If you could build your ultimate coop, what what would you build?

[saysfaa]

If I could build my ultimate coop, I would build what I have, with better quality in some areas. It would be nice to have boards without the huge knots, and a little more bracing - or maybe just a little more attention to a leveling as it was built. Maybe a little taller opening at the eaves; it would be much easier to paint the underside of the roof overhang if I could fit my hand through between the top of the wall and the underside of the roof.

If I had a bigger lot, I would build a bigger version of what I have. Or if I could have it much bigger, I would want a Woods' coop so the half monitor roof would let sunlight into the side away from the open side.

My favorite features:

• the storage area because it makes a two-door entry, I never have to worry about a chicken escaping as I enter even when they are used to coming through that door to go outside.
• The open side, open windows, open eaves, ridge vent.
• The wide eaves - even wider would be better but these are wide enough to keep the weather off well enough.

This what I think after having it for two years.

 

[saysfaa]

....
We live in New Jersey US (to insulate or not)...

I'm a zone or two or three colder than you and have had great success with no insulation but lots of ventilation.

 

[Ted Brown]

...

If I had a bigger lot, I would build a bigger version of what I have. Or if I could have it much bigger, I would want a Woods' coop so the half monitor roof would let sunlight into the side away from the open side.
...

I second the choice of a Woods style coop.

Not insulated, no heat, elevated, 10' by 16', attached covered run 12' by 15' plus the area under the elevated coop, drop boards under the roosts cleaned frequently, chick integration area under drop boards for 2-3 months per year, deep litter in run, deep bedding in coop.

 

[Sueby]

I would for sure build a Woods coop. & a big one, lol.

 

[Ted Brown]

I would for sure build a Woods coop. & a big one, lol.

The Woods style coop can be sized to suit one needs.

My impression is the most common size mentioned on BYC is the 8' by 12' with the 10' by 16' next.

The footprint can be expanded by replicating side by side. A 20' by 20' will house 100 chickens.

 

[Folly's place]

My dream coop would be a Woods coop too.
Here we have a modified shed/ run combination on a concrete foundation, with good roof overhangs. It's fine, and insulating the roof helps with summer heat.
Mary

 

[TropicalBabies]

I looked up the woods coop and ran across these. Figured since we were now all dreaming of coops, I'd share, because it is fun ♡ and awesome..

Lots to love about these set ups- photos wise.

 

[Pipica]

Seams to me that woods coop is preferred choice to majority of people, I was wondering why exactly? Please elaborate.
The barn windows are facing west the future coop(red cube) will face south and the whole grass area will be fenced off.

 

[Ted Brown]

@Pipica Not certain it is the preferred choice to majority but it is a proven design very well suited to colder climates, not so much for hot locations.

A Woods is one of several designs that are referred to as "fresh air" coops. In its original early 1900s build format it was intended to be an inexpensive approach that proved to be a very healthy environment. @jthornton has kindly provided a copy of the original 2nd edition book by Prince Woods Modern Fresh Air Poultry House by Prince T Woods. The principles behind the design are well explained.

I am in a colder climate than the OP, my 4th winter just past. Nothing but positive experiences,

 

[saysfaa]

Seams to me that woods coop is preferred choice to majority of people, I was wondering why exactly? Please elaborate.
...

It is extensively tested and proven to work well.
The book was written about a century ago, so it is a little hard to read.
Prince T Woods wrote it. He edited a popular poultry magazine, among other things, so had the advantage of the experiences of many people rather than with his own flock.

There are also MANY people who have built this kind recently. I don't know of any who have built one and not liked it (and I've looked for such reports for about ten years now).

Excerpts from the book
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924003138272&view=1up&seq=12

"...Not the least among the benefits of open-air housing of poultry is that the operator does not need to worry about ventilation, opening and shutting slides, shutters, curtains, windows, and doors almost continuously, in an effort to make adjustments to suit weather conditions.

There is less dampness in the open-front house, the air is dryer and there is greater opportunity for dust to escape.

Fowls enjoy better health, are far more comfortable, are less affected by weather changes. The egg yield is generally better and more uniform. Better health and lessening liability to disease result in better fertility and better hatches of strong chicks.
...
The hen carries a much higher normal temperature than human beings and breathes much more rapidly. She requires for her well-being an abundance of oxygen in fresh air. She needs fresh air at night even more than by day. The open-front house supplies this need safely and conveniently.
...
Fowls have no sweat glands so that very little moisture is evaporated from the external surface of the body. Very little heat is lost thru the skin because of the efficient insulation afforded by the feathers. Also the body is unusually well protected from cold and weather. The kidneys excrete only a very small quantity of water. Nearly all the moisture with escapes from the fowl’s body is passed off thru the respiratory apparatus.

…They live fast, have a very active respiratory apparatus, breath rapidly, require much oxygen for the blood to maintain the normal high temperature, and exhale large quantities of carbonic acid and moisture.

…

Damp, stale air, lacking in oxygen and carrying an excessive amount of carbonic acid, is a common starting point of poultry diseases in closed houses.

The open-front fresh- air building is a practically dry house as it permits free escape of excess moisture, unless roof boards are too close to roosts…The open-front house gives a full and abundant supply of fresh air, with its contained oxygen, all the time....

"
[Extracts from a lecture given to a poultry association} by Joseph Tolman, successful [poultry proprietor], “the first eight years of my work in the poultry business were with the closed type of house, and I met with very poor results…I am convinced that most of the trouble was due to closed-housing my breeding stock.

My first open-front or fresh-air houses were used during that severe cold winter of 1904 and 1905, and remarkably good results were obtained…During the spring of 1903, Dr. Prince T. Woods, the well known writer and authority on poultry diseases, visited a number of poultry plants in our section of the country, where at the time very unsatisfactory results were being obtained. Post-mortem examinations made on a great many birds of various ages led him to believe that an abundance of fresh air in the poultry houses was practically all that was needed to check the disease and put the stock in better condition. Acting on his advice, I took the windows out of my poultry houses at once and kept them out… seeing a marked change in the health and vigor of my birds, and knowing of the remarkable results being obtained in many sections of the country…I felt I needed to keep the windows wide open all winter… I did not have a single bird catch cold or experience any other setback..”

[Tolman’s fresh-air houses] …are always dry… The air is alive and fresh, not dead and foul.."

There are similar quotes from other people, including people from university research stations, poultry associations, large commercial flocks, well-known (at the time) fanciers with flocks for shows. They talk of large flocks and small flocks.