Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[bnjrob]

Up for discussion...

I would really like a Woods style chicken coop but I don't think it would be feasible for my situation. This is what I have come up with... if I'm ever able to get my custom coops built. Speaking of custom, if there's something I have not thought of (outside of the basic necessities) please chime in. Dragon Lady, would one of your double walled nesting boxes work with this situation? I'm thinking I would put it up high as my birds are constantly looking at the roof of my current "barn" and wondering if they can get any higher. If I could make a cozy place for them to sleep and still have lots of ventilation without risking frost bite, that's what I will do.

First up: The western exposure. We get lots of wind here coming from every direction except east and yet occasionally, it comes from the east too. So, ventilation at the floor level on the west side.



Each of the windows in the building will have covers available.


Next up: Eastern exposure. We only get 5 inches of precipitation here per year so having the roof open this way will not present any moisture issues. It dries quickly when it does rain/snow.


I plan to have a deep litter set up so the air coming in would sweep over the litter, keeping it dry and go up and out the roof vent on the eastern side. This should provide a warm pocket at the top of the western wall, especially if I can put some kind of box for them to snuggle together up there. Of course that would mean building ramps as a means to get way up there. Not a problem.



Anybody have any comments? suggestions? I'm all ears.

I would put floor height vents on at least the west and south sides if not a few on all sides. This will get you better air flow during the hottest months of summer and not limit where the air comes from. Doesn't have to be vented the entire length of each wall if you don't want, just some spaced out vents all around depending on where your doors are at. But that way you'll take advantage of breeze from any direction that can help when it is so hot and still.

We have floor height vents and made "storm flaps" for them using 1/4" siding/plywood attached by hinges. Using an eye screw in the wall above the vent and eye bolt on the vent flap, we use rope/chain to raise the flap up to allow air flow. But this also allows the flap to be slightly tilted over the vent, providing cover from sideways-driving rain as well as heavy winds while still getting good air flow. When it is cold, we just take the chains of the flaps and let the flaps hang down. Because they are not secured, they hang a little ways off the vents so air gets into the coop in winter without the heavy cold wind just blowing straight through.

The air flow in the diagram isn't going to be quite correct. Air will flow in from the vents on the floor and it will flow in from eaves, but you aren't going to get as much air flow out through the eaves because of the roof slope. Hot air rises and will enter from the eaves and accumulate under the peak of the roof. I would recommend that you don't put the roofing panels all the way together. Leave a gap at the top so the roofing panels do not meet at the top, leaving a bit of a gap between the end of the roofing panel and the ridge beam. Then place a ridge cap along the top that extends farther out than the gap on top of your roofing panels. This will let more air flow up from the bottom of the roof, escaping out the top instead of hot air getting trapped at the top in the summer and still give protection in the event of rain.

This method is how we have ours set up with air flowing in from floor vents and under the eaves of the roof, escaping out the top. We use hardware cloth over the roof rafters, vents, windows for predator deterrence. The windows also have flaps that can be lowered for winter/bad storms like the vents. Works well with our 100+ degree, 60+% summer weather as well as our below freezing winter weather.

 

[wsmith]

Here are the four birds from this year's hatch that I kept. Each of them still have some faults, but they are the best from the dismal hatches we had this year.

American Dominiques, 27 weeks.

I think they will compliment the rest of the flock and next year's breeding. ...got to get rid of that droopy wing displayed on cockerel #6......

 

[cybercat]

Up for discussion...

I would really like a Woods style chicken coop but I don't think it would be feasible for my situation. This is what I have come up with... if I'm ever able to get my custom coops built. Speaking of custom, if there's something I have not thought of (outside of the basic necessities) please chime in. Dragon Lady, would one of your double walled nesting boxes work with this situation? I'm thinking I would put it up high as my birds are constantly looking at the roof of my current "barn" and wondering if they can get any higher. If I could make a cozy place for them to sleep and still have lots of ventilation without risking frost bite, that's what I will do.

First up: The western exposure. We get lots of wind here coming from every direction except east and yet occasionally, it comes from the east too. So, ventilation at the floor level on the west side.



Each of the windows in the building will have covers available.


Next up: Eastern exposure. We only get 5 inches of precipitation here per year so having the roof open this way will not present any moisture issues. It dries quickly when it does rain/snow.


I plan to have a deep litter set up so the air coming in would sweep over the litter, keeping it dry and go up and out the roof vent on the eastern side. This should provide a warm pocket at the top of the western wall, especially if I can put some kind of box for them to snuggle together up there. Of course that would mean building ramps as a means to get way up there. Not a problem.



Anybody have any comments? suggestions? I'm all ears.

In your location I would think of night time temps and winter weather. All this might be OK for summer but deadly in winter. Ground vents are just asking for rodents, snakes, fox and coon to come in. Too much draft is not good for chickens either and if you want to do deep litter method bedding needs to be slightly wet not all dry. Think compost it creates its own heat which makes the air rise. Deep litter is basically composting in your coop.

 

[ronott1]

In your location I would think of night time temps and winter weather. All this might be OK for summer but deadly in winter. Ground vents are just asking for rodents, snakes, fox and coon to come in. Too much draft is not good for chickens either and if you want to do deep litter method bedding needs to be slightly wet not all dry. Think compost it creates its own heat which makes the air rise. Deep litter is basically composting in your coop.

Those are very good points. It is cold and dry there. I have relatives that live in Elko, Nevada and they can smell the moisture in the are when the hit the Mountain peaks in California.

It would be easy to save the boards cut from the vents, add hinges and then latch some some closed when needed for the weather.

