Hot weather Coop design - Is this enough ventilation?

[David61]

I waited until i found my roof. Then built the coop to fit it. It is a powder coated aluminum walk way awning from the grade school. 80% of the schools walk way roofs were blown off in a hurricane. They went back all new and were going to trash undamaged sections. I got 17 feet. My gazebo roof is two sections of sky lights off the old mall. Here is the aluminum panel agaist the gazebo. Think outside the box with an eye open. its out their waiting for you.

 

[3KillerBs]

I waited until i found my roof. Then built the coop to fit it. It is a powder coated aluminum walk way awning from the grade school. 80% of the schools walk way roofs were blown off in a hurricane. They went back all new and were going to trash undamaged sections. I got 17 feet. My gazebo roof is two sections of sky lights off the old mall. Here is the aluminum panel agaist the gazebo. Think outside the box with an eye open. its out their waiting for you.

Fabulous salvage work!

 

[Cat Ballou]

Sounds like you got things figured out but I was just going to add that if the roof absorbs heat all day and radiates it through the night, you could build another roof above it to block the sun. Leave 6”-12” open on all sides for dissipation of the heat.

I live in a van and have to deal with the elements all the time. Shade is the biggest thing in the summer. I have plans to shade the roof of my van with sheet metal and solar panels. The heat stays trapped inside throughout the night.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

For 10 full grown chickens, I'm not sure if it would be enough room inside, I'm sure it could work though if it's not something they'll be in for a while. Hardware cloth is great for ventilation and the shade cloth would help with keeping sunlight out. For the roof, would you be able to make it metal sheets instead? A tarp also works but can sometimes hold water and break, especially if not tied down properly. It is a good amount of ventilation, I think. If they're able to get shade and plenty of cooled water, they should be fine. Using metal helps with keeping water cold, make sure it's not in the sun, though.

That or put sturdy wire or plywood under the tarp to help hold it up. Otherwise, yup, it will puddle and droop and be an issue when it does rain. And pay attention to the color you choose - dark gets hot, white is glaring, and if you have neighbors they may care if it’s neon blue.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Update!
I finished the wooden frame
View attachment 3376552
Excuse the slightly skewed image

Found a new, shady location for the coop. The wall, shade from the neighbor's house, and tree make a beautiful spot for it.
Had to make some changes to the design here and there but it's mostly the same, pretty excited to finally see it coming together.

Regarding the roofing issue, I reached out to a bunch of suppliers including ones a relative of mine who's an architect referred me to... And the cost is just prohibitively expensive to get it sourced and cut. For reference it would cost twice as much as the entire rest of the coop and run (wood, HC cloth, shade cloth, and all the hardware) no joke.
I figured I could just use some plywood, paint it and hope it hold. As it stands it's not gonna see much wind rain with all the cover anyway.

Thanks for all the advice in the thread, I really appreciate it. I'll be posting more updates in this thread as the build progresses too

Are you able to get flex seal or something similar? You could put that on the roof

 

[charlie1051]

Hi, I live where it gets up to 115F so I understand. I built my run and coop at the same time, alternating back and forth as I went along. I did finish the run 1st though so the Girls roosted on some perches I built in the run until I finished the coop ( about a month).

My coop is also 8x6 and looks a lot like yours, I used tin for the roof. The Girls have tons of room in the coop (There's 15 ladies and 1 gentleman) but they only sleep in there and lay their eggs. I put in 3 roosting bars/perches but they all cram onto 1.

Building your run is going to be fast. I have chicken wire over my run but trumpet vines have completely grown over and covered it now and I also have mature trees that provide shade for most of the day. I forgot to mention that since I live in a hot area, I went heavy on the ventilation also. And it only gets down to about 34/35F at night in the winter.

I attached an older pic of our run and coop- it's kinda hard to make out the coop but you can see where I put extra ventilation at the top and gave the gang a picture window for even extra ventilation and so they can watch the almonds grow.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Melko]

Been a while!
Here's a quick update on the finished coop. I even added some features I didn't think of at first.

The roof is painted plywood that I covered with a weatherproof tarp, I'm hoping to salvage some sheet metal at some point but this'll probably hold for a while. It literally hasn't rained once since my last post.
Final measurements were 8x6' (48sqft) for the coop, and 176sqft in the run.

Since I'm using the coop as a brooder I added some extra layers of protection. HC mesh on both sides with a window that opens to the inside of the run, a little door (blocked off for now) to the right of the coop... I'll make a ramp with some wooden boards later.

I saw some street cat standing on top of the nest box eyeing up my chicks the other day so I doubled up the HC on the coop

Here are the ladies (or gentlemen) a few days ago, five 10 day old Brahmas.
I initially wanted Barred/Amrocks but the hatchery was out, plan on getting some next week maybe.
Temps ranged from 18-30C the past few days so I keep the heatlamp on all the time. They're usually most active in the mornings and afternoon, they seem to sit out the noon heat.

They're mixed chicks and I don't plan on keeping more than a few roosters so I'm buying a few more chicks in totals to account for males/fatalities... Any extras I'll pass onto a family member who runs a homestead.
I'll be keeping this post updated in case