how I realized I'd overcrowded the place). The landlady also used to have a poney in her backyard, and its 6 ft long x 3 ft large stall is glued to the cabanon coop, so I can use that stall for a brooding hen and her chicks in spring to give the rest of my coop a space break. Otherwise in winter the stall is closed off; it's inside the chicken run and unaccessible unless I sneak around two sets of fences with my snow plower to it. Getting there is a hassling business.

Here, this is how my chicken coop is made and placed, for upper visual reference:
View attachment 1327247
Due to this year's bad run-in with parasites, I don't want to go over 10 chickens top, in case bad luck strikes again and I have to euthanize some of them. I'm too soft-hearted to kill anything, so dog and cat vets are the next best thing when it comes to humanely ending the suffering of my chickens. So yeah, no more than 10 chickens, and a prayer to god that the future specimens I get are of good quality and excellent health xP

If I had that coop... I would:

Where your warm coop area is, I would make a 5 x 2 foot poop tray. Flat side of a 2x4 for a perch (so about 3.5 inches of flat perch) that is about 8 inches above the poop shelf and is removable. The front edge of the poop shelf another wide flat perch.

That poop shelf would be about 4 feet up. The area underneath the poop shelf could be for the nestbox, or water, or feed, or oyster shell... or not...whatever.

Up against the West wall under that west side window I would put another poop shelf. But this one I would make a bit lower, make it so the chickens can look out the window but not have a perch. It would really just be an elevated dusting box. Looks like it would be about 2 x 3.

I would add in a window by the south facing door so that there was more wire covered ventilation on that side. Then I would extend the roof over the run to protect the run from snow and rain and mud and also make the ventilation openings more sheltered.

 

[Acre4Me]

So the link above is to the book written by Prince T. Woods, hence the term "Woods Coop". In general, the premise is that the coop has open front ventilation, but a tight back end - so that air cannot flow through the entire coop creating a draft, but with very good ventilation. They are generally longer than wide, with a shifted shed-style roof - in other words, the roof line is not connected, it has the upper windows for more warm weather ventilation, as you can see in the pics @Alaskan posted. If you search BYC for "Woods Coop" you will find one very lengthy post along with other ones, some with specific plans using modern materials (like 4x8 sheets of plywood). I know I've read of someone who built it themselves and they classed themselves as not handy. Some others have priced out materials at retail, then got bids for a handyman/ carpenter to build it for them and the cost has been only a bit higher because the carpenter may have scraps to use/discounted rates at store/ efficiency of working on something pretty simple with regards to a build. I'm seriously considering a Woods Style Coop for our chickens - something like an 8'x16'. We can have it facing due South pretty easily, whereas placing it SE would be more difficult and awkward in our setup. We can get to very cold here, for long stretches and wind.


Good Luck to you! It is good that your coop is on the South side, and so should pick up some solar gain during the day.

 

[BantyChooks]

(for beige eggs - I'm asking about the two Chanteclers because their SOP is very hard to find, so unless I'm mistaken, they have pea combs instead of cushion combs; could the different comb impact their resistance to cold weather?)

No; they have cushion combs just like the white variety. They're quite cold hardy. I can send you a copy of the Chantecler SOP if you wish?

 

[Eelantha]

No... a Woods coop is a specific coop design. The idea is that in the winter all ventilation is from the big wire front.

the high up little widows are only open in a hot summer.

like this:
View attachment 1327296
or
View attachment 1327298

So a Woods coop is not a tiny wooden coop...

That's it! Those are the coops I'm talking about, and envisioning somewhere in my backyard (if not the current one I'm living on since I'm paying rent, then in my future dream patch of land.) But, when I read about those coops they kept being called open-air coops.... I thought that was their design names? If these open-air coops are actually Wood Coops, then I've mistaken their second name for the tiny, sometimes mobile 2-3 chicken coops made out of wood we often find in urban areas nowadays for $300+. My apologies xD

Agreed, you don't need to kill your bird for parasites. I use this only as a true last resort. However in my case I have tiny pockets and exhausted my money driving all over the town and back trying to find poultry stores, collect information, get tips on how to use what I bought correctly (like DE, I read it was a good anti-vermin product but I hesitated greatly upon using it when I read the cancer label on the sack... no one would tell me clearly if the product was safe to use or not, and people are equally torn over it on the web, so I bought the product but use it extremely carefully.) and such. But you're right, canadian laws and regulations are much stricker than in America... because of this, among other things. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/lif...ou-cant-find-heritage-poultry/article1357436/

Basically, caring for my flock is extremely difficult. My chickens have time to die before I give them treatment. That's why euthanasia is a last resort, in case I'm unable give them what they need on time.

