First winter with chickens ... a couple questions

[MIChickandGuinea]

Sweet!!
Will you leave eaves open, but covered with 1/2" HC, front and back?
That should provide great air flow for ventilation.
Air flow can be easily dampened/re-directed near roosts
by tacking cardboard(or something) on the undersides of rafters near roosts.
Where will roosts be?

Will the windows be top hinged?
I love this for windows open all summer, even during rains.

See?! THANK YOU, Aart. This really is a sweet coop with lots of great features, lots of careful, thoughtful planning, lots of research, and my very best efforts and intentions going into it. But all anyone on BYC has said to me about it so far is that it’s inadequate. Too small, poor ventilation. But I think it’s like a chicken castle - luxurious, roomy, hopefully properly weather-protected, and fully fortified against the enemy (varmints). There’s even a floor drain so we can do full-scale pressure washer clean-outs spring and fall.

Anyhoooo!! Yes, eaves will be left open (with hardware cloth) for ventilation. Yes, windows will be top-hinged so they can be left open in rainy weather.

I have not yet decided where roosts will be. Was kind of thinking of a 2x4 installed the broad way, right in front of the nest boxes, about 20” off the floor, all along the 8’ wall. But I am open to suggestion. When I am closer to completion, I will post interior photos and maybe you can help me sort that out.

 

[aart]

How many birds will you keep?

It's nice structure, the covered run is going to be great in winter,
especially if you put up some wind/snow blocking on walls.
The roof overhangs are fantastic, top hinged windows are the bomb.

The only con I see is that the 4' width may/will be restrictive when arranging roosts.
Roost are best situated above ~12" nests, so they don't roost(sleep/poop) in nests.
Roosts are best at least 12" away from walls.
Height of roosts needs balance with room to fly down, or install a ramp.
Best not to have roosts near nests so they don't walk thru night droppings before entering nests(poopy feet=poopy eggs).
4' is hard to have roost boards and still be able to walk around in there.
So this is the tangle of the narrow space.
Is the construction at the place the pics show?
If so, good to still ponder layout.
Gotta eat dinner will be back later

 

[lcwmt]

See?! THANK YOU, Aart. This really is a sweet coop with lots of great features, lots of careful, thoughtful planning, lots of research, and my very best efforts and intentions going into it. But all anyone on BYC has said to me about it so far is that it’s inadequate. Too small, poor ventilation. But I think it’s like a chicken castle - luxurious, roomy, hopefully properly weather-protected, and fully fortified against the enemy (varmints). There’s even a floor drain so we can do full-scale pressure washer clean-outs spring and fall.

Anyhoooo!! Yes, eaves will be left open (with hardware cloth) for ventilation. Yes, windows will be top-hinged so they can be left open in rainy weather.

I have not yet decided where roosts will be. Was kind of thinking of a 2x4 installed the broad way, right in front of the nest boxes, about 20” off the floor, all along the 8’ wall. But I am open to suggestion. When I am closer to completion, I will post interior photos and maybe you can help me sort that out.

Whatever style you go with, do put the roosts higher than the nesting boxes. Chickens like to go UP. Your coop in process is beautiful. It looks carefully considered and well constructed. FWIW we "baffle " our ventilation under the eaves with wool blanket scrap leftover from the moisture blankets we made for our beehives - it works well in single digits with serious wind. We have a remote hygrometer/thermometer to keep track of humidity in the coop - everything is on track. (we got it at Lowe's, it was not expensive, worth it for the peace of mind instead of stewing about ventilation and humidity, we know all is well.)
To answer another concern you voiced: yes, some of our chickens will hang out under shelves or wherever.
Another FWIW, we covered the run with clear greenhouse tarp to cut the wind , keep most of the snow out and get a little solar gain for the girls. We feed and water in the run (heated dog bowl for water this time of year), left about 10" exposed on the South side, ventilation of course <G>, and use DLM in both coop and run. I wish I had the space you have created! It's sweet.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Whatever style you go with, do put the roosts higher than the nesting boxes. Chickens like to go UP. Your coop in process is beautiful. It looks carefully considered and well constructed. FWIW we "baffle " our ventilation under the eaves with wool blanket scrap leftover from the moisture blankets we made for our beehives - it works well in single digits with serious wind. We have a remote hygrometer/thermometer to keep track of humidity in the coop - everything is on track. (we got it at Lowe's, it was not expensive, worth it for the peace of mind instead of stewing about ventilation and humidity, we know all is well.)
To answer another concern you voiced: yes, some of our chickens will hang out under shelves or wherever.
Another FWIW, we covered the run with clear greenhouse tarp to cut the wind , keep most of the snow out and get a little solar gain for the girls. We feed and water in the run (heated dog bowl for water this time of year), left about 10" exposed on the South side, ventilation of course <G>, and use DLM in both coop and run. I wish I had the space you have created! It's sweet.

