Woods Colony House - Portable

[Howard E]

The degree of complication depends on how you go about building the thing.

I used 8' sheets of plywood across the 8' side (roof area under the monitor section is something like 8' x 10'), so to allow for for the side siding and trim, had to deduct 3 inches overall.......so my width is really not 8 feet, but is 7' 9" to the outside of the framing.

If you stuck with 8' plywood decking and wanted more side overhangs, house would have to be narrowed by width of combined overhangs. So when I weighed the + and - of the situation, I chose to not include overhangs.

So if you did want to have side overhangs, easiest way would be to switch back to the traditional deck boards vs. plywood. In my build, I did not use plywood over the front scratch shed........so that part doesn't matter.....might actually be easier if you used 3' wide pole barn skylight material.

In my mind, using opaque skylight over the scratch shed is a huge plus to brighten things up in there in winter. Biggest concern I had was if a coon could climb up there and rip it off. To date, none have......and I'm living in trash panda central.

 

[aart]

So if you did want to have side overhangs, easiest way would be to switch back to the traditional deck boards vs. plywood.

Or you could just cut some plywood to fit the extensions.

 

[Howard E]

That would work too!

 

[aart]

That would work too!

Sometimes one can get a bit too focused on material optimization and miss the bigger picture.

 

[brendave]

I built a 6x10 and added 6" overhangs to route water away from the foundation ad sides. I didn't want to make them too big because I was unsure if they would change the air flow. They work great.

 

[aart]

I didn't want to make them too big because I was unsure if they would change the air flow.

Nah.... the airflow is all about the openings and inner building proportions.

 

[Mossy Dell]

Greg:

If you scroll up to post #23 in this thread, you will see my water bucket. Includes both small cup waterer and 1 horizontal nipple. Water bucket includes a bird bath heater that keeps all water in the bucket from freezing, and has down to temps of -10F. The cup will freeze up at around +20F to +25F, but the nipple never stops working.

Birds prefer the cup about 10:1, but will use the nipple if that is what they have.

Howard, if you are still around! First, LOVE your Woods. Great, great job. Second, could you explain more about the components of your freeze-resistant waterer? I have been trying to figure out how I can use multiple waterers on those heat pans for a row of breeding pens. Had not thought of a bird bath heater! Maybe it works better than those pans?

 

[Mossy Dell]

I would not go 12' x 16'. Better to go the other way and adopt Jack E's 8' x 16' house (2 x the width). Will function that way better than wider. Or see if half sheet drops can be used on either front or back on the 10' x 16'? You may find you have less waste than you think.

Or consider other options, like metal siding over insulation, etc. I used T1-11, but not sure I would again. In general, T1-11 available today is low quality. Lots of voids, etc.

Howard, I don't see how going wider alters the rule at all—it depends on how you apportion the house's depth. That's the same issue whether the house is wider or narrower. The back needs to be deeper. I'd guess 10' of a 16'-deep house, with about 6' for the scratching shed in front. If your house was 50' wide but 16' deep, that same formula would seem to apply.

 

[Mossy Dell]

In my mind, using opaque skylight over the scratch shed is a huge plus to brighten things up in there in winter. Biggest concern I had was if a coon could climb up there and rip it off. To date, none have......and I'm living in trash panda central.

Howard, doesn't the scratching shed part get awfully hot in summer with the whole roof a skylight? I can see one panel but worry about the birds overheating with more.

 

[Howard E]

Components of the waterer?

A flat sided, 4 gallon plastic bucket and this bird bath heater.....

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HHLIXY/?tag=backy-20

Use 2 horizontal nipples.....and still have the one cup. Bird bath heater kept bucket from freezing down to -15F.........cup freezes up around 25F, nipples never do.

Have used two systems for the power cord into the bucket. First was a hole in the lid, but since birds sit on it and dump.......that meant water was getting fouled....(fowled?)

So I drilled a hole just big enough for the cord under the rum, then slit the rim to allow cord to pass. Lid is now solid, so they still soil it, but none of that makes it to the water. To fill, I just pull the lid and pour more water in. One bucket remains good for 23 birds for about 3 days.

Last summer, we had to be gone for about 5 days in 95F heat. Birds were left in all that time. They had enough food, but I was worried about the water, so left about 5.....5 gallon buckets of water in there, each with horizontal or cup waterers. Not sure how happy they were, but nobody died.