Warm climate coop

[jubgulia]

Living in a Mediterranean climate (typical yearly high around 105°F and low around 40°F) with little rain, I am attempting to build a new coop that will minimize the effects of hot weather on our chickies. As I read so much right now about designing for freezing winters and frostbite prevention, it seems doing the opposite of a lot of what I'm reading makes the most sense for our location. So far, I'm thinking face north rather than south, a breeze will be nice but not a hot wind, and as open and shady as possible.

I live in the city and the backyard faces south, so we planted a bamboo hedge along the south wall several years ago to create some shade and privacy from the rear neighbor's yard. I started building by the bamboo with a nonfruiting pear tree east adjacent and carrotwood tree to the southwest. I stole the cinderblocks from my raised garden and bought some more for the base of the run which should then be deep litter friendly. 1/2" hardware cloth run walls are up with help from my lovely sister and I plan to steal the garden fence wire to top it. I was going to build the new coop using an old playset roof from my sister's house and parts from my kids' old beds, but I'm thinking of actually not putting walls on it after all and just leaving it completely open under the roosts. I painted the roof white and I'll move it to the southwest corner so it will cast more shade in the afternoons.

The nest boxes will be separate and will most likely be barrels. My husband works for a brewery and they bourbon barrel age a lot of their beers so I have access to spent barrels. Any reason why that would be a bad idea? I have 6 pullets, so 1 or 2 barrels should be plenty of nesting space, right?

How does all this sound? I'll update as I go.

 

[cavemanrich]

Looks very good. For hot weather you have to have open ventilation, unless you want cooked chickens. Are you going to connect the existing coop to your new setup??? You will need a place for your chickens to be out of rain (When it rains in California , "It Rains". Then it quits for years)
WISHING YOU BEST.....

 

[jubgulia]

I was not planning on connecting the old coop. The old coop was given to us after being passed through a couple of other owners. It's made of deteriorating OSB and I cut the windows in it to make it useable for the time being. I don't know how it was used for so long without the windows as it was just a hot box. I did make the attached temporary run out of playset pieces and was thinking of putting the window part on the side of the new coop, but I'm not sure it would be much different than just leaving the side wall under the roof open, if that makes sense. It would be 2 walls, a window side, open front, and a roof vs. 2 walls, open side, open front, and a roof.

 

[junebuggena]

How big is that run? Looks pretty small for 6. Where are you planning on putting the roosts? Ventilation is best when it's above roosting level. A three sided shelter would probably be best, with a decent overhang on the roof to help keep rain out of the roosting area.

 

[jubgulia]

Yes, the old run is too small since I had to throw it together to care for a friend's 3 chickens with little notice. It was big enough for our new chicks when they were little, but not now that they've grown and we wound up keeping 6, hence the new run. The new run is about 11'x8' inside the cinderblock wall. I was planning on putting the roosts up under the 5'x5' roof in the new run. The other side of the roof facing the bamboo has a gable vent.

 

[cavemanrich]

You can make a free standing roost and place under that roof. This way you are able to remove and replace when cleaning.

 

[jubgulia]

Got some barrels today! Boy are they big too at 3'x2' each. I was thinking of making some sort of rack to set them on sideways outside the run and making an entrance to the barrel ends through the wire from inside the run so they're not taking up any run space. Then, I'd cut an egg access hatch in the other end of each barrel. At 3' long though, I'm not sure I could reach all the way through. Is two of these beasts going to be overkill or just extra nice and roomy?

 

[cavemanrich]

I think one barrel cut in half would give you 1 1/2 feet in depth , which would make 2 nests and that would be good enough for size and quantity. Skip the outside door and just get the eggs from coop side. Fashion a board at bottom of cut barrel so you nesting bedding does not spill out.

 

[jubgulia]

Finished enough (doors, roosts, roof) for move in last night! Brought them in just before dusk so they could have a look before bed. Once I showed them the new roosts, they all tucked in for the night just fine. This morning they were up bright and early already going to town on the compost pile that I had moved under the roosts. I think they like it!

This is Quicksilver's new favorite spot:

Found a couple $1 wooden toys at the children's resale the other day to adapt for them as well!

 

[ChickNanny13]

Your enclosure is CUTE! Our climate is tropical (warm, wet & humid), I wanted something easy to clean & airy....This is what Hubby came up with - 8x12x7, wrapped in wire, shower curtains on rods (rain/wind), huge dog house for nest box & basically DLM/shavings on the ground ... Not so cute but functional & works well for us, 4 BOs