Woods Open Air Coop Design - Amish Built

[Jenny Loves Chickies]

Nah. Skip the poop board and put up a ton of roosts.
I tossed mine after three months. I dumped bags of Sweet PDZ all over the floor with some DE. They LOVE dust bathing in it.

Then you go in once a week with a stall rake and collect the poop, which is dried out and not smelly thanks to PDZ and toss it in the compost.

I add one more bag when the coop, especially under the roosts gets too thin to do it's job. so one bag every 6-9 month.

Initial investment is a little high, but it is SO worth it. It doesn't stay wet, it's natural, it doesn't stink, flies don't lay eggs in it. It dries out poo and neutralizes the ammonia.

I've never looked back. Mine takes care of 25 birds.

I use sweet pdz too!!! I put shavings on top of it and do an entire clean and dump one every 1-2 weeks. So you don’t use shavings at all?! And they love it?? I guess that would remove the need for me to make a dust bathing area too. Is there any reason to still use shavings? I am really excited thinking about not using them...even though I just bought 8 bales

 

[WthrLady]

Shavings only in the run.

 

[Jenny Loves Chickies]

Shavong only 9n the run. The coop is 100% pdz. I use cut up cheap yoga mats for in the nest boses.

I'm absolutely going to take your advice on this....I may try to make a raised shelf just under the roosts and fill that with PDZ so I can rake it. I do love the stuff but it's so cold and my hens haven't seemed to love cuddling up in it - when I bring in a bale of koop clean (straw) my hens go BANANAS. Thank you always for your inspiration <3

 

[Jenny Loves Chickies]

Hi Jenny! I’m looking to build your coop and just met with my carpenter. I’m wondering if you could share how much the Amish charged you so I can see if I should keep getting more bids.
Thank you!!

I don't know that comparing anyone's quote to the Amish will be fair since they mill their own lumber and don't have any overhead like standard contractor's do. I'll message you with the quotes we received

 

[Jenny Loves Chickies]

Thanks Jenny- Got it. Could you give me their contact info? See if I can get them to come to Baltimore.

Messaging you

 

[AE_Chickens]

One of our BYC members messaged me to find out how to get a coop the one the Amish are building and said they had received a quote from their local Amish that was extremely expensive. In speaking with the guy that is working as a liaison with the Amish gentleman building my coop he told me these Amish are "old order." They do not use electricity which includes power tools, phones, etc. Everything is done by hand. They are a true community and believe in only charging minimal labor for their work partly because they have very little overhead. No bills, insurance, etc. Their building methods also make the best use of their materials and often they use less material than an average builder might. Something to think about if you try to reach out to the Amish in your area. I feel so fortunate that they are building mine, they already have 3 orders for more Woods coops however the gentleman that built mine is moving to Michigan next month so not sure if he will leave his legacy behind or take it with him!

Thank you so much for this thread, it has been so informative! I am in Michigan and interested to see if the gentleman that built yours is still building them. Would you mind sharing contact information? I have started conversations about the design of the Woods coop to a local coop builder but since he is new to this design I am going through a lot of the conversation that you had initially!

 

[SmiYa0126]

What a beautiful coop! I love the concept, it's so open, it's crazy!