P.T. Woods 10x16 Colony House....????

[JeffKlapper]

Hello Ed,
I built the hen house on an old flatbed trailer frame which elevates it and allows me to move it around a bit. The birds go outside in a tractor to pasture.

I used 3/4" PT plywood for the floor and covered it with linoleum to keep them off the PT wood, and deep litter as well. There are just two windows about 30" square which hinge at the top. The front is 1/2 wire, always open, and 1/2 siding at the bottom to keep it drier inside.

I did not get involved in the complexity of building monitor windows. It's a peak roof with a standard house-style ridge vent.

Hope this explains it-
Jeff

 

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
Thanks for the description of your coop, ddawn. Interesting use of the area above your walls.

I'm glad you mentioned the issue of rain blowing in...that has been bugging the stew out of me. I'm thinking of extending the roof on out a bit but the problem with the monitor type house is that the roof is sloping downward and the more you extend it the lower the roof edge will get to the ground. I guess I could build the extension as more of a "flat" roof...I've got some old tin and if it leaked it'd be ok as it'd be outside of the coop but it would hopefully keep the rain from blowing in.

Definitely gotta keep it cool down here!!!
Ed

 

[JeffKlapper]

Ed and ddawn (in the much deeper south - I'm in what's called southern MD)

I was given some very heavy oiled canvas and have used it as a curtain to hang from the eaves
when really heavy driving rain was on the way to avoid the wet litter that would otherwise result.
I just snap it up, only takes a minute...

P. T. Woods was not using litter the way we are and adjustments are necessary.

Jeff

 

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
Howdy Jeff. When you mentioned keeping it oriented at right angles to the bad weather I kinda figured you must have had a portable coop. Sounds like a nice setup! I'm still undecided on orientation on my fixed position house....somewhere between south and east.

I'm still pondering the monitor roof, too...I really like the added light but the simplicity of a shed roof has it's appeal, too! Being down here in the south I'm thinking the deepness of the 10x16 building will probably be good enough for the cold weather along with vents along the top of the walls for ventilation. Extra windows in the sides will help during the summer.

Maybe I can finally decide on a plan this weekend and hopefully at least drive some stakes and get more than ideas going.

Ed

 

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
Hmmm, good thoughts.

There are lots of poultry farms around here...broiler houses, layer houses, breeder houses.... My cousin has 5 broiler houses and they have curtains down the sides of them to go up and down as weather dictates. Of course his (and most of the other folk's) chicken houses are much higher tech than they used to be...running giant evaporative coolers, alarm systems, generators, etc., etc.,.

Whereas for years the commercial houses around here have been "open air" type houses with movable curtains they are now evolving back to "closed houses" where the walls are solid. It seems like the industry is going "full circle" in terms of housing.

I really haven't thought about the fact that Woods didn't use the DLM. That does leave room for thought and explains the concern about the litter getting rained on. I'm planning on a concrete pad and might consider extending the front out a bit....could put a retaining board back under the roof to hold the litter back and simply have a concrete patio for the chickens...would have to be smooth with some sand and a little litter on it. The patio could get wet but would drain off while hopefully the litter further into the house would stay dry.

The curtain method that you mentioned sounds good but I can guarantee you I'd be at work everytime a storm blew up.

Thanks for pointing out Woods wasn't using deep litter.

Ed

 

[JeffKlapper]

Re: driving stakes in the ground

Yep, take the first step and see what evolves.
I sketched a plan on paper and started building.
There were quite a few "hmmm, what do I do now" moments.

In fact, I have a few cosmetic as well as functional details to complete,
although the hens have been living there for awhile.

Dr Woods has it right, I think. I know someone with a tight hen house who was so worried about her birds when the temp
here was in the single digits that she put an electric heater in place. That month her electric bill was over $700.
Fresh air rules!

Jeff

 

[JeffKlapper]

The extended concrete pad sounds like a really good solution.
Interesting comment about the full circle thinking of larger scale operations.
High tech and open front don't sound like they belong in the same sentence...

 

[Intheswamp]

<chuckle> Yelp, gotta get started somewhere. I guess the stakes are a good spot to start at.<grin> Your comment about "what do I do now" reminds me of the other night when I was at LOWE'S. I finally sat down on a pallet in the middle of the lumber department and just stared at the 2x6's and 2x4's for a while...I think the department manager thought I was a terrorist or either homeless.

The ideas that Woods had/has seem sound. Humidity seems to be the biggest foe to keeping chickens. As he stated...they grew wild in the jungles/woods to begin with!

The only thing with the concrete extension is that from what I understand it has to be very smooth to keep the chickens from contracting bumblefoot. I'll think on this a little more.

Well, the commercial "open air" houses down here actually would have the sides open....300' long houses with the sides open and mammoth evaporative coolers in one end. It gets too hot they let the curtains down and crank up the coolers! Wintertime is right opposite....crank up the big propane heaters....$1000's per month on propane gas.

$700 for an electric heater bill when the chickens would have rather her open a door and a window.

I think I would've had to have had a big BBQ Chicken Plate sale for the church.

Ed