Seeking design advice

[Leigti]

It doesn't get extremely cold here in Northern California (perhaps dipping into the 20's a few nights during winter, but we get some pretty decent winds and sometimes sideways rain. Would the Woods design still work in those conditions?

The basic words coupe design would work in basically any conditions. But you have to build it specifically for your area and which way is the winds come from. As long as the chickens can stay out of the wind and stay dry they will be fine in your weather year-round.

 

[Farmgirl1878]

Even if you fully enclose the coop, you can have windows on each side so you can catch the breezes. I have five windows in my coop and it’s works out well. Even on rainy days (or weeks as has lately been the case here in not-so sunny Southern Ohio), I can have some of the windows fully open.

 

[stavo]

Just wanted to give an update.

I decided to follow the advice here and convert my existing run to a coop where the expanded flock can now sleep, then add a new covered run (primarily for the rainy season) and an uncovered fenced-in side yard. So far it's working great. I added roosts in the coop so there should be adequate space now for all 17. They do squabble at bedtime for the highest roosts but all eventually settle in. One note: I still need to enclose the sides for colder weather. I think I'm going to use removable panels, as the summers here are consistently 90+.

Also, we have not yet had predator issues, but there are always hawks in the sky. Right now, the side yard has two trees with dense foliage providing shelter from above. However, one of the trees is deciduous, so we'll have to reassess in the fall.

Anyhow, the whole setup is now around 50 feet long. I'll add pictures, one of each section and a pano of the whole thing. Thanks again to those who suggested this option.

 

[Alaskan]

Looks great.

 

[aart]

Took me a while looking at the first pics and these new ones to see that you extended the run by a great deal....and will add panels for winter.
So the birds all roost in the 'run' now...and just lay in the enclosed coop?

 

[stavo]

Took me a while looking at the first pics and these new ones to see that you extended the run by a great deal....and will add panels for winter.
So the birds all roost in the 'run' now...and just lay in the enclosed coop?

Yes, they roost in the original 8x12 run plus the enclosed coop, which also has their nesting boxes. By the middle of autumn I will add panels to three sides to give them better shelter from the cold. Then, there's a new run that's 12x14, and the fenced area is about 16x20. Plenty of room now.

 

[aart]

By the middle of autumn I will add panels to three sides to give them better shelter from the cold.

How cold, and snowy, does it get where you are?

 

[stavo]

How cold, and snowy, does it get where you are?

Not too bad. Winter lows are mostly in the 30's, occasionally in the 20's. And perhaps a dusting or two of snow per winter.