Suggestions for 100-200 bird coop

[Ted Brown]

FWIW

I built my 10' by 16' Woods using the techniques illustrated in Chapter III. I was motivated by easy access to local millars and therefore access to lumber of whatever dimensions I wanted; I chose rough cut 2" by 3" for framing, 1" by 6" for boards and 1/2" by 2" for battens. I live in Canada and have 5 month winters characterized by lots of snow. The build and structure is more than sufficient for this climate.

If I were to build again I would replicate the 10' by 16' dimensions and then add whatever number of "houses" needed to accommodate desired flock size in the side by side manner illustrated on page 92. Woods' build technique is more than sufficient for a single storey building, is more economical and easier to construct than modern stick framing methods. Using board and batten rather than 4' by 8' sheets renders the argument about materials use efficiency moot. BTW 10' lengths for all materials results in very little wasted cut offs.

Good luck.

 

[Ted Brown]

You might find the coop portions of this book interesting. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/poultry-for-the-farm-and-home.1443907/

The book referenced in @3KillerBs post above contains a section on selecting and culling hens in order to maximize egg production.

Well worth reading if one is hatching on an annual basis.

 

[Yallqueda]

The book referenced in @3KillerBs post above contains a section on selecting and culling hens in order to maximize egg production.

Well worth reading if one is hatching on an annual basis.

Thanks so much! That is EXACTLY the sort of thing I was looking for!
The odd measurements actually don’t bother me-we have a woodland mills wood mill to mill our own lumber (our homestead is a burr oak and black walnut Forrest for all intents and purposes) so we can make to suit our needs.

I do have 2 questions though;
1.) Wouldn’t an “always open” coop lead the birds to, well, die when it gets into the low teens and 20’s outside?

2.) why do the birds require a minimum of 4 sqft each when they’re only in it at night and to lay/brood? Our chickens are out every day at sunup and in at sundown, so they only use the coop to roost.
This excludes snow days of course but we have blessedly few of those, but we do have regular nighttime lows in the low teens during winter.

 

[Ted Brown]

1.) Wouldn’t an “always open” coop lead the birds to, well, die when it gets into the low teens and 20’s outside?

Short answer is no. We average - 15C with short periods in the low - 30Cs. As long as the birds are dry and sheltered from drafts they will happily carry on.

 

[saysfaa]

Question 1
I agree. Mine acted normally and had no frostbite or anything like that through many weeks of highs in the teens or lower.

Feathers are about the best effective insulation on the planet as long as they are dry and not blown flat. There are also some physiological differences in their fat and muscles that help them adapt to cold quite effectively - search for "brown fat" or "tan fat" and cold adaptation, and for "nonshivering thermogenises", if you are interested in such things.

Question 2
They don't. If they really never use it for more than roosting.

Knowing that, I still agree with giving that as a rule of thumb minimum because "life happens" aka murphy's law, aka even a little bit of margin makes molehills out of a lot of mountains.

Snowstorms that last unusually long

bird flu in the area (even if you would rather just risk it, parts of Europe require covered coops and runs - if it was tried here some flexibility to build something or schedule dispersal of the flock, or contest the requirement could be helpful

predator protect issues (fence breaks, or guard dog has a health issue, or a family of coyotes moves in close),

Emergencies affecting the people caring for the flock, or the people doing the harvesting...

Sudden expansion of your market, if you can respond quickly enough with a bigger flock

Other such things

And, it does make a difference whether it is for 2 hens or 100. With two in a tight space, they can't give each other space. With 100, any two that don't like each other can stay away from each other even if they can't get very far from every other bird.

 

[nuthatched]

Thanks so much! That is EXACTLY the sort of thing I was looking for!
The odd measurements actually don’t bother me-we have a woodland mills wood mill to mill our own lumber (our homestead is a burr oak and black walnut Forrest for all intents and purposes) so we can make to suit our needs.

I do have 2 questions though;
1.) Wouldn’t an “always open” coop lead the birds to, well, die when it gets into the low teens and 20’s outside?

2.) why do the birds require a minimum of 4 sqft each when they’re only in it at night and to lay/brood? Our chickens are out every day at sunup and in at sundown, so they only use the coop to roost.
This excludes snow days of course but we have blessedly few of those, but we do have regular nighttime lows in the low teens during winter.

1. Chickens (most breeds anyway) do great with cold climates, 20s, teens and below as long they can get out of the wind. They aren't going to die because it's cold. Whoever told you that was terribly misinformed.
2. If you're in it long term, which it appears you want to, you want birds to be healthy and happy, if there's less space, behavioral issues arise like aggression, egg eating, cannibalism, picking. It frequently doesn't matter how much space during the day if the coop itself is too small. Much less than 4sqft and you move from chicken farmer standards to egg farmer standards.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/over-sized-isnt-just-for-sweaters.77604/

 

[aart]

Wouldn’t an “always open” coop lead the birds to, well, die when it gets into the low teens and 20’s outside?

If the Woods coop is built to the size specifications, it keeps drafts away from the roost area but still provides lots of ventilation.
If you try to upsize it to fit your 100-200 birds, you will defeat designed function.

 

[Ted Brown]

If the Woods coop is built to the size specifications, it keeps drafts away from the roost area but still provides lots of ventilation.
If you try to upsize it to fit your 100-200 birds, you will defeat designed function.

I believe @aart is referring to an expansion of the width & length dimensions to accommodate 100-200 (or in fact any other larger flock sizes) birds. The Woods KD design suggests a maximum of 10' y 16' and references smaller sizes that adhere to the width/length ratio (~1.62 I believe).

However, Woods' book suggests building multiple separate coops side by side OR constructing a contiguous building that is essentially multiple 10' by 16' coops. This approach maintains the design function while allowing flock expansion to the sizes the OP wants. If I recall correctly there is reference to the contiguous approach scaling to accommodate 2000 birds; no detail is provided on interior layout or construction approach.

 

[Yallqueda]

Great info guys and gals, thanks very much!

 

[Percheron chick]

1. Heat kills more chickens than cold ever will. I had leghorns who survived down to -19 will no ill effect in an open coop.
2. 4 SQ ft is the backyard keeper recommended space. The number allows for bad weather, limited outdoor space, lack of or limited free ranging, limited mental stimulation and all the "what ifs" you will run into. Free range is great but what's your plan for persistent predators or avian flu when you have to lock them up for an extended period? Better to have too much room than not enough. Commercial "cage free" producers are only required to provide 1 SQ ft per hen so they can obviously survive on substantially less space but at what cost?