Looking for input from everyone... Please.
I'm writing from the very cold north in Manitoba. Over the last few weeks we have had most of our temps in the -20 to -30 celcius range. With this is a wind chill down to -45. Cold but still livable for us.
We breed northern hunting dogs so I have some experience with building appropriate housing. I also had chickens, pigs, and goats as a kid in southern BC (-5 to -15 celcius temps). I also have enough construction and house design experience to understand most of the issues relatively well.
I am in the process of working on a coop design. I had thought about a portable one but have decided not to for a few reasons. I will instead make the fencing either movable or devided into several areas where the flock can be rotated through.
My thought is for a small coop that includes a "sun porch". What i am looking at is an area that would be warmed during the day by the sun. This gives the birds access to the outside and sun but still be sheltered. The coop would also benefit from this by receiving warmed air that would circulate the stale air through venting. Think of this like having a greenhouse on the front of the coop.
I use solar heating panels on our dog houses to warm them during the day. This is actually very effective on a sunny day. I can get an increase in temp by as much as 10-15 degrees even with outside temp down to -30 celcius. Seems to me that I should be able to get an even better gain with a "sun porch"
Venting is the key of course. Summer would be a problem if venting and shading was not done right. Proper shading my require a vertical wall design as opposed to a standard tilted roof as seen in most greenhouses.
Have I lost people? Sorry. I will post pics as soon as I can figure out how.
I'm writing from the very cold north in Manitoba. Over the last few weeks we have had most of our temps in the -20 to -30 celcius range. With this is a wind chill down to -45. Cold but still livable for us.
We breed northern hunting dogs so I have some experience with building appropriate housing. I also had chickens, pigs, and goats as a kid in southern BC (-5 to -15 celcius temps). I also have enough construction and house design experience to understand most of the issues relatively well.
I am in the process of working on a coop design. I had thought about a portable one but have decided not to for a few reasons. I will instead make the fencing either movable or devided into several areas where the flock can be rotated through.
My thought is for a small coop that includes a "sun porch". What i am looking at is an area that would be warmed during the day by the sun. This gives the birds access to the outside and sun but still be sheltered. The coop would also benefit from this by receiving warmed air that would circulate the stale air through venting. Think of this like having a greenhouse on the front of the coop.
I use solar heating panels on our dog houses to warm them during the day. This is actually very effective on a sunny day. I can get an increase in temp by as much as 10-15 degrees even with outside temp down to -30 celcius. Seems to me that I should be able to get an even better gain with a "sun porch"
Venting is the key of course. Summer would be a problem if venting and shading was not done right. Proper shading my require a vertical wall design as opposed to a standard tilted roof as seen in most greenhouses.
Have I lost people? Sorry. I will post pics as soon as I can figure out how.
