Pictures of open coops?

[SecretHavenFarm]

I live in Southern California. Our summers are pretty hot, and or winters are pretty mild. I have heard of a few people build open sided coops?

I was wondering if anyone had pictures of there open sided coops?

 

[elmo]

Yes, I have one, picture on my BYC page. I have very small bantams, though, and I was worried (probably needlessly) about them last winter, which was unusually cold and snowy, so I also built them a more conventional closed coop. Then I wasn't happy with it, either, and brought them into our attached garage on freezing nights.

An open sided coop works fine for standard birds in mild winters. You can put up tarps or panels to provide a wind break in the winter. It would probably work fine for bantams, too, except I'm such a nervous nellie about our girls.

I'm glad for the open sides of this coop right now. Boy, is it hot here! I've taken down all of the windbreak panels so my summer coop is no hotter than the ambient outdoor temp, which is still plenty hot. It's till over 90 degrees at 10 p.m. Whew.

 

[txliss]

I live in Fort Worth TX, so our winters are pretty mild, although we have the occassional ice/snow storm. Summers are ungodly long and hot, though, so Hubby made the coop with removable sliding doors. In winter, they are open just enough to let the birds in and out through a fabric curtain. In summer, I take the bigger door off completely and leave the little one on to hide the nest box. Makes for lots of good circulation (no smell), and easy cleaning, too! The roost is level with the top of the door frame, so the birdies still feel safe and snug with the door off.

 

[guncollector]

Quote:
Hi SHF, we're on the Peninsula up here in the SF/Bay Area and while not quite as warm as sunny So Cal, we're mild/temperate year around. So, here's our 6'x4' open-sided coop. We just finished it, and will probably build/install some windscreens before the rainier and cooler winter months.

 

[chics in the sun]

Here is mine. The roost is up in that top area, which does have a ramp to it that is not in the picture. If I did it over I would add a larger roof to keep the rain out better - I may still add one when I have more funds. It ain't pretty, but the chickens love it - make sure you keep the floor sandy/ dirty so they can stay cool by dust bathing.

 

[oldchickenlady]

Type 'permanent hoop coop' into the search box and it will pull up a really cool hoop coop with the materials list and everything, that someone (I JUST saw it and can't remember who did it) made. I looked at the pics and made one myself, not exactly like it, but similiar to keep my chickens in until I got a coop built. So mine is really a hoop run, not a coop. Although I covered it with a tarp and my chickens have used it every night for about 3 months now with no problems.

 

[stowellka]

what are you looking for? just a coop for night roosting/egg laying w/freeranging during the day or a coop run combo? i have a small coop/run that is a basic playhouse style,you could just leave out the wall inside the run .you still want a couple walls for windbreak

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Hi txliss. I live in Tucson, AZ and we get hotter than most places but have very mild winters (few freezes). So, we worry about heat, but not cold and I designed my coop to be as cool as possible.

Note that the top of the coop is made completely out of wire and air can flow from one end straight through the other. I used a layer of insulation between the wire and the roofing material and that also significantly reduces heat buildup. The chooks stay up in the top at night.

The run is also hoop topped, with grapevines planted inside.

I also put shadecloth on the exposed western side against the wire of the walls and a second layer of shadecloth suspended out over the first layer.

The grapevines provide great shade throughout the day and are getting longer by the day. I fully expect them to cover the coop within the month.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Quote:
WOW!! Talk about stealth!! My chickens keep eating everything I try to grow on the wire.

LOVE IT!!

 

[OregonChickenGal]

Nice looking coops everyone! Thanks for sharing.