3D Modeling for Coops (& appliances)

[WesleyBeal]

That looks really good (sketch that is). I started out trying for something similar and quickly threw in the towel and reached for the graph paper. Your efforts show it is entirely possible.

You are correct about the awkward size as drawn. To conform with the Woods coop dimensions, to achieve the dead air space in the back at the roost level, the enclosed coop area needs to be narrower. I never showed the front elevation, but I'd make it 45 inches wide, to allow a person to use a single sheet of plywood for the roof. At 45 inches, it allows for 3 inches of overhang on the sides or 1 1/2 inches per side to allow for trim boards. The coop overall can be left as 6 1/2' x 6 1/2', with the side to left when facing it from the front left as open sided screened in run. Pop door as shown allowing entry to it. Water and feed in the run. Put an entry door into the run on the end of the screened in area. Entire area of run and area beneath the coop screened in and available as run. Leave the roof lines as is. I would only want to have two windows.

Or simply narrow it up and skip the run entirely. Again, this is only intended to be a compact, backyard house for about 4 birds. Enough birds for a dozen eggs a week. Same purpose as the dinky death traps a lot of folks get tricked into buying, but actually suitable for 3 or 4 birds. As such, the run would be a nice addition, but not essential.

Ah! So something along the lines of this:

 

[Howard E]

Just like that!

Remember the Woods coop is built as a rectangle, narrow end is open and faces south to winter sun. Depth should be 1.6x to 2x the width. That is if you want the air back by the roost spaces to be calm and free of drafts. We know it works scaled up to 6' x 10' and larger, and we think it will work with this too.

It would need an additional center rafter to cut the span to 2 feet on center plus top plates in the front and rear for the rafters to rest upon, and a header above the monitor windows for the center rafter above the monitor window to rest upon. Windows as shown, or a builder could make that one window....about 3 feet wide with two or three glass panels.

Screened in opening in the front scratch shed as shown, with maybe a vertical 2 x 4 to support the wire and perhaps the top plate. I would also put facia boards on the ends of the rafters, but that is for esthetics and is not entirely necessary.

Now all we gotta do is get some sucker......errrrr.....brave soul to build the prototype!

PS: to sucker......errr.....brave soul. This coop meets space requirements for up to a maximum of 6 birds in a footprint of 4' wide x 6.5' deep. In a wicked winter weather location, close in the bottom run on both sides and across the back, leaving the front under the scratch shed open.

 

[WesleyBeal]

I thought I'd read descriptions by Woods that had more of a square layout - could be I'm confusing myself with another coop style.

If it were possible to extend it wider, eventually with a divider, we could say "each additional foot in width allows adequate space for X more chickens."

I can see this design being tweaked to use standard size lumber with a minimum of cutting needed, and with that, only very basic construction would be necessary, which would be accessible to about anyone. If so it might answer a need people have.

 

[aart]

I thought I'd read descriptions by Woods that had more of a square layout - could be I'm confusing myself with another coop style.

If it were possible to extend it wider, eventually with a divider, we could say "each additional foot in width allows adequate space for X more chickens."

I can see this design being tweaked to use standard size lumber with a minimum of cutting needed, and with that, only very basic construction would be necessary, which would be accessible to about anyone. If so it might answer a need people have.

The width to depth proportion on the Woods is critical, at least in winter, for the 'air cushion'.......
......you could add on other 'units' of the same size but totally separated....townhouses, haha!

Pet Peeve on the 'floor pop door'.....
.....amount of head room needed for good function reduces floor space in coop, also needs a rim around opening to keep bedding in coop.

 

[Howard E]

The width to depth proportion on the Woods is critical, at least in winter, for the 'air cushion'.......
......you could add on other 'units' of the same size but totally separated....townhouses, haha!

Pet Peeve on the 'floor pop door'.....
.....amount of head room needed for good function reduces floor space in coop, also needs a rim around opening to keep bedding in coop.

I agree. There is a "square part" with a Woods coop. Think of a Woods coop as being two different three sided sheds, which are attached to each other at the open side of each. The back part, under the monitor is square. The height of the monitor is the same. (if the roof didn't slope, the monitor half would be a square cube). The front part or what I refer to as the "scratch shed" is the same width as the back part, but the depth is .6x or so of the width. So overall, this leads to the overall rectangle shape being numbers like 10' x 16, 6' x 10', or in this case 4' x 6.5'. This allows the formation of what was described as that "air cushion". In short, in such a "tunnel", turbulence from air movement outside calms down and never reaches the back where the birds roost. I have tested this in my Woods coop using streamers made from survey flagging tape. The wind can be blowing like stink outside, with the streamers flying horizontal and being nearly ripped off the eaves, yet just inside the coop, they calm down a lot, even less so under the monitor window and back by the roosts, they are hanging limp, with only a slight twitch. That is the goal of "well ventilated, but draft free". I have a horse barn with deep open front shed attached on one side with the narrow end being the only open side, and it largely does the same thing. The wind can be blowing so hard the whole barn is humming, but step inside that shed, just a little bit, and the wind and air movement calms down to almost nothing.

You can build a Woods coop square, then divide it in half with a solid partition. Woods showed such a plan in his book for a 20' x 20' house, divided down the middle to make it two 10' x 20' houses. As I recall, it was room for 100 birds. A person wanting different pens for a large flock, with pullets and older hens kept separate might want to consider one.

The reason I suggested 4' x 6.5' was the hope that the sides, roof and floor area could be made using standard 4' x 8' sheets of plywood (or maybe OSB), plus maybe 8' or 10' studs to minimize waste and scrap. Structurally, a coop of this size could likely use 2" x' 2" stock for most of it except the rafters. In a really cold climate a person using 2" x 2" framing could also insulate between them using the 1 1/2" pink foam insulation board, with a light plywood or some such liner to keep the birds out of the insulation. In addition to the insulation factor, foam is also a moisture barrier so won't absorb moisture as glass or straw might, so won't loose it's R value if exposed to moisture.

I'm not a big fan of pop doors in the floor either, but in this case, the space lost to the door is multiplied by the run area below, so it might be OK.

 

[WesleyBeal]

Alright, I've made some changes. Here's where it's at now:


A view of the interior:



An x-ray view, with dimensions:

 

[aart]

Cool! Having fun?

 

[WesleyBeal]

Cool! Having fun?

Yeah, a bit.

Thinking I can get this fully designed, complete with a list of the hardware and lumber needed, and a cut-list. Then maybe hopefully someone will build it.

I'm one of those people that don't really belong here - I belong more on the www.non-commercial-small-farm-chickens.com site, so don't have much need for a coop for 6 chickens. But I like the idea of helping come up with something that will work for others, that doesn't suffer the pitfalls of the small coops out on the market today, that a person can build themselves with nothing more advanced than a circular saw, for a whole lot less money than those other coops.

 

[aart]

Quote: Is that supposed to be a real site......link didn't work.

 

[WesleyBeal]

Is that supposed to be a real site......link didn't work.

Nope, not a real site - sorry for any confusion!