Coop Design, open-air in WI and other considerations

[catinthecoop]

Thanks Jack, I just finished up reading through the whole book. Dr. Woods seems to know what he is talking about for sure. I find myself now looking at modern designs and going 'but where is the ventilation?' definitely changed my perspective.

I'm working though potential things I might modify with Howard's nice design. A question: How much room should I provide from the top of the roost to the rafters? With the roost situated at the back like that, I want to make sure I'm not inadvertently making it too tight back there. I am thinking 12" away from the back wall, and I might make 2 roosts, to provide generous space if needed (thinking in the summer), would make both roosts the same level, about 12" apart. If I put a poop board in and make it extend 12" past the front most roost, that sounds like it will catch most poop. I will put them as high as I safely can, but not sure what that is. I think my biggest chicken is my Buff Orpington.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some of my thoughts on spacing. Your dimensions off the back wall, between the roosts, and for the droppings board sounds great. They should work well. I especially like giving them plenty of room on the roosts instead of trying to squeeze them.

The question is on height. The way I determine roost height is to determine the top of the coop floor, including bedding. Then I position the nests. Some people put nests on the floor, some hang them high enough they don’t have to bend over to gather eggs, while some go in between. If you have a bad back you may want them higher. If your coop is height challenged you may need them lower. In my opinion, the actual height is more of a people thing, the chickens tend not to care.

Then you position the roosts noticeably higher than the nests or anything else you don’t want them sleeping in or in. For the size coop you are probably considering 12” should be enough. They usually like to sleep on the highest thing available, though there are some things that can affect that. Your Silkie can’t fly so roosting in nests may become an issue for you. We are all unique and those walking toilet brushes can add some other dimensions. Maybe Blooie can address that with her Silkies. Ramps may be in order.

I want the roost as low as I can reasonably make it. All four walls of my coop are open at the top so I want the roosts low enough to miss any breezes going over their heads. Some roofs can get really hot or cold, so you may want a gap between the roof and the roosting chickens to cut down on that radiated heat or heat loss, how much will depend on your climate and roof type.

Some people worry about chickens hurting their legs when they jump down from the roosts. I don’t, but my full sized chickens are not overly large. Some people, say those that breed for show or those that feed a high protein diet, can have large chickens so that can be an issue. Mine don’t have any trouble flying down so I just don’t worry about that. Again, your Silkie can’t fly, that may be an issue for you.

But the higher the roost the more clear room they need to fly down. You don’t want them banging into walls, nests, feeders, waterers, or anything else when they fly down. So the lower you can make the roosts the less clear room they need to land. Chickens are not the most graceful of flyers, especially the larger ones. That said, it’s not that unusual for my full sized hens and even occasionally the rooster to launch from my 5’ high roosts, fly forward about 7 or 8 feet, take a hard left, and fly out of the human door to land in the run. Still, I consider giving them clear room to land important. Some need it.

 

[catinthecoop]

Hey Ridgerunner, good point about the Silkie, i will plan to build a ramp, if they don't end up using it that is ok.

Part of the reason i was asking about headroom above roosts was i thought about putting the nest boxes under the poop boards. That is if i can figure out how to make a nice tight access door and there will be enough room. I figure being in the back and quiet and realitively dark would make it an attractive place to lay anyway, if i can make use of it might as well try.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Sounds good to me. There are lots of ways to do these things.

I built a permanent brooder under my main roosts and use the top of the brooder as a droppings board.

I put a juvenile roost over my nests and use the tops of the nests as a droppings board.

 

[catinthecoop]

Nice! I do now wish we could have a couple more birds. I would love to do a brooder outside with the MHP setup in a bigger coop. Probably not in the cards for us for now but someday!

 

[Howard E]

On the design I came up with, I was planning on external nest boxes, and on the side. You could put them under the roosts and use a droppings board between them (that was a common way of doing them back when to make maximum use of limited space..........the 6' x 10' Woods coop used those). That conserves space, and among other things, cuts down on any drafts and wind blowing around. But that also creates frequent, if not daily work to keep those clean. Inside work.

