Clear roof for light? Yay or nay

[imnukensc]

If your nest boxes are on the exterior and you have no more than 4 birds, a 4X4 coop may be fine. As others have noted, you'll need more ventilation than what you've described. In your climate, I would add a window for extra ventilation and because your birds will probably spend a lot of time in the coop in the winter. I would use galvanized metal roofing instead of clear polycarbonate for the roof. The clear poly becomes brittle over time and the galvanized roofing is much stronger.

 

[hillbillyreefer]

I used translucent coroplast on mine, our climate ranges from -40C to +40C. The coop is light and airy with a pop door open on one end and a full size man door on the other open. It does get warm in summer, but the girls don’t really care, they spend the days outside and only go in to lay and roost. With doors partially open in winter on a sunny day the coop will be around 0C when it’s -30C outside. It works well for my birds.

 

[chickie22]

Hi everyone! Thank you for your replies. I think we will skip the clear roofing.
I am all new to this and wasn't sure we were doing things ideally, so that is why I asked.

I have read online that 2-3' square on the interior is acceptable per bird. Ours will be 16 square feet divided by 6 birds, so that averages to 2 and 2/3 square foot per bird. The house will be raised (with space for them underneath) and also include a fenced area for them to access as well.

I guess I am struggling to figure out how to balance ventilation and not having it be drafty. When I chatted with someone in a feed store they said they have a hardware cloth covered window that they staple a towel over in the winter to balance this. Does that sound right? We will be adding more windows at your recommendations.

I can assure you we are trying to do a good job. I care very much that the chickens will be comfortable and happy. Part of my reason for being on here asking!

 

[chickie22]

May I ask why you've chosen not to have windows in your co-op?

Well, I thought the one spot would double as a small window and vent. I am worried about too much draftiness.

 

[chickie22]

Agreed with OGM. Why no windows? IMO, windows are absolutely essential. Imagine a house with no windows. It would be the most depressing, dreary unhospitable place I could ever imagine being. You live in snow country. Your birds will be spending most of their time in that coop in the winter. That's a good recipe for cabin fever aggression.

As for ventilation, you need more than one vent. The ventilation should be at more than one level, should be = to 10% of floor space or 1 s.f./bird. A window provides the perfect opportunity for natural lighting AND good ventilation. I would be concerned about clear poly on the roof of such a small coop. IMO, it would be the perfect recipe for the coop turning into an oven in the summer. How tall will your coop be? It's hard to have adequate ventilation in a coop that is both small AND short.

I was worried there would be too much drafting because it is a small house.

Thank you for the detailed recommendations about the vents. I will make some adjustments to the plan.

I had read the birds don't mind going out in the snow (except on windy, stormy days). Definitely not looking to have unhappy birds.

Thank you for taking time to comment and share.

 

[lazy gardener]

You're very welcome. I live in snow country also, and my birds detest touching that white poison. I have a green house tarp over a portion of my run, and shovel a path from their pop door to their "sun room" which is covered with deep litter so they can root around in it all winter. It freezes solid, but when it does, I dump a fresh bag of leaves on top of it. By spring, I have some wonderful compost.

Otherwise, they would stay in their 10 x 12 coop for months at a time. And I'm sure that if that happened, there would be blood shed.

 

[21hens-incharge]

My birds hate snow. They have all refused to set foot out in it.

Having kept birds for over 20 years I will tell you that bigger is better.
A coop you can actually walk in and a run you can stand in makes keeping birds so very much more enjoyable.

Really not kidding. If there is any way you can build a 4x8 that is 6 to 7 feet tall you will not regret it one bit.

If you end up needing to put the feed or water inside you can with the bigger space. Venting will be much much easier with a tall coop.

No way could I have fit 6 birds in that 4x4 coop I had.

 

[tigger19687]

4x4 I would still think is too small for 6 hens. I have 4 and a 7x6 shed and still felt bad when I had to close them up one day.
You will need a window for ventilation.
And it depends on where in NY you are as to how bad your Winters are

Mine will not touch "the white stuff" either.

 

[chickie22]

P.S. I may not have specifically replied to every comment, but I read every one at least twice!

When I looked at premade coops (buy and put together types) they seemed awfully teeny and kind of flimsy to me. That is why we chose to make it ourselves. I want to make sure our coop is strong and secure and enough space. I did research and math trying to make sure the size was adequate. We are just starting out and I realize our house isn't very big. I hope to expand in the future, but we only have a few days to make this. We were unexpectedly gifted adult birds and they need to come to our place soon. I hope this explains where our plan came from and why I came on to ask for input.

 

[tigger19687]

Those ARE flimsy coops, do a google search of anything chicken related and most of the answers pop up are from this web site. There is so much info on here !!
If you click on MY COOP under my avatar you will see what I have, 7x7 rubbermaid shed and run area. go to the last page of it to see finished pics