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Glad to meet you, neighbor. I am a bit north of you, just south of Boston. Our weather blows storms East and West, so I tried to set my coop with major openings facing North & South. I would like to build a sort of sun porch for the chickens before cold weather that would face South to catch those scarce rays in winter.

If you have features on your land (fences, large hedges or bushes, buildings, hills and valleys) that can block winds and capture sun, you can take those into account, too.

I have to give credit to Bob at FluffyButt Acres for the tips about taking the major storm patterns into account. Then I had to look at the National Weather Service to see if my ideas about storm patterns were right (they were - it's hard to be confused when a storm is called a Nor'Easter).
 
NonnieNonna said:
Oh sorry! Best location on the property as well as direction of coop to protect from weather (summer sun and winter storms). The ideal spot for the proposed coop and run is in a 30’x30’ clearing surrounded by woods (mostly 100’ trees with some smaller trees, brush). The ideal spot puts the coop facing West. Will that be a problem with drafts from the chicken’s door in the winter? Also, the coop will be a 6x6 room within the 10x10 structure). Will 10-12 chickens be warm enough if their 6x6 area is closed off to the rest of the space except for one foot near the ceiling?
Click to expand...
I'd limit a coop that size to 9 birds and that's tight.
You don't want to think like a mammal when you design a coop.
You want to take into consideration the needs of a bird. They need protection from direct drafts on their bodies that are strong enough to open their feathers. A little draft coming in is no big deal. But they need copious amounts of ventilation to survive winter. You want to shoot for 1 sq ft of permanent ventilation per bird all year long.
You also want about 1' of linear roost space per bird to minimize the roost time rumble.
I would place the coop where it will have shade most of the day. Heat is more of an issue for birds than cold.
How large will your run be?
This is the design I use and it works well in our NY winters where we have gone as low as -23F. All the light coming in between the rafters is permanently open as are the gable openings and there is a ridge vent. All the openings are secured with 1/2" hardware cloth. The pop doors are open year round as they lead into a predator proof run with a solid roof that gets tarps put on it for winter wind protection.
Windows away from the roost area are left cracked open during the winter and all the windows are left wide open during warm/cool weather.
Ventilation.png
 
DobieLover said:
I'd limit a coop that size to 9 birds and that's tight.
You don't want to think like a mammal when you design a coop.
You want to take into consideration the needs of a bird. They need protection from direct drafts on their bodies that are strong enough to open their feathers. A little draft coming in is no big deal. But they need copious amounts of ventilation to survive winter. You want to shoot for 1 sq ft of permanent ventilation per bird all year long.
You also want about 1' of linear roost space per bird to minimize the roost time rumble.
I would place the coop where it will have shade most of the day. Heat is more of an issue for birds than cold.
How large will your run be?
This is the design I use and it works well in our NY winters where we have gone as low as -23F. All the light coming in between the rafters is permanently open as are the gable openings and there is a ridge vent. All the openings are secured with 1/2" hardware cloth. The pop doors are open year round as they lead into a predator proof run with a solid roof that gets tarps put on it for winter wind protection.
Windows away from the roost area are left cracked open during the winter and all the windows are left wide open during warm/cool weathe
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply and the picture! I plan on having all of the ridge vents open year round with 1/4” HWC, plus 4 windows open in nice weather with the ability to leave cracked open like yours 👍🏻 After reading your response and seeing your coop I think they will be fine as far as ventilation or drafts.

As far as space, I thought 3-4 sq ft per bird was the recommendation? And I was thinking 3 sq ft per bird would keep them warmer in the winter. They will have access to a predator proof 200 sq ft run all the time. Thoughts?
 
NonnieNonna said:
They will have access to a predator proof 200 sq ft run all the time. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
If the run is truly predator proof you can get away with a little less space as they will just go out to the run when they come off the roost.
Mine will hunker down in the coop on brutally cold days. Some will hang out up on the poop boards. I've kept as many as 28 birds in my 8x12 coop without too much squabbling (that works out to 3.55 sq ft). Three of them were bantams. Getting enough roost space in that area may be challenging. Going to 3 sq ft is super tight IMO.
 

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