Coop orientation.

[pistolero]

Thanks all for the advice.
Here almost all of our severe summer storms come from due west some from SW. They seem pop up out of nowhere in the hot months and can dump a hellacious amount of rain in no time. They pass quickly, and then the sun comes back out and it's like an outdoor sauna. In the winter the wind is nearly always from the west. I don't know if I'm going to build a Woods coop, might be tempted to go with a simpler design. I'm thinking if I do though, I want to face it North. And possibly put the back wall on with screws. Plywood for the summer to keep the sun out, plexiglass for the few months of cold to let the sun in. Wire it for power and put exhaust fans in the top windows. Hehe.

 

[Bananabread]

i found i got lost and essentially paralyzed in the details of the planning phase. The best motivation to get you out of the starting blocks is to just go ahead and get baby chicks. Nothing like watching the dust settle on everything inside your house to get you properly motivated to just make the decisions and start building quickly...

 

[mizjones]

Hi there,
here is my opinion on heat, I can't give much on cold weather though because it only gets down to 30 degrees in Charleston, SC.

- Make sure there is plenty of draft, and not too much metal, because it gets extremely hot during hot summers.

- I suggest A-frame coops because they can be made pretty ventilated.

- Plenty of water! Sometimes, I just let the hose run into a large bowl in the yard.

- Having dirt available allows them to dirt bathe, which cools them down.

- Don't feed a lot of starch ( corn, etc.)

- I know this sounds kind of stupid, but I used to put industrial fans behind my coop... they would lay there beside it and just bask in the cool air stream.

All these facts have been tested to work, in the summer in Charleston, SC it stays between 90 and 100 degrees, plus a steady level of humidity.

Birdwrangler we're just NW of you in Orangeburg (used to live in Charleston).

Just sending a shout-out.

 

[birdwrangler057]

Birdwrangler we're just NW of you in Orangeburg (used to live in Charleston).  :cd  Just sending a shout-out.  

Cool! Orangeburg is pretty nice I hear. Lots of country.

 

[Howard E]

Thanks all for the advice.
Here almost all of our severe summer storms come from due west some from SW. They seem pop up out of nowhere in the hot months and can dump a hellacious amount of rain in no time. They pass quickly, and then the sun comes back out and it's like an outdoor sauna. In the winter the wind is nearly always from the west. I don't know if I'm going to build a Woods coop, might be tempted to go with a simpler design. I'm thinking if I do though, I want to face it North. And possibly put the back wall on with screws. Plywood for the summer to keep the sun out, plexiglass for the few months of cold to let the sun in. Wire it for power and put exhaust fans in the top windows. Hehe.

Before you do this, find me a book, ANY poultry husbandry book, that suggests you should face the open front of your chicken house north.

I doubt you will.*** To the contrary, what you will probably find is that 100% of them will have you face it south, into the winter sun. At least those placed in temperate climates, and NC qualifies for that. Those that do mention putting them on north slopes and facing north describe them as "total failures". Just saying. What you could do if you feel really strongly about this is to make it portable, as mine is. You can then move it anywhere you want, face it any direction you want and move it throughout the year as you see fit. That used to be a really common thing to do. (But when winter came, they all faced south......just saying).

A few more things on the wind. A Woods coop is a rectangle, with standard proportions of being 1.6X as deep as it is wide. The narrow side of the rectangle is wide open and faces south, into the winter sun. In December, as it is now, the entire interior of the coop will be illuminated with natural light, and you will have to do nothing to make it so. It just happens. Best possible condition to provide for your birds.

The direction from whence the wind blows doesn't much matter. You would look at that thing with it's wide open front and assume it has to matter, but it doesn't. Woods described it as an "air cushion". When it is closed up, wind and rapid air movement doesn't penetrate much beyond the front scratch shed. A couple feet at the most......less if you use overhangs of at least 6 inches in front of the scratch shed. In an area with really heavy rains, you would also want to install gutters to shunt rain water off the front shed off to one side or another. Obviously to the low side to get water draining away from it.

Then when the rain is over, it quickly dries out. Again, with the side windows open, the upper monitor windows open and a screen door in place of the solid side door, temps inside won't be more than a few degrees difference. The main thing you could do in a hot, wet weather situation is to have used white roofing shingles (shingles, not metal) and paint the exterior white or a really light color to reflect light vs. absorb it.

In summary, if you build it as designed, it generally works and works well. For small flocks, it is probably as good or better than most.......just as it is.

*** If you want to build a modern, climate controlled chicken house with lights, heat and power ventilation systems, it may not matter much where you put them, except even those are long and narrow and most are oriented east and west so they can drop the curtains on the south facing wall to let in winter light and fresh air when they can.

 

[Howard E]

If a person wanted to try to duplicate a Woods coop with a simpler design, here might be an option.

Build a monoslope, shed style coop......say 8' x 12' (min), 8' x 14' or 8' x 16' would be better, but instead of facing the wide wide to the south, face one narrow side south.....the high side.......and leave it wide open, except to frame it in to support an entrance door and welded wire front. Minimum roof slope of 3" rise in 12" run. Put in several large opening windows with screens on each side to allow for additional light and cross ventilation in hot weather. Put your roosts in the back and nest boxes towards the back on either side.

 

[GrumpyAZ]

You would look at that thing with it's wide open front and assume it has to matter, but it doesn't. Woods described it as an "air cushion". When it is closed up, wind and rapid air movement doesn't penetrate much beyond the front scratch shed. A couple feet at the most......less if you use overhangs of at least 6 inches in front of the scratch shed.

I'm really new to all this, but have been reading a lot. A Woods-style is appealing to me because of all the natural benefits its design affords.

However, where I live (central Arizona), the late summer Monsoons bring "Haboobs" (we called them dust storms until that word suddenly took over a few years ago). The dust and winds come almost directly from the south. I was ruling out an open front coop until I read what you just posted. Would this style work in this environment? The winds wouldn't be a problem, as you say they don't penetrate far, but how about the wall of dust?

Thanks, and sorry for hijacking the thread.

 

[Howard E]

Good question. I'm not sure what, if any, coop could filter out that level of airborne dust. Reminds me of photographs of houses during the dust bowl days where folks would do anything possible to keep the dust from blowing into their homes. Researching that might lead to some ideas.

 

[GrumpyAZ]

Thanks for the reply.
I'm still feeling reassured of my plan to move forward with a Woods style coop. Mostly I was worried about the late summer winds blasting through the opening when facing south. Reading through this thread, I'm not worried anymore, and if a dust storm warning comes along, I can close up the front until it passes.

 

[Hokum Coco]

I'm still in the planning stages of the coop/run. No chickens yet.

Looking through the "Woods coop" thread. It specifically shows to orient the coop so that the open end faces south.

When it comes to this coop you made a wise choice in design I am sure. I only echoed basically what you wanted to hear in my previous post.

Personally I would go with what Jack E and other coop owners recommend. They have experience with this coop and have forgotten more than I know about this particular unit.