If you put the nest boxes internal in the small house, that takes out floor room. If you make them external off the back, that places them under the drip line of the roof, so makes for some tricky framing to keep water and snow out. That is why I went with nest boxes on the side, opposite the run side. About waist high to a person standing on the outside.

I like the idea of two roost bars, as long as both are of the same height. They will all go for the highest one. I have two and they hop back and forth between them as they jostle for position, but still end up knocking each other off. Resembles a rugby scrum at times. But with two roosts, both at the same height and under a pitched roof, they will have enough headroom.

We are not normally sensitive to it, but heat rises and it may be the highest part of a coop is also the warmest, which may be one reason they like to keep going higher when they can. That and it is natural for them to want to get up off the ground. I was impressed by how high the feral chickens in Key West would fly to roost in the trees. Way up there.

 

[catinthecoop]

That is a good point about daily work with a poop board. I don't mind it at all, and I figure scooping a poop board helps me keep an eye on how everybody is doing etc. But then I would need to make sure I had someone willing to do the scooping if we go away for a few days or anything. I too figured having that having things be a little tighter towards the back might cut down on any extra blowing/drafts. I don't like that it eats up floor space, but with a covered run I'm a little less worried about it.

If I do two, it would definitely be 2 at same level, and am now thinking if I have space to put them parallel to the long wall, I could do 2 roosts at about 3' long each. I would provide a ladder to one roost for the Silkie. Nest box underneath the poop board along the back wall. I would put one drop down door to access back of nest boxes and one lift up door to access poop board. Both doors would span the whole back of the coop, with piano hinges and some way to get them tight closed, maybe some sort of rubber gasket. Poop board and nest boxes can be removed for cleaning. So whole font and back opens up and I can clean the litter and I guess if I need to crawl in there for something I could fit.

I have to say tho, if I thought it would be worth the extra cost I would simply go for a full Woods House, simple, functional and beautiful!

I had thought to build the run 8'x12' for a little extra room since free range will be limited. I'm wondering if I should go with the skids for that size (obviously skids along the 12' walls.) Only reasons I can imagine wanting to move it are to sell the coop or move out, but in those two cases, it would be very nice to be able to move it. I have a friend up the road with a tractor in case of needing to move it.

I watched a flock of turkeys once haul themselves up into a grove of fairly tall trees in my mom's backyard. They were just as awkward in flight as I thought they would but but I was shocked at how high they can get. Makes sense they want to be away from as many predators as they can, but you wince a little watching them do it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don’t clean my droppings boards off daily or even on a regular schedule. It depends on the weather and the chicken density. If chicken density is lower, I can go longer. In wet weather cleaning frequency goes up. With low density and dry weather I might go over a month. With higher density and wet weather I might clean once a week. Some people do have to clean a lot more often, especially those small coops in suburban back yards. Your cleaning frequency will probably be a trial and error thing. If it starts to stink you waited too long.

I personally like going inside the coop to gather eggs. I’ve found dead hens, a possum, and a few snakes in the coop I’d not have found if I were gathering eggs from outside, at least not as soon as I did. I just get a better idea of what is going on with the flock when I go into the coop regularly. Again, those little coops in suburbia are different, external nests make a lot of sense for them. But if you go to the trouble to build a walk-in coop, I think you should walk in.

 

[catinthecoop]

My dream coop right now is: 8'x12' Woods House with an attached run. Space for an outdoor brooder, internal nest boxes and feed/water inside. Deep litter in the coop, sand in the run. Practically speaking I don't need that big of a coop, the law says I can only have 5 birds. If it weren't for that I would be pushing to invest in the bigger coop.
Oh well, at least if I build the mini open-air, I can be a proof of concept for other folks wanting a smaller open-air coop. And then when we decide suburbia isn't so great and we move to a bigger property where I can have my horses and some goats as well as chickens I can build my Woods House

Thanks Ridgerunner, glad to know there can be some wiggle room with the poop boards. I know my sister would have no problem cleaning up after the chickens but she's not living close at the moment so I might have to rely on some less enthusiastic help for now.

 

[JackE]

Check out this MiniWoods. Maybe drop him a line and see how the coop performed over the winter. Cold weather in Minn.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1144881/open-air-poultry-house-aka-woods-coop-in-minneapolis