Open-Air Chicken Coop for Bantams

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Quote:
=========
Do you have a pic of the inside and front? That looks like it wouldn't be too terribly hard to make.

Elmo: I like the idea of a removable panel.

SilkieChicken: We got negative 20's here this Winter but usually doesn't get lower than single digits. Good to know that they should be fine.

JackE: I'll have to look for that book. Thanks. I wonder, since I'm working with a dog kennel of 6x10, if I made it longer and thinner... like 6' x 2' ... would that work better? The front (South) would be 2' and towards the back would be the roosts and nesting boxes. Maybe?

 

[shelleyd2008]

That is a side-shot of the front and side, you can see the opening (entrance) below. The run completely covers the 'door' so they just come and go as they please.

This is the only pic I have of the inside. The roost is a 1x3 placed about 10" above the openings on the bottom across the widest part of the coop (3').

I added a double nest box to the back with a hinged lid so I can get their eggs...but unfortunately I don't have a pic of that. If it gets very cold where you are you could always cover the upper openings with plastic or wood to keep them from getting an updraft. My silkies did fine in this coop all winter and it got pretty chilly here this year!

Like I said, the run is covered with a tarp, I don't have a pic of that either. But I'm sure they've been bragging to the free-rangers about being dry when it's been pouring rain

The run is attached to the coop with 2 safety hook and eye latches, one on each side. This little coop is also big enough for a quad of LF, though you'd probably need a bigger run. Though I did have a trio of Ameraucanas in one of these and they did fine.

Specs:
Coop: 2' x 3' x 3' (back) x 44" (front)
I used 2x4's on the top and bottom of each side and for the legs of the coop. The front and back have no bracing other than what they give themselves. It is made from 1/2" OSB board.
Run: 6' x 6'
I used 2x2's to make the run, this one has a 'wall' about 12" high all the way around. It is completely covered with 1" chicken wire. I used 8' PVC to make the 'hoops'. This worked out well since the highest part of the run is 3' tall...perfect for 3' chicken wire! The most time-consuming part of this was wiring the 3' wire (ends) to the 6' wire (top). Every place I cut the 3' wire was wired to the top wire. But I only had to use 1 6' long piece of 3' wire, cutting it to match the shape of the run made it so I used one side of it for each end

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Um. Sorry, but there is a very basic problem here.

You cannot scale down a 16+' open-front coop to 4' and have it work the same. THe whole point of the old timey fresh-air open-front designs is that they offer enough depth -- and NARROW depth, to boot -- to prevent wind from ever reaching into the back of the house.

THat is simply not possible with a 4x4 coop. It is just not how air behaves in structures.

You can try it, but if you get cold winters and storms, expect frostbite and probably a lot of losses IMO.

Shellyd2008, your coop is nice but it is *not* an open-front "fresh air" coop by any stretch of the imagination (it simply is a conventional coop with conventional ventilation, albeit a nice amount of it) and you do not live in a particularly cold climate. I would suggest the o.p. be real leery of trying to transfer this to the mts of Colorado, unless it is a spot that is no colder than KY.

Sorry,

Pat

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Hubby and I discussed this weekend and decided to change the plans from 4x4 to 2x6 (like shot-gun housing). AND we're going to put in a removeable wall panel for the front for blizzardy or very cold or very windy days. Other than that, it'll be open air, with the nest boxes and roost in the back. Air vent at top of wall near nest boxes. Ramp from ground up to house (because house will be raised 2' off ground, providing shade for summer and more walking-around area).

Edited my blog entry about this to have the new pic. I'm stingy when it comes to uploading pix to here. Take a look then come on back to give me your thoughts about the new version. THANKS!

http://vikkisverandah.blogspot.com/2011/03/open-air-chicken-housing-coop.html

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
I don't know about negative temperatures. I don't think we have ever had negative temperatures. Our usual winter night temps are in the mid 30's. Cold snaps for a week or two total pet year are in the double digits. If you get -20's and single digits normally, I'd probably insulate and not let my birds sleep outside like they do now. We are close to water so temp does not swing much.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Well, if you're really going to try it (and note that the guy who wrote the book on open-front coops back in the '20s does not, himself, recommend anything smaller than 6x10 and even that he considers rather iffy) then the plan you describe above is certainly the way to go.

Remember that in order to have ANY CONCIEVABLE hope of wintering banties in a too-small open-front coop you will need to have a good number of vents but all of them totally-100% CLOSEABLE... when you have the front open in cold weather you must not have any OTHER vents open, but if (when) you have to close the front off you will of course need good ventilation then to run it as a conventional closed coop.

I would suggest putting all of your vents that will be used in wintertime when the front is closed NEAR the front end, rather than anywhere in the half of the coop that has the roost; even a conventional closed coop is not all *that* easy to keep draft-free yet un-humid in wintertime when it is scaled down to those sizes, and your best shot is to get as much horizontal separation as possible between the roost and whatever vents will be in use during winter.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Thanks, Pat. Great info.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I have open-air coops where my bantams and standard size chickens roosts and it seems to work fine.

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Kuntrygirl: Saw the pix on your website and they look great. Not sure it would work here in Colorado ... gets very cold. How cold and snowy did it get there in Louisiana this Winter?

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Yea, that's what I thought. That's why I didn't post them on the thread.

We didn't get anything close to what you all got. The lowest that it got here was only 19 degrees. Because it doesn't get that cold, is the reason I went with open/air coops. When it gets down to 19 degrees, I have outside fireplaces for the chickens.

.