Coop design

[U_Stormcrow]

one note, from my own experience. If you plan to rake/shovel spent bedding into a wheelbarrow, those are typically 32 to 34" inches tall at rest. Which is why I set my coop 36" off the ground. (Also, I have ducks, who stay on the ground, so "downstairs" becomes their house.) With my U design, I open the door (the opening in the U shaped floor of the upstairs, roll in the wheelbarrow, pull all the spent bedding into the wheelbarrow, roll it out for composting). In theory, anyways. Actually, my hens do a good job of kicking spent straw and leaf litter downstairs on their own, where it joins in more of the same to become a deep litter system under the ducks.

Its also tall enough I can get underneath w/o crawling, useful when the ducks drop an egg there...

 

[Ted Brown]

Woods is a great design for cold climates....but size and proportions are critical.
Might be too big for what @Rodrad is insisting on(40sqft).
I think 6x10 is the smallest.

Smallest size in his book is 6' by 10'. As described it is intended to be used as a brooder, sometimes in a cluster sharing a central heat source. It is described towards the back of the book in a section on Brooders.

 

[Rodrad]

Yes, two 3'2" by 2' 8" fixed frame openings, covered with 1/2" by 1/2" 19 gauge galvanized welded wire.

Simple physics: the back 2/3rds of the coop has no openings when the monitor (upper) windows are closed in winter; an "air cushion" is created which causes incoming cold air to enter the lower portion of the openings which forces warmer/moister out the upper portion of the same openings.

As @jthornton says: "You should read the Modern Fresh Air Poultry House book by Prince T. Woods... "

IMHO the best coop you can get, scalable.

Thank you for reply, I understand your point that through the same openings cold air can enter and warm exit. However warm air (and humid) can be trapped in upper sections (when the cold air fills low section, I believe physics could support this). I think a much better winter ventilation system is with the vents placed as high as possible. Cold air would seep in but as it is moved downward and settles at bottoms it will push warm air up which will exit through upper section of the same vents.

When the winter vents are up high (assuming right size) the ventilation will be very good but the whole coop will be colder. As the vents are placed lower in the coop the ventilation is somewhat deteriorated but the coop is kept warmer.

Possibly for super cold winter, like you have it is ok to have the winter vent so low (almost at the floor level) providing you clean coop often and possibly have some cracks here and there so that the warm/humid air can escape.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

So long as your coop ventilation isn't buried by snowfall in particularly cold climates...


Much easier for people like me. Rain doesn't pile in drifts.

 

[Rodrad]

one note, from my own experience. If you plan to rake/shovel spent bedding into a wheelbarrow, those are typically 32 to 34" inches tall at rest. Which is why I set my coop 36" off the ground. (Also, I have ducks, who stay on the ground, so "downstairs" becomes their house.) With my U design, I open the door (the opening in the U shaped floor of the upstairs, roll in the wheelbarrow, pull all the spent bedding into the wheelbarrow, roll it out for composting). In theory, anyways. Actually, my hens do a good job of kicking spent straw and leaf litter downstairs on their own, where it joins in more of the same to become a deep litter system under the ducks.

Its also tall enough I can get underneath w/o crawling, useful when the ducks drop an egg there...

Thanks, will check my wheelbarrow height and adjust the floor height.

BTW, side questions, there is not a consensus on the roost perch design, especially with the width. What type of perches you have?
Another question, what is your experience or opinion of two style of litter management: deep bedding and deep litter?

 

[aart]

BTW, side questions, there is not a consensus on the roost perch design, especially with the width. What type of perches you have?
Another question, what is your experience or opinion of two style of litter management: deep bedding and deep litter?

I use 2x4 wide side up, but birds roost on 2x2 edges of poop board and also flat on board surface. Don't get too hung up on the numbers(deja vu?)
Lots of thing work fine, some keepers are adamant that only their way works.
Don't get hung up on it, and keep in mind that flexibility is good,
and you may change how you do things after you've had birds for a time.
Why it's good to use screws instead of glues.