 

[Extra Java]

Here are some photos of the double walled Suncast storage boxes I use for babies, and trios.Do not use the single walled ones. They sag, and don't retain heat. I use the 32 cubic foot boxes. You can keep boys' combs from freezing with a 40 w. bulb, and keep babies warm enough to go out at 4 weeks with a 100W. bulb in the winter.We built bases that are enclosed on the back and sides. The birds love to dust under them in the heat. All my runs are covered, so I pop the lids on these boxes in the summer, to let hot air out. These are easy to clean too. My husband cut poop doors in them. In a very cold climate you can add a door curtain.

I grab these boxes every time they go on sale. Makes my husband very nervous,as he envisions MORE runs, but you can't build anything like these for $175.




I leave the right hand door open most of the year.. The board below helps contain the wheat straw I bed with.Both doors open for easy clean out.




Poop door and ramp . The boxes are 30" above the ground. This box has a 2 step roost in it. I no longer use those in the boxes. The Orps prefer to just snuggle as babies, but transition well to the big coop sleeping roost that has multiple perches.




Baby run under construction, just before it was roofed.

 

[Beekissed]

Actually, you'll need those vents in summer and winter with the deep litter, so just adding some louvers to the vents can give you good flow but no "drafts". It think many people get the two confused...a draft, in this context, would be direct air flow on the birds as they roost at night, stealing their body heat as it blows across their bodies. In a Wood's style coop, you can clearly see that the whole front of the coop is open air, yet the roosting situation is in the back of the coop, well protected. And that's all that's needed for winter cooping..a protected place for nighttime roosting where the wind doesn't whistle through the feathers.

In the winter, humidity is the enemy, not the cold...much same as summer time, when humidity causes respiratory stress much quicker than does just hot, arid temps.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: X2-- On my coop, DH cut an 18" x 5 foot vent in the wall and now uses the cutout for the cover-- fits perfectly, almost too perfectly, hard to get out when closed, because it needs a handle of some sort as a pull.

THis is kept open generally and closed in the worst weather. THe location of this cut I"m talking about is 2 1/2 feet off the floor of the coop and the chickens prefer to sit on the roosts directly in front of this which are also the highest roosts. Nice for the spring- summer- fall, less protective during the winter.( THis is not my preferred designn-- I'm hoping the Woods style will fix the issues have with this design.)

 

[Arielle]

Actually, you'll need those vents in summer and winter with the deep litter, so just adding some louvers to the vents can give you good flow but no "drafts". It think many people get the two confused...a draft, in this context, would be direct air flow on the birds as they roost at night, stealing their body heat as it blows across their bodies. In a Wood's style coop, you can clearly see that the whole front of the coop is open air, yet the roosting situation is in the back of the coop, well protected. And that's all that's needed for winter cooping..a protected place for nighttime roosting where the wind doesn't whistle through the feathers.

In the winter, humidity is the enemy, not the cold...much same as summer time, when humidity causes respiratory stress much quicker than does just hot, arid temps.

Great point Bee.

 

[MagicChicken]

Up for discussion...

I would really like a Woods style chicken coop but I don't think it would be feasible for my situation. This is what I have come up with... if I'm ever able to get my custom coops built. Speaking of custom, if there's something I have not thought of (outside of the basic necessities) please chime in. Dragon Lady, would one of your double walled nesting boxes work with this situation? I'm thinking I would put it up high as my birds are constantly looking at the roof of my current "barn" and wondering if they can get any higher. If I could make a cozy place for them to sleep and still have lots of ventilation without risking frost bite, that's what I will do.

First up: The western exposure. We get lots of wind here coming from every direction except east and yet occasionally, it comes from the east too. So, ventilation at the floor level on the west side.



Each of the windows in the building will have covers available.


Next up: Eastern exposure. We only get 5 inches of precipitation here per year so having the roof open this way will not present any moisture issues. It dries quickly when it does rain/snow.


I plan to have a deep litter set up so the air coming in would sweep over the litter, keeping it dry and go up and out the roof vent on the eastern side. This should provide a warm pocket at the top of the western wall, especially if I can put some kind of box for them to snuggle together up there. Of course that would mean building ramps as a means to get way up there. Not a problem.



Anybody have any comments? suggestions? I'm all ears.

I would be leery of leaving that eastern section of roof open, even if you do only get 5" of rain a year. When it does rain all the rain is going to sluice off the covered part and dump into the coop in that one area, leaving a much bigger mess in a small area than if the rain fell naturally into that space. If your area is like mine, with most of the rain concentrated in a few big storm events, you are going to want very good drainage out of that coop litter so the water doesn't wick into everything. Or gutters to redirect the runoff.

Also, if you leave food in the coop you have far fewer options for keeping the food dry if you have that big open area in the roof. I say this from experience. My coop/run is 12' deep. I left the south 2' of roof open (protected by hardware cloth and a shadecloth cover) for "ventilation." Never again. It is really hard to find a place to keep food dry in that coop. Most of our storms involve wind which can come from any direction, and the wind usually moves around a lot during the course of the storm. In a single storm it can blow in from the front (all wire) and also through the windows in one or more of the other sides. Even in the most protected part of the coop/run I have had to throw out a bunch of feed because rain got into the tray of the hanging feeder and wicked up into the rest of the feed. The birds have a lot of perching options and can always find a place to get out of the wind and rain, but the feeder can't figure out how to stay dry. Guess I need a smarter feeder.

Sarah

Someone else suggested leaving a small gap in the roof panels at the peak, and putting a ridge cap over it allowing for ventilation out the peak. I second that suggestion. It is an excellent idea.

 

[thedragonlady]

I bought mine at Lowes on sale. My husband found plastic molding that he cut for the doors. He ended up using screws in it, as my boys were tearing off the door moldings. They are a bit broad in the beam! Check online too. You can';t beat these boxes for the money.