Roost & poop board design

[EasterEggDrew]

Got it. Will go at least 1.5" deep.

Raised pop door tonight. Kept 10" wide X 12" high, just shifted up by another 3". Now I have a 4.5" step to floor inside, which I imagine will be a very small step after loading coop with bedding.

Step outside will be almost 9". Need a ramp?

Also finished repai ting from nesting box relocation. Almost can't see the scars.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TerryH]

Looks great, Drew!! Nice work!

 

[EasterEggDrew]

Vent right over roost gave me pause and I realized your rafter configuration will not allow for eave venting.

Eve vent would be possible, but I've never seen a louver set small enough to suit this chicken house. I'd be looking for almost 1 sq ft per side.

The planned hole in roof is a triangle making up 1.7 sq ft, above the tape line from which my tape measure is measuring, in the photos I posted yesterday. The bottom of vent is 22" above roost. Too close? It does get cold here, below 0F at least a few evenings most winters.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[aart]

My open eaves are covered in nothing but 1/2" hardware cloth...where a soffit would normally go, check out My Coop page.
I do put a baffle over roost area in winter to deter wind and blowing snow, just a big pieces of cardboard on coop ceiling.

How will you create open eaves?

I would put that roof vent at other 'end' of coop(not that that's that far away-haha) rather than right over the roost.
Or go for eave and ridge vents and maybe a gable vent over people door.
Don't get too stuck on the square footage of venting...a coop that small you've got to watch for strong, feather ruffing drafts on roost area.
I don't have any specific advice on venting this coop, sorry, it's a toughy.

 

[EasterEggDrew]

I see ridge vent recommended all the time here, but it's not nearly enough to meet minimum recommendations. The article so often referenced puts venting requirement between 0.1 and 0.25 sq ft per sq ft floor space. Unfortunately, ridge vent will always have an equivalent around 0.1 sq ft per lineal foot, so it won't do the job unless your coop is only 1 foot wide!

In other words, I'd get leas than 0.3 sq ft out of a ridge vent, whereas my coop needs 1.6 to 4 sq ft, based on the article. That's a major miss, of 500% to 1300%, not just a small bending of the "rule".

Soffit vent would be done by putting a bevel on soffit facia trim, cutting back existing roof sheathing, and adding the planned 3/4" roof deck with overhang. Like ridge vent, it would give me about 0.3 sq ft, which isn't much. It would also be very close to chicken heads.

I love the idea of gable vents, but don't want to make my own louvers, and don't know where to buy such small gable louvers. Ideas?

My planned vent would be shielded by covered run roof, so it will be shielded from drafts on all sides, acting more like a cupola, than anything else.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[EasterEggDrew]

What do you think of using a melamine shelf, the sort sold by Lowes Depot for closets, as the poop board? I'm figuring some trim board around perimeter to make a lip to hold PDZ and/or sand, and the material is already water resistant.

Thanks!

 

[aart]

What do you think of using a melamine shelf, the sort sold by Lowes Depot for closets, as the poop board? I'm figuring some trim board around perimeter to make a lip to hold PDZ and/or sand, and the material is already water resistant.

Thanks!

I think that would work good, nice, hard, slick, usually pretty thick surface on top...
....tho it's usually particle board inside so beware it can be hard to sink a screw into and if it does get saturated with moisture can swell and deform.

 

[EasterEggDrew]

Yeah, that's why I'm not sure in it. I could do plywood with Formica, but don't know where to buy a sheet of laminate that small. I'll check Home Depot at lunch.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[EasterEggDrew]

Poop board installed. 13" from nest box floor to bottom of poop board. Still need to add lip, which will be PVC trim board.

You can see the cleats where roost bar will go above poop board, a 2x3 laid on flat.

 

[EasterEggDrew]

Btw, I am concerned that the roost bar is too close to poop board. I see many say 4" to 5", so I set top of roost bar at 4-1/2 inches above poop board, but it does look close.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk