ventilation vs. drafts in East Bay Ca climate

[Caju]

Dear GSIM: Thanks for the thoughtful and thorough response. I'll tell you my reasons for the dimensions I'm building it and you tell me if they make sense.

The height from the ground is 3 feet so that I can clean out the the house easily without having to bend over, which is also why the depth is no more than 3 feet: this is a distance I can easily reach. Also, the space under it will be easier to rake out occasionally if it's not too short of a space. Why did you suggest making it only 2 feet under the house?

The height of the house being 3 feet is because there didn't seem to be any reason to make it higher. It also seemed easier to keep clean if I can reach the ceiling and all the corners. With about three feet of height, the roosts can be 18" off the floor and still easy to grab hens off their roosts if I need to. What was your reason in suggesting 5' for height of house?

The nests are built at the floor level by extending the floor beyond the fourth wall, which won't come down all the way, allowing for entrance into the nests.

I don't have the roof exactly figured out. I'm working with very little money, very few materials, limited tools, and no experience building anything besides basic bookshelves! Anyway, I know a shed roof will be much easier than a gabled roof. I was thinking of just having screening in the wedge-shaped sides above the walls and below the angled roof. These would be the west and eastern sides, which means the wind could really come through, but since it'd be up high, I think that'd be okay.

Btw, the predators I need to keep out are raccoons, possums, and skunks, probably rats too, but fortunately we don't have weasels in California!

Thanks for your advice and further thoughts,
Caju

 

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Czech this out...this is one of my projects under construction. The plan is to basically have a 10 or 12" tall band of hardware cloth around the perimeter of the coop, starting at about 10" above roost level. I need to do a little more framing, but you'll get the idea. I think the roosts are going to be either 18 or 20" up. Also, the floor is poultry netting and the coop is raised I think 20" off the ground.

In the lower left corner is the pop door. I'm not actually going to put a door there, but it would be easy enough to do. At the other end, is going to be a big door for people to reach into.

So far, I can still lift one end of it with one arm...but I still have more lumber to add and then siding. I'm trying to keep this thing manageable so it can reasonably be moved by two men and a small truck. It's 3' x 5 1/2' and it ought to accommodate 5-8 hens easily (assuming a proper run is built around it). More if I make external nest boxes, but I don't know if I want to hassle with that on this coop. It's just a prototype. I need to take some cost out by trying to stop overbuilding. It's a curse.

I was halted for a week because I was toiling with the idea of a...what do you call it...gabled? roof. The kind where the peak is in the middle. I went with this to save money on roofing material and also because I would suck at trying to build something that fancy. I've only used one single sheet of Ondura. Notice that the ribs are going kinda the wrong way for the rain to roll off, so I peaked it in the middle and it slopes down 3/8" to each side. The shed design works great for putting the coop up against the back/side of a building, which is why I don't have doors on the back side of this coop.

 

[Caju]

NVC: Thanks for posting those pics. That looks really nice! My only concern would be that it looks like your person-reach-in door is on the short side and it would be hard for a short person like me to reach all the way to the back of the house for cleaning. However, if the person door is on the long side, it would be easy since the building is fairly shallow.

I think that's how I want to do my roof, except with the corrugations running down, or else I'll just use something uncorrugated if I come across something that will be waterproof. I like the under-roof ventilation like that.

I hope you'll post pictures when it's finished.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Most building materials come in 8' or 4' lengths and widths. A lot of time you can make it just a bit bigger for very little if any extra cost, plus cut down on your cutting and fitting. Something to consider. Remember the difference in out to out dimensions when planning instead of always going centerline dimensions. I agree with your 3' dimension being easier to clean than a 4' depth.

One reason to make it a bit higher is that your roosts need to be the highest thing so they will roost on them. If you use the open vents at the top, which I think is a great idea, you can put the roosts below the openings so they are not in a draft when roosting. Adding a little height should not make it that much harder to clean since most of the mess is under the rosots, not over them, although if you get a roost mite infestation you need to treat the entire coop. I'd still go with a little more height, but there are always trade-offs. You could keep your roosts at 18", just give a little more room for the air to move over their heads.