Woods Coop in Kansas

[uknotku]

So, the Woods coop is all but done. I still need to trim it out, but I'm thinking of saving that for fall, just because it's so dang hot out now. It's 8x12 and will house roughly 30 birds. 28 chickens or so and probably 1 turkey. She's the sole survivor from this years hatch and I don't want her off by herself. I have three roosts across the back, 2x4's ripped down to 2x2 and around 30" off the floor. I may add a 4th, I'll see how they do. Next box is between the rear window and the roosts and are vertically stacked. I toyed with the idea of putting the nest boxes on the back of the people door and I may still go back to that idea. It would make egg collection as easy as just opening the door. You'll notice that I did follow the book exactly and offset the side windows. I know most are putting them both in the front now, but I figure there had to a reason for the offset. I think it does help with cooling in the summer. We've already had some 100+ degree days and with the windows open there is a nice breeze blowing through that helps cool the back. So far, I am loving and so are the birds. We had a storm come through with 45 mph+ speed winds the other night and not a drop of rain hit inside the coop. Anxious to see how it works in the winter. Sorry, the last pics were taken at dusk. I'll try to grab some of the inside and update the post.

 

[chickengirl778]

Cool!

 

[cholland]

Looking good. I love my Woods coop. I am also putting off the trim until fall.
Most people would have the top windows open out to help keep rain from coming in if windows are open.
I have two large windows in the front sides, gives me plenty of room for nest box opposite the door. I like your idea of boxes on the door, but I'm probably going to build a heavy screen door and open the solid door on hot days.

How do they get out? Is there a pop door?

 

[uknotku]

It was just easier to have the screen on the outside and have the windows open in. They were cheap, so I didn’t fight it. We had incredibly hard rain last week and it didn’t get in it. We rarely have wind blowing the rain from a southeast direction.

I put the west window further back, as Woods suggested in the book. I’d assume this helps the breeze blow across the coop in the summer and catches the late day sunshine in the winter. I still have plenty of room for a double width next box between the window and the roosts.

I may revisit the idea of the nest box on the back of the door, the more I think about it the more I like it.

 

[uknotku]

Sorry, there will be a pop door toward the front. I don’t have it in there now as I only have the little gals in there and they don’t need out just yet.

 

[Thyme4Chickens]

Looks great! We are building one one, too - lots of work!