Feedback on Home Depot coop plans.

[aart]

Do people in cold areas like Alaska have 6’ tall coops?

@Alaskan

 

[Alaskan]

yes.

Lots of people up here have tall coops.

It is actually important to have a HUGE coop because the outside is often so horrid that the chickens don't want to go out.

If it is a super cold area then it is nice to have the roost area completely draft free, and maybe a bit smaller.

 

[Alaskan]

I’m looking at adding some bantams and I was looking at this as an extra coop for the bantams.

My bantams are in a tall dirt floored, lots of ventilation, no heat, no insulation coop.

My lows are -20F.

 

[lazy gardener]

I understand that ventilation is needed. That’s why I was asking whether people with this coop had ventilation issues.

This past winter was cold. I’m sorry, but -25+F inside the coop is too cold. We had frostbite issues, etc. (and, yes, I was monitoring the humidity and it wasn’t too humid).

Maybe I’m way off base, but even with ventilation, if the chickens had a smaller space, the heat their bodies put off would have kept things more comfortable. Other people in my area had coop temps in the 20s and 30s without heat while mine was -20. I’m not aiming for 40 degrees, but at least 0 would be nice.

Do people in cold areas like Alaska have 6’ tall coops?

Cold weather areas need more cu. ft. per bird, as pointed out by @Alaskan . If you have a short coop, the birds are roosting too close to the ceiling, resulting in their respiration condensing on the ceiling, then raining down on them when it melts. Birds put out a LOT of moisture in their poo and respiration. Therefore, a cold weather coop MUST have very good ventilation and lots of room, The recommended ventilation is about 1 s.f. PER BIRD. My first coop was a loft style coop, and I had frost bite issues with my hens. Since building a much larger coop, those issues are minimized.

As for birds heating their space, that IMO is a fallacy. Birds wear a down jacket. They do not put much heat into their environment.

Your effort would be better spent building a nice large coop, putting lots of ventilation in it, at multiple heights. (I have a floor level, 2 soffit, 2 eave vents and 3 windows in a 10 x 12 coop. You can view it in my interview in my signature if you want to.) Windows are on East and South side. All windows and glass in human door are thermopane, and were picked up at my town dump. The solar gain from all that glass is very helpful for warming up my coop during those sub zero days.

 

[lazy gardener]

You might want to take a look at the Woods open air style coop. This coop is IMO, the smartest coop design available, and is appropriate for all climates, including sub zero!

 

[Alaskan]

You might want to take a look at the Woods open air style coop. This coop is IMO, the smartest coop design available, and is appropriate for all climates, including sub zero!

That is a great coop design, and I know those are used up here with great success with normal lows in the -30s F.

 

[KWVT]

If it is a super cold area then it is nice to have the roost area completely draft free, and maybe a bit smaller.

Can you give me an example of a roost area that is smaller? I’m not understanding what you mean.

 

[uknotku]

I have built this coop three times. Once for chickens, once for ducks and once for rabbits. Slightly modified for the last two of course. For chickens, I have been very happy with it. We are adding to our flock and I would have built another one, except for the fact that I like to build new things and the Woods coop looked interesting. I have 10 birds in the coop currently, and I would have no issues with having 15 in it. It is easy to clean and has plenty of ventilation if you follow the plans. Mine stay incredibly dry and I have had no issues with frost bite over this incredibly cold winter. I feel like the ventilation is in the right spots and they are not drafty. My birds are incredibly happy and healthy and were laying right at 20 weeks of age after growing up in this coop. I tend to do things a little different than several of the folks on here, but I am having great results with this coop.

 

[aart]

I have built this coop three times. Once for chickens, once for ducks and once for rabbits. Slightly modified for the last two of course.

What were your modification?
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[Alaskan]

Can you give me an example of a roost area that is smaller? I’m not understanding what you mean.

For my standard chicken flock I have an 8x8 building that is draft free and insulated with roosting space and vented into the shed... the shed is 8x 16 and not insulated and very well ventilated (on occasion with a windy snow storm snow blows in) and is open to a 8x16 greenhouse that is sunny but freezing.

Soooooo .... the roosting area is smaller and warmer. ... but there is lots of sheltered snow free space... the shed counts as snow free.

For my bantams, their coop is all one building .. but there is a poop tray under the perch and a solid wall behind the perch to keep the perch completely draft free.