Coop design for WI weather - questions

[Lb4paws]

Hi all! I'm working on designing my first coop. Got 5 babies last week and they're awesome. We've got our "starter coop" but will be upgrading to a more permanent structure before winter. So I'm looking for advice from others in similar regions........hot, humid summers to bitterly cold winters. Specifically thoughts on things I've seen on other coops such as...
-windows......facing south for winter sun?
-ventilation...I've seen coops with small holes up along the top...should they be closed off in the winter?
-nesting boxes that hang on the side of the coop with hinged door for easy egg access....I like this idea but will that make the nesting box colder in the winter?......should they be insulated?.....shelter from winter wind?
-how to winterize the run?
-thoughts on blackjack 57?
-any other "must have/do" ideas?

Am I over thinking things?.....I've been reading lots of threads with lots of good ideas but I'm looking for thoughts for the Midwestern weather.
I want happy chickens! :0)

 

[The Lazy L]

facing south for winter sun?

Yep. That's what I did, let the winter sun in to brighten up the coop.

-ventilation...I've seen coops with small holes up along the top...should they be closed off in the winter?

Nope. Leave them open.


-nesting boxes that hang on the side of the coop with hinged door for easy egg access....I like this idea but will that make the nesting box colder in the winter?......should they be insulated?.....shelter from winter wind?

Insulation isn't need. Just collect your eggs every day so the eggs don't freeze.


-how to winterize the run?

I have a back wall to help cut down on wind blowing thru. Other that nothing else is needed.

 

[Lb4paws]

Thanks!

I didn't even thinking about the eggs freezing! I was worried about the chickens being cold while nesting.

Do you have a heat lamp in there in the winter?

 

[bertgwen]

Where are you at exactly? I'm in Stoughton, about 20 minutes outside Madison, be happy to have you over and walk you through my coop and discus it's many iterations over the last year. PM me if interested. Or check out the wisconsin thread, lots of knowledge over there.

robert

ps no heat lamps or insulation, imo.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

facing south for winter sun?

Yep. That's what I did, let the winter sun in to brighten up the coop.

-ventilation...I've seen coops with small holes up along the top...should they be closed off in the winter?

Nope. Leave them open.


-nesting boxes that hang on the side of the coop with hinged door for easy egg access....I like this idea but will that make the nesting box colder in the winter?......should they be insulated?.....shelter from winter wind?

Insulation isn't need. Just collect your eggs every day so the eggs don't freeze.


-how to winterize the run?

I have a back wall to help cut down on wind blowing thru. Other that nothing else is needed.

Where are you at exactly? I'm in Stoughton, about 20 minutes outside Madison, be happy to have you over and walk you through my coop and discus it's many iterations over the last year. PM me if interested. Or check out the wisconsin thread, lots of knowledge over there.

robert

ps no heat lamps or insulation, imo.

x 2 to both responses thus far (and what a generous offer by bertgwen - hopefully you are located in a place that would make accepting it feasible for you). Definitely do not close off ventilation in the winter, winter is a time when good ventilation becomes more important, not less. Cold, dry air is no issue - but cold, humid air is a recipe for issues such as frostbite, etc to set in. With ventilation closed off the air inside your coop will quickly become humid due to the moisture expelled with respiration and the moisture from waste (chicken waste is wet stuff!) as well as any water stations, etc you choose to keep in the coop. Chickens are very efficient at heating and insulating themselves complements of their very well designed feathering - a healthy, feathered chicken of most breeds is not going to freeze to death provided a protected area they can access to allow their feathers to do their job. Heat lamps pose more danger than they offer benefit and are entirely unnecessary.

 

[Lb4paws]

Thank you both!
bertgwen - thank you! I may take you up on that. I'm in Lake Mills so not that far away.

 

[bertgwen]

Thank you both!
bertgwen - thank you! I may take you up on that. I'm in Lake Mills so not that far away.

No problem. Sometimes it's easier to discuss things in person, get a look at at a similar set up, than to discuss online. We are out of town thursday-sunday, but your welcome anytime.

robert

 

[Blooie]

I'm in Northern Wyoming. It's supposed to be 81 degrees today. Tomorrow we are expecting snow and 50 mph winds. That's not an exaggeration - that's Wyoming. <sigh>

My coop isn't insulated or heated. We left the areas between the rafters and the walls of the coop open, with screening over them to keep out bats. Yep, bats. I have windows on the south, the west, and the east. In summer they are open all of the time. In winter I can open whichever ones aren't facing that day's winds. I also have vents up high over the roosts on the west and north sides - again, they can be opened or closed depending on how badly the winds are howling and forcing snow in. I leave the pop door to the run open 24/7. I also have a gable vent and a mobile home kitchen vent fan on the south side. The mobile home vent is ideal because I can either just use the chain and open it for passive ventilation or I can open it and then flip the switch to operate the motor and run the fan. None of these vents blow cold air directly onto the chickens as they roost. The hardest thing for me to grasp was the concept of "free flowing air and no direct drafts!"

I had no frostbitten combs or wattles on the chickens this winter. I know it's because of all the ventilation. If I had it do do over again I'd build an open air coop, but the one I have has served us well. So whatever you do, whatever you build, keep that critical ventilation in mind and if you go with the holes at the top, leave them open. Getting the moist air rising up, out and off the chickens instead of letting it form an envelop around them is essential. Excessive heat is even worse for the chickens than cold, so again, ventilation.


The east side of the coop. both vents you see here left open all winter...the window was cracked as well.

As for nesting boxes, we started out with exterior access boxes, and ours had the rollout feature. We ended up blocking it off with rigid foam and found that gathering the eggs by going into the coop wasn't such a bad thing after all. Too many frozen eggs in the exterior box, despite checking frequently throughout the day. When it's 19 below zero, it doesn't take long for those eggs to freeze. We still had some freeze even while gathering from inside the coop, but not nearly as many. They didn't have cold air on them from three sides like they did in the outside box.

Be great if you and bertgwen could get together. It always helps being able to see, rather than just read, how folks do things.

 

[Lb4paws]

Thanks Blooie! I agree...."free flowing air and no direct drafts" is a hard concept to get my head around. WI weather has the same extremes.....90 degrees and humid to windchills -20 degrees.....so I'm trying to bear in mind all seasons. Windows, light, ventilation......happy, healthy chickens!

Bertgwen......I'll be in touch!