Coop and run modifications

[rosemarythyme]

Currently, I was thinking to take off the wall with the pop door to make it completely open to the run. My thought is that it would be good for ventilation but hubs is worried that a complete removal will limit options in the future. How I see it? It's wasted space and I want to change that! The only way is going to make it more accessible and open.

If you're really careful about removing parts of the wall there, you could possibly save some of the existing wall to use as removable panels that can be put back in place for winter. Or if you don't want to fully remove (and store) them, cut out panels, slap on some trim, and top hinge them to the remaining wall? They can be propped/chained open during summer, and then lowered in winter.

Terrible Photoshop incoming:
Cut out blue, save the wood, cover opening with wire mesh.

View from the run. Blue would be the wood panels you saved, either top hinged (or save them to use as inserts), and propped open with a stick or held open with a chain from the run ceiling, to allow for more air flow in summer.

 

[bhawk-23]

@rosemarythyme

Thank you! And I don't even know how to use Photoshop so your's looks great! Lol

I do like the idea of the flip doors that latch on the ceiling! That's a great compromise for hubs and I! Thanks!

I would leave the screen off as the run is surrounded by a hardware cloth apron as well as wrapped in it. I am really hoping that with more open access they will use it like the run. Maybe an extension of the run?

 

[rosemarythyme]

@rosemarythyme

Thank you! And I don't even know how to use Photoshop so your's looks great! Lol

I do like the idea of the flip doors that latch on the ceiling! That's a great compromise for hubs and I! Thanks!

I would leave the screen off as the run is surrounded by a hardware cloth apron as well as wrapped in it. I am really hoping that with more open access they will use it like the run. Maybe an extension of the run?

As long as you feel the run is safe enough to leave the wire off, that's an option as well (don't be surprised if chickens start exiting via the "window" instead of the pop door). But I think this will give you both a summer and winter option, and assuming you hinge it there's no need to worry about "Honey, where did we put the coop panels?" when snow is incoming.

 

[bhawk-23]

As long as you feel the run is safe enough to leave the wire off, that's an option as well (don't be surprised if chickens start exiting via the "window" instead of the pop door). But I think this will give you both a summer and winter option, and assuming you hinge it there's no need to worry about "Honey, where did we put the coop panels?" when snow is incoming.

Pop door never closes now. They have pretty much slept in the run once a heat wave in July last year sent them packing from their coop. Even in the dead of winter I tried placing them inside the coop a few nights in a row but gave up. Now I just want that space to get used! Hahaha

Anyone have thoughts on hanging the roosts? How far below the ventilation opening on that back wall do they need to be? I really want the floor clear.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Anyone have thoughts on hanging the roosts? How far below the ventilation opening on that back wall do they need to be? I really want the floor clear.

Generally speaking you want ventilation to be above their combs while they're roosted, so aim for the roost being 12" or more under the ventilation in question (depending on how big your birds are).

That said, it really depends on how drafty each vent is, if at all... if there's no draft from a vent even during a typical wind storm, you can put roosts almost anywhere in relation to said vent.

 

[bhawk-23]

Generally speaking you want ventilation to be above their combs while they're roosted, so aim for the roost being 12" or more under the ventilation in question (depending on how big your birds are).

That said, it really depends on how drafty each vent is, if at all... if there's no draft from a vent even during a typical wind storm, you can put roosts almost anywhere in relation to said vent.

I wonder if a lack of airflow is the issue. We placed the coop and run in a protected area hoping to shield from extreme wind or sideways rain etc. So the west vent is 30" away from and 2' below the 6' wood privacy fence line. Then the south vent is inside the run near the roof line also protected by that same fence line. The north vent has a couple trees about 15' away. That leaves the east side which, holds most the venting, but weather rarely comes from that direction. The vents were place along the roof of the coop thinking the draft would be above the chickens combs. Can anyone make sense of my descriptions? Does a lack of air flow seem like a possibility? Would adding more vents inside the run give it more ventilation? Or do we have to find a way to open up the north, east and west vents also?

 

[3KillerBs]

I wonder if a lack of airflow is the issue. We placed the coop and run in a protected area hoping to shield from extreme wind or sideways rain etc. So the west vent is 30" away from and 2' below the 6' wood privacy fence line. Then the south vent is inside the run near the roof line also protected by that same fence line. The north vent has a couple trees about 15' away. That leaves the east side which, holds most the venting, but weather rarely comes from that direction. The vents were place along the roof of the coop thinking the draft would be above the chickens combs. Can anyone make sense of my descriptions? Does a lack of air flow seem like a possibility? Would adding more vents inside the run give it more ventilation? Or do we have to find a way to open up the north, east and west vents also?

There shouldn't be an issue with the vents being sheltered from storms. It's probably a matter of raw square footage.

Can you measure all your vents, calculate the square footage, and tell us what you've got?

Here's a handy converter for square inches to square feet: https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/conversions/area/square-inches-to-square-feet.php

 

[bhawk-23]

@3KillerBs

Coop ---30 sq ft
Vents ---7.5 sq ft

Does this seem correct?

 

[3KillerBs]

@3KillerBs

Coop ---30 sq ft
Vents ---7.5 sq ft

Does this seem correct?

That's enough space and enough ventilation for 7.5 chickens. How many do you have/plan to have?

One useful rule of thumb is that if your coop is warmer inside than outside on a warm, sunny day you need more ventilation. It also matters where the ventilation is because heat and ammonia both rise.

@rosemarythyme's suggestion for additional vent windows into the run is very good advice.

 

[aart]

That's enough space and enough ventilation for 7.5 chickens.

Yes, Exactly 7.5 chickens...no more, no less.