We're building our first coop! Yay! It's built out of an old privacy fence, so the construction techniques are a bit unorthadox, but it's coming together nicely. Here is where we're at right now, obviously we need to trim the window and hang the door. We also need to put in another window (both windows are double-paned) and I'm not sure where to put it. Here's the layout: Here's the front as is: We have venting along the rafters. There will be a small, covered, predator proof run off to the right side of the building, and they will be able to free-range during the day in the 1/4 acre fenced yard. I'm looking at keeping 5-8 chickens, and starting with five adult hens, which I pick up Sunday! Possible locations of the other window are A and B on the layout. The left side of the building butts up against a privacy fence, so I'd rather have the view out the back or the right side. Initially I thought I'd put the other window, which is pretty big, about 30x40", across the back behind the roost, so they could look out the window, but now I'm considering insulating the back half of the coop and making a false ceiling back there for warmth. Probably nest boxes will be under the roost, but I'm not sure yet. I'm still not completely convinced I even need to insulate at all, though. I'm getting cold-hardy breeds, and it seems like there are people in my climate whose birds do just fine in uninsulated coops. I'm driving myself a bit crazy about it. There are also a zillion wild turkeys around here, and they seem to survive the winter. I just don't know. Any thoughts?
The one mistake I made in building our coop was I put the main doors facing south and the window facing north If I'd reversed it, a south facing window would let in natural light and heat from the sun in the winter...didn't occur to me back in may so if you can, face your window to the south
I would go with side A especially if it were facing south but either way you could open it for ventilation without the birds being in a draft.
Well, side B (the back) faces south-west, so I think I'm going to go with that for winter heat gain. I may bubble wrap it up if it gets too frigid here, but at least in the summer they'll have a nice view. There is also someone giving away a bunch of sheet styrofoam and bubble wrap on freecycle right now, so I think I'll go ahead and insulate. Won't hurt, and will make me feel a bit better. Thanks for the input!
Face the window south and another across from it. That way you get the light you need in the winter and can open the windows in the summer for a breeze (be sure to cover them with welded wire to keep out predators). My egg production dropped a bit when it started getting cooler and the days shorter. A couple of the girls also went through a partial molt, and I was getting about 4 eggs a day from 10 hens. Now the partial molting has stopped and my egg production is back up. Of the 9 hens we have (lost my fav to a mysterious death), yesterday I got 8 eggs. Normally I get 6 to 7 a day. This is my first time with hens, first coop etc so I can't say production is any better than with any other coop I've ever had, but something is going right and I believe it's the lighting. Congrats on getting your ladies soon. I hope you enjoy them.
Your "FIRST" coop is turning out great. I can't wait to see what your second coop looks like....and third...fourth......
