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Favorelle said:
Many Thanks, did you use a dirt floor or build a base? We are in very close proximity and our winters should be on par with your location. I have purchased the PT Wood book and I am reading it now. Looking forward to your experience housing chickens using this method as it makes the most sense to us. We also live in a very rural location and will need to add preditor protection, ie weasel family, fox.
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If you look at "My Coop" it is a series of pictures of my coop and it's location, should help.

My coop is elevated 3'+ off the ground on a frame of 4' by 4" pine beams/posts. I did this for two key reasons:
  1. Predator protection, elevation eliminates spaces where critters can crawl into and chew away.
  2. Additional run space where it would otherwise be wasted.
I used 6" drip edge between the base and the coop to further protect from predator efforts to intrude. So far I have not seen even a mouse inside.

I use deep bedding with drop boards in the coop and deep litter in the run. I clean the drop boards daily (or so) and replace the coop bedding once a year (mostly to reduce the dust not because it is dirty/smelly). I have never cleaned the run, I add only fallen leaves every fall to the original base of coarse mulch and pine shavings now have 1-2' of litter. I am a strong advocate of both.

I do not free range. I started with a covered run (pole shed with steel roofing) and allowed the flock outside the first year; i had two rounds of Northern Fowl mites and lost several to predators. Those experiences plus the increase in Avian Flu made me decide to cease letting them out.

My coop is 10' by 16', I will build a second 8' by 12' Woods on a trailer. Either can work, the 6' by 10' is too small for main coop IMHO (I understand some folks have restrictions that might make this size preferable).
 
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Welcome to the coop! I use the Forums and Articles tabs at the top of the page to do research. You can get lost for hours. It's nice to know you are minutes away from getting help with questions and emergencies! I always check in the "What's New" section as well at the top of this page. This way I can read how I may have a similar question or help give some advice.
 
Favorelle said:
Hello, ☺️ Northern Climate here, Winters get down to minus 30 easy with lots of snow. Starting out with 6 Salmon Favorelle chicks and will probably add 4 of another gentle breed down the road. I joined this community because we want to build a PT Woods coop. Are there members with experience in these northern conditions.
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Welcome to BYC!!
 

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