Open or Closed coop?

[AmyBella]

I was going to post this very question today!

My DH built a coop almost exactly like yours except that there is plywood with a pop-hole on the bottom half of the front with hardware cloth screen on the top half. Now that it is getting colder, I have been worried about the openness of the design but he insists that open coops are healthier for birds even in cold New England temperatures. He does not intend to use any heat this winter. (I will point out that we are new to chickens... all of our knowledge comes from reading rather than experience!)

Here is an article that I found advocating the open coop design... http://www.nortoncreekpress.com/fresh-air-poultry-houses2.html

I am interested if anyone out there has used an open coop through a cold, snowy winter.

 

[patandchickens]

Open coop "good" if nice and deep (e.g. 20' deep old-style commercial henhouse) so birds can stay away from weather when they choose.

Open coop "bad" if small/shallow enough that they cannot get real far from the open side.

(The above pertaining only to bad winter weather of course - in August, not a problem

)

For that size coop, I absolutely would suggest you do something to cover most or all of the open area. (Remembering there still has to be good ventilation open ~all the time, yes even in winter -- but it needs to be where wind won't blow directly in at the birds. This is a lot harder to arrange in small reach-in coops than in normal sized walk-in coops. You *can* winter birds in that sort of little coop if you *have* to, even in a reasonably serious winter area, and probably have them make it through ok -- but if you can arrange better accommodations, both yo and the chickens will have a far easier time of it.

Pat