Those rollout nest boxes your lady friend has... I can't wait to see their pictures. If they're not too complicated, I might be able to hand-build them at home

Do you have links to the black rubber pan and small stock tank deicer you have used for your water? I need a visual to show store clerks to see if the have a replica, otherwise I will end nowhere in my search xP

I have checked your coop page... the amount of snow you get is equal to what we have here, so I'm definitely keeping an eye out for alaskan coop designs. The roof over the run is very interesting, I'd like to eventually make a run with a solid roof that won't cave under snow pile-ups so my chickens can still go outside. Howeve in my region we can go down as low as -86/104F below the freezing point, since Quebec is located near Fleuve St-Laurent and alot of humidity travels there on strong winds. Blizzards are to truly watch out for, because when they strike, they are powerful ones. If I keep the water outside, I will have to think up a way to keep it stable and protected from strong winds lest the water container gets blown away.

I thought sand/ash/DE/anti-parasite powder helped chickens get rid of lice? o.o how come they are still on your birds?

My perches are all natural branches fetched from the nearby forests. It's the first time i hear of perches wide beyond what is recommanded for normal chicken coops, but you're right on your coop page - toe frostbite is worse than comb frostbite. I'll keep it in consideration. And yes, poop boards are a definite must to make cleaning easier!

(the poop board in your coop page says the chickens are sleeping with their heads out, and their butts over the poop board? Does that mean you stacked your perches directly on the long edges of poop board? Sorry for asking - I'm visual, and couldn't quite see your poop board design well enough in the shadows to get a clear mental picture of what you'd built.)

What brand of radiant heater panel do you use? Just to make sure I don't flame out my own coop on accident with the wrong brand, I want to make sure I have the right product in hand, or the landlady will not like me at all. Also, where is the ideal spot to place it? (below the poop board, the nest boxes, in a corner, close to the door, etc?)

Upfront costs... I guess if I have to order the panel or fetch it hours away from my house, that it will indeed be a costly piece of equipment. But if it's economical in use, kind of like the ecoglow, then it'll be a worthy investment.

Yes, I think I'll borrow the Ameraucana route to get my wanted cold-hardy breeds of every egg color, as the Ameraucana roo is cold-hardy plus has a small comb, and the Pea comb is dominant over single combs in reproduction (otherwise, I would have chosen the Legbar, they're really good-looking birds). Also, unless I'm wrong, you get different percent chances of different egg colors in your hens depending on which parent they retain more from, so if I mix a brown hen with a blue roo, I'll get green, blue and brown eggs from their offsprings all in one shot. Hopefully it's the same for white egg parents - blue, white and light blue eggs from their offsprings. There's not much choice when it comes to white egg parents, so I gotta do with what I have xD

I do wonder though, if the rose comb leghorns have the smooth comb modifiers that would give a pea x rose cross offspring the cushion comb rather than the default walnut comb? I understand that it's how the chantecler's cushion comb was born, it'd be nice if I could re-create something similar to it in a white egg-layer. Pea or rose x single comb crosses don't always inherit the perfect shape of their dominant comb parents, so if I throw the smooth modifier into the mix, hopefully I'll get a cushion comb small enough to give my hens the best cold protection there can be in my unheated coop. Wattles, though, I have no idea if the smooth modifier will shorten them up too.

Yes! That's why if I breed a Maran or Welsumer to a pea comb roo, I should have good chances of getting hens with the wanted small comb and all my wanted egg colors!

All brown egg layers see their eggs go pale through their laying season; if you want brown eggs from your Wyandottes, from what I have read so far, you have to incubate only the darkest eggs from your flock to ensure the color will carry on to the offspring. Probably the one you got your hens from liked beige eggs to brown eggs more?