Are large glass windows a bad idea?

[Mike592]

I have a couple large, glass paned, windows laying around and was thinking it would be neat to incorporate one or both in my coop design. Probably 32" x 40" if I had to guess without measuring.

It would be cool to be able to see inside the coop to check up on everyone.

But then I started wondering about negatives to that plan. The coop will be in full shade in the summer so I'm not really worried there... but in a Southern OH winter would there be too much heat loss through the glass? Conversely, when the leaves are off the trees shading the coop, would there be too much of a greenhouse effect? Or maybe that's a good thing? There will be plenty of ventilation as there will be 2-4 inches open between the roof and coop all around (protected with hardware cloth of course).

Thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[Sethc]

There is the possibility of the glass breaking so you could use plexiglass which has worked well for me and as for heat loss you could just make sure there is a good seal and if there are multiple chickens they should stay pretty warm.

 

[4 the Birds]

A lot of natural light is a good thing. If you can.... place the window at the opposite end from the nest boxes (or add a shade panel to block light). I have wall dividers to darken the nest boxes. The nest boxes in the more lighted area of the coop are not used as much.

Lighted boxes to the left..... dark area boxes to the right beyond the wall.

 

[fiddlebanshee]

I just finished building (ok almost) a 10 x14 coop with 4 3'x3' windows in the sides. There are no downsides that I can see. i built these windows myself from plexiglass and wood but you could use old windows just the same.

The more ventilation, both in winter and summer and lots of light is good in my book. But I do have my nest boxes under the pooshelf so they are nice and dark and secluded. The chickens love sitting on the roos and looking out the windows. I built the door without a window but am now reconsidering this. I also made the popdoor out of plexiglass for even more light.

 

[Life is Good!]

More light is better - it helps keep the layers laying in the winter months. But you do need to make sure the nest boxes are not in direct light. My girls 'wait in line' for their turn in the darkest box! I'll check in on 'em and find one or two on the floor, sitting in line!

I have windows on the south wall and on the west wall of our coop. Our new build (still in design mode) will have windows also on the east wall. I'm not putting windows on the north wall due to wind direction in the wintertime. That wall is just siding.

If your windows are double-hung, a neat tip I read on here somewhere was to install the windows so the latch is on the outside. Easier for you to access to open/close windows! Then, on the inside (screen side), place 1/4" hardware cloth across the window, secured by a 1" strip of wood to hide the staples. This will prevent predators from getting inside the coop.

I like this idea, as I'm forever going into the coop in the dark to open or close the windows. My current rooster isn't very amicable about me being there in the dark. So, I'm installing the windows backwards in our next coop!