Wichita Style Chicken Coop - In Progress Now! Design Ideas Welcome!

[Lazarus718]

Girls are officially in the coop now, got some tidying up to do but overall my chicken hotel is up and running! One of the things I still have left to do is to cut some ventilation holes at the eaves in the front and back of the hen house. My question for you all is should I worry about being able to cover these holes? I'm going to be using a 1-1 1/2 inch spade bit to make the holes but wasn't sure if I should try to fabricate a slider to close them off or not. Opinions? We're hitting the mid 40's now at night and my guess is we will be in for a colder winter than normal, so trying to be prepared.

 

[TROPIC HENS]

Wish I could help you with that one. It stays TOO hot around here year round. My problems are the opposite.

 

[TROPIC HENS]

Not sure what the designation on the siding is, I got it because I liked the look of it. I'm hoping the thing will be warm enough for them in the winter. I know people that keep theirs in things that have just been thrown together with scraps, so they should be alright. It should be completed by Sunday! Stay tuned!

I'm planning on using a similar style siding. Please post some pics of your finished coop. Would live to see the finished product. Hopefully I can get back to work on mine this Wednesday.

 

[Lazarus718]

I'm planning on using a similar style siding. Please post some pics of your finished coop. Would live to see the finished product. Hopefully I can get back to work on mine this Wednesday.

Here she is, not quite finished but enough to have the pullets in it now. Will probably get the last major bits knocked out this weekend.

 

[Lazarus718]

In case y'all haven't been to New Mexico before here's a pic of the kind of weather we deal with. That max & min at the bottom happened today in the coop and our animals have to be able to accommodate these kind of swings.

 

[Wissa38]

I would definitely put hardware cloth over the vent holes. You just never know. I have the same style coop and we have a mix of metal vents (about 2inches X 3 inches) and round holes that are about 2 inches in diameter. I covered the holes with hardware cloth just to be on the safe side. I'm in an urban area in Vermont, but I have neighbors who have had ferrets in the past and they've escaped and gotten into my yard. You just never know what's out there.

We build the same style coop and just expanded the house portion to about double the size. We live in Vermont and with the cold winters we found that the girls were spending more time in the house than we thought they would. So if you need to, it's an easy style to edit.

 

[Mahlzeit]

That's a really great looking coop. Love the colors you chose.

 

[TROPIC HENS]

Looks great! I like the two tone combo. What did you use for the roosts? How are the pullets liking it? If the weather allows, I'll be working on mine tomorrow. Feels like I'm taking baby steps on my build. Wish I had a whole weekend that I could dedicate to it.

 

[Lazarus718]

That's a really great looking coop. Love the colors you chose.

Thanks, wife picked the colors and I got the splinters =]

 

[Lazarus718]

Looks great! I like the two tone combo. What did you use for the roosts? How are the pullets liking it? If the weather allows, I'll be working on mine tomorrow. Feels like I'm taking baby steps on my build. Wish I had a whole weekend that I could dedicate to it.

I took a 2 inch wooden dowel and ripped it. Left me with a rounded 2 inch diameter and a flat side to mount it with so that it wouldn't rotate when the chickens got on it or split if I stuck a screw through it.