How to go about building a chicken coop with only 3 walls instead of 4

[triplepurpose]

Wild chickens are also native to the tropics. Not to WA. Even wild chickens have no means of protecting themselves from temperate climate winter weather. Quail, turkeys, ducks or some other native birds might be a different story...

 

[DUCKOBSESSED]

Wild chickens are also native to the tropics. Not to WA. Even wild chickens have no means of protecting themselves from temperate climate winter weather. Quail, turkeys, ducks or some other native birds might be a different story...

But remember that most wild ducks migrate to warmer weather, and when they were domesticated they have had most of there natural instinct bread out.

 

[JackE]

You can have a coop with three walls in a cold climate. You just have to have the right coop design. See the pic below, that's a modern representative of a 100 year old Wood's coop design. The whole front wall is wide open, covered only with hardware cloth. We get winter temps down into the single digits, not including any windchill, and my birds don't have any problems at all.

 

[307151]

Do you mean live like wild chickens or free range. You can take care of them, let them have a warm safe coop and run, But let them have free roam of the property when you want. To live like wild chickens they would most likely be skittish and not lay eggs in the coop but were ever they please. Also they will be easy prey without a safe closed area at night.

Most of the time, it is an easter egg hunt.....

 

[307151]

You can have a coop with three walls in a cold climate. You just have to have the right coop design. See the pic below, that's a modern representative of a 100 year old Wood's coop design. The whole front wall is wide open, covered only with hardware cloth. We get winter temps down into the single digits, not including any windchill, and my birds don't have any problems at all.

I was thinking, what if I just get chain linked fence and cover 3 sides of it with tarp but leave it open in the summer?