What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture
-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.
-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.
-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.
- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).
There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.
That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 7 years.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Thanks, will check my wheelbarrow height and adjust the floor height.

BTW, side questions, there is not a consensus on the roost perch design, especially with the width. What type of perches you have?
Another question, what is your experience or opinion of two style of litter management: deep bedding and deep litter?

I have 2x3s and 2x4s on the flats, I have 2x4s on the narrow, and I have a couple downed trees resting on cinderblocks. Some are level, some are pitched. I gave my birds options. (also, I used construction scraps)

Given my climate, my birds spend a good amount of time roosting outside, usually on the downed trees, but also on the edge of some 2x4 structure I built to hold a compost barrel (the frame for a black soldier fly composter). My littlest birds tend to roost there. Judging by the droppings, my bigger birds prefer the 2x4s and 2x3s on flats, and have no particular preference for level or pitched*

*sort of. Remember how I said I used scraps? I have a series of boards, on the flat, each nailed onto the face of the next, in a zig-zag pattern to give maximum roosting space. My birds prefer the highest flat perch in that ascending cobbled together monstrosity, then next highest, next highest, etc. Bracing it so a bunch of birds could hop on, while allowing me to move it around the house was a pain - but deck screws i had in plenty.

I do NOT use poop boards. My roof is actually quite shallow for my hens, because the floor is so high - so by the time I got the roosts higher than the nesting boxes, and cobbled together scrap wood, and allowed the chickens to have some overhead, I really didn't have space to lift it further to make room for poop boards.

Up top, I have a deep bedding system, functionally, mostly straw with some leaf litter. The "floor" is hardieboard - essentially concrete and fiberglass, Have no issues with moisture buildup. As I mentioned before, my ladies tend to kick it around alot, so it tends to fall down the central shat and end up downstairs. When I add new litter, I throw it to the back, towards the nesting boxes (or shove it in, from the nesting boxes), so they are always moving the most spent bedding towards the hole in the middle, where it falls.

Downstairs, I take a heavy metal rake - not a leaf rake - a bow/garden rake and push it over the ground underneath, away from the shaft, where it combines with more leaf litter and yard clippings from the property in a deep litter method. Every once in a while, I'll come in with a flat bladed shovel and take a bit out, throw it on my sand/clay soil and till it in.

Hope that helps!

/edit oh yeah, and some of my birds roost ON TOP of the hen house. They jump up to the top of the gate (4' 4"?) and from there, they jump onto the hen house, walk up the roof to the ridge vent, and set their asses down for the night. Once each season or so, out comes the hose and a deck brush, wash it all off...

 

[Rodrad]

I use 2x4 wide side up, but birds roost on 2x2 edges of poop board and also flat on board surface. Don't get too hung up on the numbers(deja vu?)
Lots of thing work fine, some keepers are adamant that only their way works.
Don't get hung up on it, and keep in mind that flexibility is good,
and you may change how you do things after you've had birds for a time.
Why it's good to use screws instead of glues.

What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture
-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.
-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.
-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.
- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).
There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.
That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 7 years.

Great information.
It is exactly as you said, different people find different type of roosts as working well, so I may as well have one type (likely 2x4 on wide side since we have occasionally very cold days in winter (I hear that birds can easier cover their ”fingers”.
I have been planning to have poop boards. Still thinking that way but want to hear more about deep bedding and deep litter system (the composting in the coop would give some heat in cold winter months).

 

[aart]

Just remembered this study a guy did, it's pretty thorough,
could have gone further but he got called away.
IIRC consensus was location mattered more than roost size.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-perch-experiment.74272/

 

[aart]

the composting in the coop would give some heat in cold winter months

Near Fallacy, especially with a raised floor.
And needs to much moisture to be good where heat would be needed.