About to build ! !

[City Farmer Jim]

We/I am about to start construction on our forever LAST coop. I have a design in mind to build an 8x10 gambrel roof shed/chicken palace. It will have a loft(2) with a gap between them. Here's the question...I'm considering building 2 dormers on each side with windows for ventilation as well as 4 windows in the side walls ...good idea or bad ?

 

[cavemanrich]

Good Idea, since in your location,,, you need much ventilation summer, and winter. Mainly summer heat to escape. and the more open windows,, the better.
Build in such a way so that if you do encounter hurricane weather, those windows can be closed off.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[3KillerBs]

The more ventilation the better so the dormers are a good idea.

Gambrels can be difficult to vent -- they don't lend themselves to soffit vents and or to the deep overhangs that are useful for keeping rain out of the windows.

Be sure to include vent windows high on the gable ends because heat and ammonia both rise.

 

[City Farmer Jim]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077YC1P3G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_K0Y7FbN8A9Y60
Has anyone ever used this type of kit? With all the bells and whistles I'm really considering to install...I may move the girls inside the house and I will live in the coop. I'm toying with the idea of temperature controlled windows like a greenhouse uses...when its at a preset temperature they open and close. I have powered exhaust fans in their coop now on a temperature controlled outlet so it shouldn't be too hard to do the upper windows also.

 

[aart]

In your climate something with a very large roof and mesh walls would be better.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/texas-coop-build-pic-heavy.1371038/


Gambrel roofs are great for shed and barns....not so much for coops.
One member here solved the venting issue with mods like this:

 

[Alaskan]

In your climate something with a very large roof and mesh walls would be better.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/texas-coop-build-pic-heavy.1371038/

X2

In Texas you need shade, and yes, the breeze going over the perches is a great idea.

My grandmother in Texas made a coop with the front wall all wire, protected by a porch. The other three sides were solid on the bottom and wire on top.

Huge eves, and the 3 half wire sides had shutters to close for hurricanes or crazy sideways storms. No, she had no way to close up the front full wire wall... but it was protected by the deep porch in front of it.

My great aunt built hers as a rectangle shape, one of the larger walls full wire, other 3 solid. Again huge eves. She had no way to close the wire wall.

My baby sis built like my grandmother, but skipped shutters! So yes, if it goes crazy sideways weather the chickens get on the ground and stay in a corner.

My point... all three of those designs have worked great in Texas (they are/were all hill country so occasionally snow but with hurricanes not as bad as on the coast).

No chickens froze, even on the rare occasions when they got wet... and more importantly they did great in the heat with zero misters or ice or what not.

 

[City Farmer Jim]

Just what I want...more better ideas...I'm going to rethink my design plan to incorporate more hardware cloth. I really thought that 4 windows in the bottom half, 2 in the top, 1-16x16 vent on each end of the upper wall and 8" x 120" soffit vents would be more than adequate ventilation with provisions for fan(s) in the loft.