Open sided coop?

[1930Blue]

I've seen several vintage coop pictures where they're kinda open on the sides. How do those work? How do you stop critters from getting in? Which is the best direction to face it so they don't get wet/cold/snowed on? Seems like the side is just old feed bags.

I'm in OH so we have cold winters and hot summers. Here is a pic similar to what I'm looking at.

 

[JackE]

You have seen some pics of Open-Air coops. Some of those coop designs are 100yrs old. As far as how they work, they work quite well. Chickens require A LOT of fresh air/ventilation in a coop. Many problems came from people trying to keep their chickens "warm" in the winter. They shut down the ventilation, and the birds would get all kinds of respiratory problems, and even frostbite from raised humidity levels (Just from the chickens breathing) in the coop. So the coops were opened up to let the fresh air and better chicken health flow.
Many of the open-air coop designs were placed to face south/southeast. That would maximize sunlight into the coop. They would generally have one open wall. Down south they would be even more open. Some would use burlap, and others would have chickenwire or hardware cloth over the open wall. In a properly designed open-air coop, wind and snow will not blow in and through the coop. With one open wall, and the rest of the coop built tight, you get plenty of fresh air exchange, but the wind can't blow through, because there is no pathway for it, through the coop. Below is a pic of my Wood's open- air coop. That is one of those 100yr old designs. I built it almost 5yrs ago, and it has been a great coop for me. The other windows, plus the door, are opened up in the warmer months.

 

[1930Blue]

Thanks so much. Guess I'm worried about predators since the pic I posted didn't really show much protection (that I could see) from them. I also found this one on a blog from Missouri and wondered if it'd work well in OH. Seems very simple to build and I probably have most of the material on hand. I'm only looking to hold maybe six average sized girls and no roo.

 

[JackE]

Something like that could work, but in Ohio, for the winter, you may want to block off the top half of that open wall. You could do that with heavy plastic sheeting. Also, with an open-air coop for northern climes, you have to have depth from the open front. The coop in the pic you show, looks like it would be OK, except for the needed winter mod. Check out the link below. It's an old book about the coops, and has some good info in it.

http://archive.org/stream/openairpoultryho00wood#page/n0/mode/2up

 

[needlessjunk]

This is what mine will hopefully look like when I'm done. It will be facing east and I'm in central TX where it is hot and humid most of the year.

 

[1930Blue]

needlessjunk beautiful coop

JackE. beautiful book, thanks for the link. Also I tried DLM with my last coop and wasn't really that thrilled with it so I was thinking of doing a sand floor. Would you add anything else like pea gravel in order to help with additional drainage?

 

[CrazyChickGirl]

After some commenters urged me to do an open side while we were building our coop, we made modifications. I can say that so far we are so happy! We have a raised roof (about 2 inches) to allow moisture and heat to escape, vents, two opposing windows and a large screened door which makes it almost open sided. I'm a believer in lots of air. If we would have made a deeper, larger coop to start with we would have done complete open side.

 

[1930Blue]

CrazyChickGirl so glad to hear you're happy with yours. I'm looking at maybe getting a cheap canvas tarp for the winter to drape over part of it to keep drafts out. Something that is easy to zip tie on to it, but easily removed during the warmer months.

 

[JackE]

needlessjunk beautiful coop

JackE. beautiful book, thanks for the link. Also I tried DLM with my last coop and wasn't really that thrilled with it so I was thinking of doing a sand floor. Would you add anything else like pea gravel in order to help with additional drainage?

I would not mess with pea gravel inside the coop. C/C would get all down in it, and make for a stinky mess, I would think. And it would be difficult to properly clean. I go with pine shavings in my coop. I clean it all out twice a year. In between cleanings, I add more shavings as the old stuff breaks down. Sand is alright I guess. I do have some up by the open front. But, throughout the rest of the coop, I like shavings. It adds a bit more padding for the tubbs, when they hop/plummet down off the roosts.

 

[meralgia]

I've got a few of those roll-up window shades. I wonder if that might be a practical solution to smaller coops (like mine) when rain is forecast??