Open Air Coop - Hot Dry Summers, Cool Wet Winters

Selections from Prince T Woods' book "Open Air Poultry Houses", pages 73-79.
https://archive.org/details/openairpoultryho00wood_0/page/78/mode/2up?view=theater

"WHEN KEEPING POULTRY in a warm climate it is only a short step from open-front housing to no house at all or to simply a roofed shelter. The open-front house will give excellent service where the summers are hot and the winters are cold or wherever the climatic conditions and variations are such that a house is needed. It has been successfully used in the far north and the far south, but for the south and for tropical or semi-tropical climates a simple roofed shelter or an entirely open cage roost, depending on the frequency of heavy rains, is the most satisfactory method of protecting roosting fowls.
...
Where rain storms are common and the rainfall heavy, some sort of roofed shelter should be provided. All that is necessary are roosts about 18 inches above the ground, enclosed in wire netting and a not too high roof to keep off the rain. See "Stoddard's Bower," Fig. 23.
H. H. Stoddard, of Riviera, Texas, has devised a cage roost that has proved most satisfactory poultry quarters in the warm dry Gulf coast section of Texas. These consist of cages, of one inch mesh poultry netting, containing roosts. These cages may be built any shape or dimensions desired or found most convenient. They should be made easily movable and with as little woodwork as possible.

The cage roost is designed to provide entirely open-air sleeping quarters, there is no roof, and at the same time to protect the fowls from coyotes, owls, and other night marauders.
Mr. Stoddard says that the heat of southwest Texas is steady and prolonged rather than excessively severe. He finds that cage roosts are particularly well suited to the climatic conditions. Long heavy rains are not common.
...
Where heavy rains occur frequently during the "wet season" I should prefer a roost that has a roof to afford some protection from the rain. It may not be absolutely necessary, but it is not contrary to nature. The fowls are confined in the cage roost and they cannot get out to seek shelter when heavy rains come. If they were free to do as they chose, they would in all probability seek a sheltered roost in a thick foliaged tree on the opproach of a heavy rain storm. Occasional heavy rains would do no harm but I should not want to expose my flocks to frequent successive heavy rain storms. It is possible to have too much of a good thing...."

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For northern California, I'd build a standard Woods' Coop or my Woods' inspired coop.

"...The open-front house will give excellent service where the summers are hot and the winters are cold or wherever the climatic conditions and variations are such that a house is needed. It has been successfully used in the far north and the far south,..."

With the monitor open and the side windows open, there is enough ventilation for quite far south. It isn't far from a three-sided box over the just the roosts. If you are still worried about enough air flow in the summer, you can put windows in the back section too.

The book doesn't say but I think the monitor makes a chimney effect that pulls more air through than a typical three sided box would. Ridge vents do that too; I don't think they had ridge vents back in the 1920s; at least not the easy-to-use kind we have available.

Edit to add: I know the monitor or half monitor works very well. It isn't the only thing that works with the concept.
 
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Note. He says chicken wire (hexagonal 1"). He didn't have to deal with much predator pressure. Half inch hardware cloth is a much better choice these days.

As for the overhang. I would do 2' if I did it again and didn't care how much it cost or what it looked like. Mine is not that wide because I let the builder use whole sheets of plywood for the roof. I do think the proportions of mine look better than 2' would; although mostly because so few sheds have any overhang. Buildings that have much overhang are usually much, much bigger. I'm happy with mine; it is either 1' or 9" -I'd have to go measure it or look it up in the build thread). A wider roof would protect more of the sides but cost a lot more; it isn't worth it; the sides are going to rot from the bottom anyway, when they eventually do rot. Rain doesn't get in. Hm, I only very rarely, if ever, get sideways rain in my location, though.
 
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For northern California, I'd build a standard Woods' Coop or my Woods' inspired coop.

"...The open-front house will give excellent service where the summers are hot and the winters are cold or wherever the climatic conditions and variations are such that a house is needed. It has been successfully used in the far north and the far south,..."

With the monitor open and the side windows open, there is enough ventilation for quite far south. It isn't far from a three-sided box over the just the roosts. If you are still worried about enough air flow in the summer, you can put windows in the back section too.

The book doesn't say but I think the monitor makes a chimney effect that pulls more air through than a typical three sided box would. Ridge vents do that too; I don't think they had ridge vents back in the 1920s; at least not the easy-to-use kind we have available.

Edit to add: I know the monitor or half monitor works very well. It isn't the only thing that works with the concept.

This echoes my thoughts exactly. I'm happy to put a thermometer in the roost area of my coop this summer to track temperatures, but your "chimney effect" is exactly correct. The roof above the roosting area is much steeper than the front area and the warm air can exit the monitor windows easily, bringing cooler air in thru the front and side windows.
 
