coop door open or closed at night?

[Tina D]

Just wanted to add: Beautiful birds, and beautiful coop!

 

[PHILMAN]

Thanks Tina!

 

[7L Farm]

I would agree on adding some ventilation to the coop. You will eventually have to because old man winter will come & they will need to be inside. I'd add one more section of hardware cloth just to be safe. Guess I'm paranoid. I would hate to loose a bird because I was to lacy & cut corners but then again there your birds.

 

[PHILMAN]

7l,
Look at this .Do you t hink i have enough ventalation ? Here are some pictures . The first one is the outside the rest are from the inside.

There is a 3" gap there . Covered by wire . Do you think I need more? Its on both sides of the coop .

 

[7L Farm]

Its your call. Its not enough ventilation where I live. Temps are in the 100's alot here & the predators are hungry. Here's one of my coops its positioned under a big tree so the birds don't cook. Three of the 4 sides have windows. My other two coops are three side

d which is ideal for the long hot summers.

 

[7L Farm]

Here's another coop it's three sided . This coop is just right for the long hot summers we have here in

Texas.

 

[PHILMAN]

Wow now thats a coop !!!Mine is 1/16 th of the size of your coop !
Thanks
Philman

 

[rainierlass]

I leave my pop-door open to the VERY secure run..........that way they can eat and drink when they wake up - - my run is 2X4 wire with hardware cloth around the bottom 3 feet and it is roofed...........

I would also cut some windows in for ventilation...........I just cut the square of plywood out and put hinges on the bottom and spring latches on top - have a window in three sides of my coop - - covered with hardware cloth as well - -

There are pics of my coop building process on My Page - - I have since added hardware cloth around the bottom of the run - and inside at all the windows - the only problems I had was wild birds getting in the run so I added bird netting on the outside as well - -

 

[tuckertori]

Philman....you have a great set up! We are still trying to make sure our girls are warm enough here in Western Washington but hope heat will become a concern! I like the idea of the last post and think we will do a couple of those windows. We used hardware cloth with about 1/4-1/2 grid top to bottom in our coop/run. If you have racoons or other such critters, I'd worry about them getting in the top 1/2 of your run. I do admit though that we built with total security over kill!

 

[True Grit]

If your birds will roost in the run, I would cover the whole run with 1/2 in hardware cloth to keep out the racoon hands, rats, mice, weasels, squirrels etc. I leave my pop door open to my run but they still roost in the coop anyway. If you click on my byc page you can see my setup. The window is in upside down and inside out so I can lower and raise it from the outside and the open window part is higher up. The inside is covered with hardware cloth. Your ventilation looks great for the winter but in the summer, if it is hot they need more circulation I believe. Cute coop!