3 sided coop ??

[lil'chickies]

My husband and I have decided that all we need is a 3 sided coop open to the run for now. Where we live it gets in the 100s and stays there. Most of the time. Do you have to go by the same amount of square footage for an open design as you do for a totally enclosed one? The run area is just for when I'm out of town or something and want to keep them contained, and at night. Other than that they will free range. Nothing I have seen really addresses this.

 

[Starwalker Fallen Angel]

I haven't heard of an open design because predators think the chickens are yummy delicious.

I guess it would be fine if everything and it's brother, cousin etc didn't want fresh chicken dinner and call their other family members in to share.

I built fortresses.

 

[kdcrws]

lil'chickies :

My husband and I have decided that all we need is a 3 sided coop open to the run for now. Where we live it gets in the 100s and stays there. Most of the time. Do you have to go by the same amount of square footage for an open design as you do for a totally enclosed one? The run area is just for when I'm out of town or something and want to keep them contained, and at night. Other than that they will free range. Nothing I have seen really addresses this.

i posted a similar question the other day....funny. here's the link
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=152904​

 

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

My dad use to free range a lot when I was growing up. We lived on a mountain and was always loosing birds due to this. I suggest a chicken tractor over free range. Preditors love chickens too much.

 

[lil'chickies]

I still didn't get the answer to the square footage problem. After reading some of these, I might cover the front with hardware cloth. I'm not really worried about predators. My dogs keep everything out of the yard and we are planning to place it so the dogs can get around it in the yard. I would put a concrete floor in, but we are moving in the next couple of years and want to take it with us. I am planning on a raised floor with linoleum down. Another option is solid across the bottom and top half screened? I'm probably going to go with the square footage for a totally enclosed one.

 

[Starwalker Fallen Angel]

I hear you about being mobile. We don't intend to stay here either so mobility is a factor also. Hopefully, we won't be here much longer.

Our new coop is a portable 40ft building so when we move we can dismantle the runs and load the coop on a truck and go.