Where heavy rains occur frequently during the "wet season" I should prefer a roost that has a roof to afford some protection from the rain.

I have seen photos of a "coop" in, I think, Louisiana which consisted of a pasture protected by electric netting and livestock guardian dogs, a set of nestboxes conveniently near the gate, and a roost covered by a slanted roost -- like a small picnic pavillion. -- with only one wall towards the winter winds.

This echoes my thoughts exactly. I'm happy to put a thermometer in the roost area of my coop this summer to track temperatures, but your "chimney effect" is exactly correct. The roof above the roosting area is much steeper than the front area and the warm air can exit the monitor windows easily, bringing cooler air in thru the front and side windows.

My coop works that way, though unlike a Woods Coop I have venting at the top of the roost area walls so that air can freely flow under roof at all times.
 
Selections from Prince T Woods' book "Open Air Poultry Houses", pages 73-79.
https://archive.org/details/openairpoultryho00wood_0/page/78/mode/2up?view=theater

"WHEN KEEPING POULTRY in a warm climate it is only a short step from open-front housing to no house at all or to simply a roofed shelter. The open-front house will give excellent service where the summers are hot and the winters are cold or wherever the climatic conditions and variations are such that a house is needed. It has been successfully used in the far north and the far south, but for the south and for tropical or semi-tropical climates a simple roofed shelter or an entirely open cage roost, depending on the frequency of heavy rains, is the most satisfactory method of protecting roosting fowls.
...
Where rain storms are common and the rainfall heavy, some sort of roofed shelter should be provided. All that is necessary are roosts about 18 inches above the ground, enclosed in wire netting and a not too high roof to keep off the rain. See "Stoddard's Bower," Fig. 23.
H. H. Stoddard, of Riviera, Texas, has devised a cage roost that has proved most satisfactory poultry quarters in the warm dry Gulf coast section of Texas. These consist of cages, of one inch mesh poultry netting, containing roosts. These cages may be built any shape or dimensions desired or found most convenient. They should be made easily movable and with as little woodwork as possible.

The cage roost is designed to provide entirely open-air sleeping quarters, there is no roof, and at the same time to protect the fowls from coyotes, owls, and other night marauders.
Mr. Stoddard says that the heat of southwest Texas is steady and prolonged rather than excessively severe. He finds that cage roosts are particularly well suited to the climatic conditions. Long heavy rains are not common.
...
Where heavy rains occur frequently during the "wet season" I should prefer a roost that has a roof to afford some protection from the rain. It may not be absolutely necessary, but it is not contrary to nature. The fowls are confined in the cage roost and they cannot get out to seek shelter when heavy rains come. If they were free to do as they chose, they would in all probability seek a sheltered roost in a thick foliaged tree on the opproach of a heavy rain storm. Occasional heavy rains would do no harm but I should not want to expose my flocks to frequent successive heavy rain storms. It is possible to have too much of a good thing...."

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Thank you so much for these excerpts! I'd been thinking I need to get a copy of his book and you've got me further convinced :).

It seems like anything from a Woods Coop to a roofed cage could conceivably work here so I'm thinking I'll do a trial and error method aimed at landing on the least enclosed space that is sufficiently protected for happy chickens. I can start with the roofed hardware cloth cage as originally planned but only cover the walls on the brooder end creating a three sided 8'x4' enclosure. Then wait to add any other wall sections until we see how the chickens do in different weather.

I'll try to remember to post here how it goes!
 
We have an open air coop/run combo. The hubby built it after looking at several different coops and sort of doing a custom variety. It’s perfect for our extremely hot summers and fall. I have bamboo shades that i roll down for wind/rain breaks. I also hang clear shower curtain liner (that is removable) to block the cold wind. Cold is relative here. Mid 20s to 30s.
As far as coyotes go, we have them but they don’t get into the yard (8 ft spiked fence). If they can get to the coop, it might startle the birds if it is mostly open air. -sounds like yours will be sturdy and predator proof. -not sure about how the presence would impact your flock, though.
I’m loving the bamboo shades idea too! We’re in Central Florida, so it’s nice to have a very open design for the hot & humid summers, so they can get as much airflow as possible, but to be able to roll those down for wind when it gets nippy in the winter (especially this winter) is really a neat idea!
Absolutely love your coop. Your husband did a fabulous job! 🙌🏻
 
I’m loving the bamboo shades idea too! We’re in Central Florida, so it’s nice to have a very open design for the hot & humid summers, so they can get as much airflow as possible, but to be able to roll those down for wind when it gets nippy in the winter (especially this winter) is really a neat idea!
Absolutely love your coop. Your husband did a fabulous job! 🙌🏻
Btw- found them on Amazon for less than $15 each, for a fairly large size. That’s amazing!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0BB96K8ZF/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_2?smid=A2AORB0VSJ6BI6&psc=1
 

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