open air coop finalizing design pros and cons

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: I'd think HURRICANES would be one

 

[revmichael]

Hurricanes are a concern for even a traditional coop, being an open coop doesn't mean its not a sturdy structure, wild birds hunker down and make it through the storms, the chickens will too

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: Being open lets the wind and water inside though.
I like to be able to close things up in a storm

 

[seminolewind]

In a hurricane, my chickens will be in the garage, or shed.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I prefer a hurricane proof coop myself

 

[Arielle]

May I suggest using a tried and true open air coop design?? The basic design is dependent on a long coop with a wide open facing east/south.

I am trying to build an open air ccop now. Based on the woods design. Here is the book online and well wor th the read. What I noticed is that the earlier design are at the beginning of the book and later better designs are at the end, with the last chapters showing several other open air design coops.

My impression so far is that the open windows are very large and set about 12 inches above the floor. with the lower 12 inches boarded over. ( THe 12 inches might actually be more, I"m estimating based on the picutres as I can't find a measurement yet.)

http://archive.org/stream/openairpoultryho00wood#page/n7/mode/2up

THe design of an open air is far different from the drafting ventilation used to pull air along the rafters and out a ridge vent. We have been discussing it on another thread. THe rafter ventilation is actually eliminated and the ventialtion is provided thru the open front and out the windows high up in the monitor.

I have found ventilation in theory is great-- in actual use it may not behave as expected. In our house, we like to leave a window cracked, even in the winter and the house fan does the rest.

IMO the air in a coop needs to be exchanged often for the health of the birds.

( My 2 cents after a couple years of chickens and coops)

 

[kuntrygirl]

May I suggest using a tried and true open air coop design??  The basic design is dependent on a long coop  with a wide open facing east/south. 

I am trying to build an open air ccop now. Based on the woods design.  Here is the book online and well wor th the read. What I noticed is that the earlier design are at the beginning of the book and later better designs are at the end, with the last chapters showing several other open air design coops. 

My impression so far is that the open windows are very large and set about 12 inches above the floor. with the lower 12 inches boarded over. ( THe 12 inches might actually be more, I"m estimating based on the picutres as I can't find a measurement yet.) 

http://archive.org/stream/openairpoultryho00wood#page/n7/mode/2up

THe design of an open air is far different from the drafting ventilation used to pull air along the rafters and out a ridge vent. We have been discussing it on another thread. THe rafter ventilation is actually eliminated and the ventialtion is provided thru the open front and out the windows high up in the monitor. 

I have found ventilation in theory is great-- in actual use it may not behave as expected. In our house, we like to leave a window cracked, even in the winter and the house fan does the rest.

IMO the air in a coop needs to be exchanged often for the health of the birds. 

( My 2 cents after a couple years of chickens and coops) 

I found out about that book after I had my open air coops built years ago. Very good information.

 

[pipemum]

I built my coop based on the designs of The Garden Coop. The coop part of the plan has 3 exterior walls, and one wall within the run. I live in a hot climate, and made the coop wall inside the run removable. Open air in the summer, closed for the winter. We don't have hurricanes, but we do have monsoons, and the coop stayed nice and dry in every storm.

For 12 chickens, you'd need to make the coop and run larger, but the plans are easily adaptable. I reversed the roof (we need shade here, not sun like the plan originators in Portland) and added an L-shaped 3x4' extension with a garden box on top.

 

[write2caroline]

I would build part of it with a door that can be opened and closed. I grew up in South San Jose (off Snell Road and Santa Teresa Blvd) and I had friends living in Los Gatos (Loma Prieta Rd) and there were a lot of opossums and raccoons on my street and hers.

They can be in an enclosed run but an enclosed run might not stop a raccoon or a opossum from killing the chickens. You would be surprised to know how many wild things live in suburban neighborhoods. Check out some of the plans that have an enclosed coop connecting to an enclosed run. If you are going to build it, you might as well consider safety too. There are some great plans available on mulitiple sites www.mypetchicken.com look at the Bella plan for instance. There are a ton of them for all kinds of price ranges.

Sounds like a cool idea to build for your grandkids! I was part of 4-H club in San Jose (mission 4H club) I think they are still around. Lots of folks had chickens in the burbs! It was a great experience!

Caroline