Looking for experienced input on a cold-climate open-air coop

[cmom]

It does get dark earlier in the northern states. My opinion would be afternoon as it should be a bit warmer. They also need shade in the summer. I'm lucky that I'm in a climate that I don't have to deal with freezing. We have had some very cold temperatures in the past years where the auto waterers did freeze, but it is rare here in the south.

 

[Howard E]

If you could only get winter sun in the morning or evening, which would be better?

The one with the longest exposure on the best drained site and/or most protected from the cold prevailing winds.

 

[3riverschick]

Thank you all for chiming in. Lots of good info here to chew on. Here's a pic of the place the coop will be located. That 80 ft. pine came down on my last poultry yard. beleive it or not the tree actually mssed both coops by inches and just smashed the yard which youc an't see becuase its under the tree. It is gone now and we sold the coops t make room for the Woods coop. The remaining smashed run to which the right hand larger coop was attached will also be removed. The wire poultry yard that is not smashed is 36 ft. long and 4 ft. wide and will be able to divide into 4 of 8 ft. wide yards.

if you click on the pics you can see comments I put in the pics to try and explain everything.

 

[cmom]

Quote: A couple of coops we built last summer. We made them so we could move them around.

One of the open coops.



I covered the open side with tarps after an owl got in and killed several birds and a rare rain storm that made the feed all wet.



I moved the birds out after the owl attack and have since covered all of the pens with netting.

 

[centrarchid]

What the hay, you people have ground that is nearly flat. Not fair!

 

[3riverschick]

wow cmim,
you have such a huge production going on there. The most I will ever have is 2 med. Woods coops and the fenced run. Whew! Thanks so much for sharing your pics. Lots of good ideas here. The only varmint we ever had was a youth opossum. he ripped the chicken wire in one place and got in the coop but I had forted the birds up in the coop overnight. We trapped him and bid him goodbye. I think part of out lack of predators is the collie(s) which patrol the yard and pee on the perimeter lines.
Thanks again,
Karen

 

[cmom]

wow cmim,
you have such a huge production going on there. The most I will ever have is 2 med. Woods coops and the fenced run. Whew! Thanks so much for sharing your pics. Lots of good ideas here. The only varmint we ever had was a youth opossum. he ripped the chicken wire in one place and got in the coop but I had forted the birds up in the coop overnight. We trapped him and bid him goodbye. I think part of out lack of predators is the collie(s) which patrol the yard and pee on the perimeter lines.
Thanks again,
Karen

We have had a lot of predators over the years, coyotes, foxes, owls, hawks, coons, possums, skunks and even a bobcat. A friend of our used to go to a do-nut shop every morning and one morning there were some other fellows in there who live in our area that told him about someone who was catching skunks and releasing them down the road from us. For awhile we were plagued with skunks. One was after some young birds. The pop door on their coop somehow closed partially and the chicks couldn't get into the coop and a skunk was trying to dig under the gate. I went out and tried to scare it but it just turned towards me and stomped it feet like it was trying to intimidate me. I did eventually catch it and relocate it. In just over a week I caught 13 skunks. One trap had two in it. Another time I had a hawk come down and kill a bird not 10' away from me. The birds were free ranging. In years past I have lost birds to predators but not for a very long time. There are a lot of predators out there it's just that most hunt at night so you rarely see them unless you put up a game camera.

 

[cmom]

wow cmim,
you have such a huge production going on there. The most I will ever have is 2 med. Woods coops and the fenced run. Whew! Thanks so much for sharing your pics. Lots of good ideas here. The only varmint we ever had was a youth opossum. he ripped the chicken wire in one place and got in the coop but I had forted the birds up in the coop overnight. We trapped him and bid him goodbye. I think part of out lack of predators is the collie(s) which patrol the yard and pee on the perimeter lines.
Thanks again,
Karen

When we built our first coop it was going to be the one and only then we added a second coop and then over the years more and more. I started with my first flock nearly 50 years ago.

 

[akchickenman]

I have read through this, and it gives really good food for thought. I live in a very cold climate with average winter temps in the single digits (degrees F). In building my coop (under construction now) I was mostly concerned about finding a way to keep heat in while still avoiding insulating the coop. Reading through the post, I am seeing that keeping heat in is less important than letting moisture out. I think I will have to cut out a few more ventilation windows.

With that in mind, what is the general consensus on closing the coop door. Knowing that the open air design works down to very low and negative temperatures, is having a coop door even necessary? Obviously coop needs to be protected from predators, but for an enclosed coop/run design can I stop worrying about closing the pop door at night?

 

[cmom]

I have read through this, and it gives really good food for thought. I live in a very cold climate with average winter temps in the single digits (degrees F). In building my coop (under construction now) I was mostly concerned about finding a way to keep heat in while still avoiding insulating the coop. Reading through the post, I am seeing that keeping heat in is less important than letting moisture out. I think I will have to cut out a few more ventilation windows.

With that in mind, what is the general consensus on closing the coop door. Knowing that the open air design works down to very low and negative temperatures, is having a coop door even necessary? Obviously coop needs to be protected from predators, but for an enclosed coop/run design can I stop worrying about closing the pop door at night?

First I would like yo say

I would put a pop door in. As far as leaving it open, only if your coop and pen is predator proof. There are aerial predators (hawks and at night, owls), many predators hunt at night. I leave my pop doors open but my pens are covered and I have electric wire around the perimeter of my coops and pens. Here are some pictures and maybe they will help give you some ideas. Good luck and have fun...

I also have a video of an owl on a bird after it had killed it, so now all the pens are covered.