Pitched Roof or Flat?

[not old at this]

Okay, we have most of our new coop designed, but can't decide if we need to put a pitched roof on it or just a flat one. We live in Southern Indiana and this will be our first winter with chickens. If we decide to put a flat roof on the coop, how much of a slope should we put on it so that the snow and rain will run off and make it come crashing down on our girls' heads? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated, because sometimes I don't think I know what I am doing.

 

[jetdog]

I would put a pretty good pitch on it, the snow load will get heavy, if you use metal roofing the snow will just slide off, I would also pitch it away from the chickens and any chicken door.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Minimum allowed on most houses is a 4-12 pitch, meaning it drops 4 inches for every 12 inches of horizontal run

A lot depends on the overall size of your "coop", since on here, that can mean anything from a 4 X 4 box up to a 12 X 20 two story building

If you get lots of snow, make it STEEP, with the slant away from the doors

 

[write2caroline]

If the snow sits on the roof it will be heavy and that can cause problems. I would put as big a pitch as I could. It will be good for ventilation too. We used to live in New York and the house we lived in had a I don't even know what to call it. The previous owners added a room and put in a flatter roof in the back upstairs of the Cape Cod house - Nothing but problems. It leaked and caused all kinds of damage. I see a lot of flat roofs here in Florida and we get some heavy rains. I have a flatter roof on the nest box and on one of the coops and same kind of problems - standing water and leaking,

Just my humble opinion!
Caroline

 

[not old at this]

Thank you guys so much for all of your help. This really helps a lot.