About to build my coop, a few thoughts

[chookchick]

I built the playhouse style coop with an "upstairs" 4 by 4 area. It is tooo ugly for me to take a picture of (not painted), but it is very secure and solid. I have to say I am not so enamored of it as I was at first. The good thing is that they have a very secure area to hang "outside" if they don't get let out right away. And the roosting area is small, so I felt my two hens were a little cozier in the winter. I would never build smaller than 4 by 4, even for just two hens. But I hate not having a building where I can go in and just hang with them, and keep the food and do cleanup out of the rain. I don't have anywhere to hide from the hubby!

I do have an outside nestbox, and I love that feature.
10"w by 12"high is a good size.

 

[Ether]

I'm definitely doing 4x4 for the indoors space for the chickens, with the nest boxes sticking out from that so they'll have the full 4x4 to work with when inside. I'm debating keeping the space under the coop open as it is in some styles, or enclosing that area as well but using it for storage.

I'm talking to a carpenter friend who was in need of some spare work about helping me out with this.

One thing I realized I'm not clear on is what the best way to ventilate this coop is- it doesn't seem to have much worked in from what I can see in the pictures I've found. I'm thinking vents (with baffles, since it gets windy here and there's no non-windy place when it really gets going) up in the peak of the roof, and then I've seen some with a flap that can fold down on the run side of the coop- I like that idea. Would roof peak vents be enough for this size coop in winter? I've read the ventilation page but I'm still unsure, since this is such a tiny coop and we do get some really awful winter winds.

 

[chookchick]

I have a vent that is about 3" high, that runs the length of the roof (4'long). I've never had any problem with moisture buildup, even here in the rainy PNW (I also use stall-dri). If it is windy, then I would baffle it, but not close it--you still need the ventilation.