First - I want to say that is one of the nicest looking coops! I really like the "look" of it!! What is over the top of it? Looks like a deck?
Our house is built on a 25 degree slope....that's the bridge to our front door so you don't have to go down a bunch of outside steps to get to it.
I would DEFINITELY try that with your coop. A couple questions and notes..
-Inside top - is there open ventilation overhead? (I know you mentioned the vent at the gable end..but I was looking up into the peak where the hardware cloth wire is.)
I put a vent in each end, above the girls head when on roost.
If you look at the inside picture, notice the new plywood on the ceiling? That's because the kennel had 2 inch gaps where the roof met the walls so I put plywood along there so the air would, if it blew hard enough, come in over their heads while on the roost. I don't know if there is any air movement there because the plywood is 2 feet wide. I suppose a strong wind would force air up there.
-Where is the door that you enter? Is that it to the left of the fresh eggs window?
Actually, all those windows are in an opening door. Since I can't get in there, I made the whole thing open up to clean. But the "Fresh Egg" door is the one we open a lot, to get eggs, feed etc.
In the book, some of the original fresh air designs have a roof sloping down from front to back so that the back of the coop was shorter than the front. Kind of like sawing a house in half - at the peak, and having the roof slope down from the front to back (On the 6x10 woods model it is 4ft 7in tall at the back of the house and 6 ft. tall at the front peak.) The slope is all part of the design and ventilation style. BUT NOT ALL OF THEM. The "Tolman House" is a case in point in which the front is situated like yours is with a regular roof. And there are other models that don't have the slope like that either.
Now a good part of the book is showing some pretty large houses. But there is a section on "Small Flock" houses (they call backyard "back lot") that shows various small houses and a woods style that is 6ft w x 10 ft deep. They range all the way down to some very small houses in various styles. For some of the particular floor plans they are definitely best and tested at the dimensions given, but there a lot of variations on the smaller houses all the way down to very small broody houses.
So...I'd sure try it with what you have there. Everything is aligned right (even though it isn't the Woods style) (as opposed to my hen house that is totally unsuited in almost every way imaginable.)
You can test it out and see how it's working and let us know. I'd be very interested to see how it works out. I like the clear vinyl to keep the light coming in and to maybe act as passive solar too. You can go in there yourself and see what the air flow is like once you get everything covered up...check and see if it feels like a wind blowing back there in the roost area or if it feels relatively protected. It sure wouldn't hurt to try it out and if it doesn't work well all you've lost is a little time in strategically closing the sides and vent while leaving the fresh eggs window open.
How would I test it out? If my chickens don't freeze to death then it works?
Yes, the clear vinyl is awesome. Stumbled across it at a hardware store. Really thick and almost as clear as glass. Never seen anything like it!
JackE (the guy whose house is pictured in the post by AFL) has a thread on byc about his Woods style and built it using the plans in this book. He's very versed on that particular style. He may also have some good input on the other styles as well but not sure as I know he particularly studied the Woods style and built it specifically.
I hope they just got lost. There are no holes in the fences so it wasn't the bears or a dog, no feathers and the rest are acting pretty normal. That brings me down to 4 Amerecauna hens. Bah!
