Coop windows

[Iluveggers]

I wonder if they don’t want to roost because its so dark in the coop with no windows & they can’t see where to jump up?

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

I wonder if they don’t want to roost because its so dark in the coop with no windows & they can’t see where to jump up?

I'm not sure...I don't have electricity down there. But I did get battery operated candles for during winter time that are on a timer to go in an old chandelier I found...just hadn't got anyone to hang it yet and I don't have the strength to hang it.
During winter they just cuddled up in corners of the coop.
I have 1 pullet that I can sit on the roost and she will stay but that's it. Other pullet jumps down.

 

[aart]

.do you wrap from ground level to a certain height so that air flow is just at like top 2' or so?

Yes, or even just wrap 2 sides and leave the 'front' open.
Depends on the wind patterns at your place.

 

[3KillerBs]

Yeah my overhangs isn't as much as I originally had planned...miscommunication with son-in-law ehrn building coop. So that's why we had to do the siding there to prevent rain inside coop.

You can add awnings.

My internet is bogging too badly for me to upload photos right now, but my brooder had the same "no roof overhang" problem because it was a converted run: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/run-to-outdoor-brooder-conversion.76634/

do you wrap from ground level to a certain height so that air flow is just at like top 2' or so?

I'm in a hot climate myself, but my understanding is that people often wrap their runs in such a way as to make a 3-sided shelter with the downwind wall and the top couple feet of the other walls open.

IIRC from growing up in Pittsburgh you'd get almost all your storms from the west, right? So you could leave all or part of your east wall completely open.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Like this area?
It would be even with the roost bar, maybe a tad bit higher. Will that not cause drafts?
Or just leave it open during warm weather and closed during cold weather?

jreardon1918's illustration is what I was thinking - even if you don't make it quite that large, taking out most of the triangle is what I'd do.

As far as drafts, only way to know is to check for drafts at roost level on a typical windy day. Depending on your primary wind directions, there may not be an issue at all, or it could require a bit of buffering. I have windows flanking my top roost and turns out, there's little issue with leaving them open year round (I've closed them maybe 3-4 days total in the past few years), but I designed the coop to take into account wind directions at our specific location.