Got it - roosts up high! And I think one of those little chicken ladders or ramps will be in order since our space isn’t wide for flying (unless I put all the roosts along the 4’ walls so they have the longer dimension of the coop for flying up and down)

A temp/humidity monitor is a great idea, and I already have one!! It’s left over from the days when I had babies with croup and we were living in a very rustic farm house with ... unusual HVAC.

I will keep wool blanket or batting in mind for the eave gaps if it seems overly drafty when our winter winds start howling.

What is DLM?

Thanks for your helpful input!!

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

How many birds will you keep?

It's nice structure, the covered run is going to be great in winter,
especially if you put up some wind/snow blocking on walls.
The roof overhangs are fantastic, top hinged windows are the bomb.

The only con I see is that the 4' width may/will be restrictive when arranging roosts.
Roost are best situated above ~12" nests, so they don't roost(sleep/poop) in nests.
Roosts are best at least 12" away from walls.
Height of roosts needs balance with room to fly down, or install a ramp.
Best not to have roosts near nests so they don't walk thru night droppings before entering nests(poopy feet=poopy eggs).
4' is hard to have roost boards and still be able to walk around in there.
So this is the tangle of the narrow space.
Is the construction at the place the pics show?
If so, good to still ponder layout.
Gotta eat dinner will be back later

We have 10 birds - 9 egg-layers and one oopsie rooster (he was picked from a pullets-only bin, but he fooled the sexer, I guess). Three of the ladies are Easter-eggers, two are black marans, two are isa browns, one white leghorn, one light Brahma, and the rooster is Easter-egger. We don’t intend to have more birds than we already do - though I know flocks ebb and flow because of age/illness/predators and the need to occasionally replenish the flock.

Yes, we are building the coop inside my dad’s barn, up on a trailer. We are building inside where it’s warm (Dad has an awesome wood stove that keeps the barn so so cozy), and then we’ll drive the finished coop out to the yard and pull it off the trailer with a big tractor.

I have literally no firm plans for inside the coop. I have deliberately left it completely open so that once it’s built, I can stand in there and think things through. It’s hard to plan something on paper ... sometimes you just need to be in it and look at the actual dimensions and see what makes sense. All the input about keeping poop away from nest boxes, putting roosts up high, putting draft-protection by roosts, etc. helps me get some ideas percolating so I can make sensible use of the space. Thanks for all the time you’ve spent helping me think it all through! I am sure I will have more questions before I am finished!!

 

[lcwmt]

Got it - roosts up high! And I think one of those little chicken ladders or ramps will be in order since our space isn’t wide for flying (unless I put all the roosts along the 4’ walls so they have the longer dimension of the coop for flying up and down)

A temp/humidity monitor is a great idea, and I already have one!! It’s left over from the days when I had babies with croup and we were living in a very rustic farm house with ... unusual HVAC.
**Easy then!

I will keep wool blanket or batting in mind for the eave gaps if it seems overly drafty when our winter winds start howling.

What is DLM?

Thanks for your helpful input!!

DLM = Deep Litter Method.You'll find a lot of information about it on the forums... Essentially the floor has deep bedding (I use a a combination of pine shavings and straw, others use leaves or whatever is local to them). The evening/daily droppings are raked or scratched into the bedding. Clean out on occasion yields compostable or composted material. PDZ (usually labeled for horse stalls, seems to be more expensive if labeled for chickens, go figure!) can be sprinkled in to help keep any odor down, it also assists in the breaking down process. It's a natural product.