Woods Open Air Coop Design - Amish Built

[Jenny Loves Chickies]

They are putting on the finishing touches, delivery is set for tomorrow morning and I might not sleep

 

[Jenny Loves Chickies]

They must be part of a sect that allows electronics.
Could you post the plans?

I'm not sure what their beliefs are or what sect they are from, I didn't ask them. They do often work with non Amish foremen of sorts to get jobs outside of their communities. The plans I provided them are directly from the book written by Prince T Woods. I purchased a hard copy on Amazon however I've seen links to the pdf version too. In addition to the book I gave them my notes and preferences based on what I learned from reading JackE's post and wthrlady's as well. If you would like to see my notes I'm happy to share.
Apparently several people have stopped to see my coop being built and they all want one now, I warned them this would happen

 

[Jenny Loves Chickies]

Update...we are getting closer! They put the wrong “hardware cloth” in but they are fixing it now. I’m also not sure the side windows are large enough so they may need to modify those too. They did add insulation under the metal roof where the hens will roost. Pics attached

 

[Howard E]

On my house, I used 6" overhangs off the roof edges.......front, back and the monitor. On the sides, since the house was 8' wide and I was using 8' plywood decking, I have no side overhangs. Actually to have any at all, I had to reduce overall width from 8' (96 inches) to 93 inches......that left barely enough overhang on the back roof edge for drip edge and a piece of 3/4" trim. So all sideways framing (sills, plates, monitor framing, etc) in the 8' width had to be trimmed from 96 inches to 93 inches. Leaving perfectly good lumber scraps on the ground.....and doing so intentionally.....kinda sucked, but that is what I had to do.

BTW, one other change I made was to use opaque poly roofing over the front scratch shed. This blocks something like 80% of the sunlight.....so it lets in ample light, but not the heat. Makes it light and bright inside and so far has not been damaged by hail or wind. Get the premium stuff. You are not buying much of it so cost is not a serious issue.

Same stuff pole barn builders use as skylights on a pole barn will work fine.

 

[JackE]

You have made a great choice for a coop. I may be a bit biased, but the Woods is the best coop you can have. And I'm sure the other people that have them, would agree. I look forward to seeing the finished pictures.

 

[Jenny Loves Chickies]

It’s coming together!!! My chicks will be so happy, we should have it before the New Year! It looks like they put chicken wire on the windows, I specifically asked for hardware cloth but I guess they don’t know what that is...they’re going to have to fix that for sure as we live in the forest....no critters will be reaching our chicks

 

[WthrLady]

I got windows from Lowes or Home Depot, can't remember which. The ones made for replacement windows. Cut a hole, screw them to the wood. I removed the screen entirely and slapped hardware cloth over them on the outside and some trim to cover the edge of wire. Done.

 

[JackE]

My coop has 6" eaves(As the book called for), off of the front and back. No eave over the monitor windows,(Don't want to shade them, want all available light in the coop) and none off of the sides. I did not cut down my floor's 4X8' plywood at all. Put down the full sheets, placed the wall frames right on top of that, them used full sheets for the roof. The only overhang is an inch or so, of shingles.

 

[Howard E]

BTW, with those windows closed, air movement inside the house in a hard wind dies out to nothing. But when I slid that window open for the photo, just that little bit.......air pocket collapsed and movement inside the house picked up sharply. In the hot humid months of summer.......a good thing. Air movement will also help dry out the house if you get an abundance of rain or snow........

 

[ScottandSam]

Nice I found these in stock close by these should come in handy.

www.menards.com/main/doors-windows-millwork/windows/barn-sash-windows/northview-ready-to-finish-wood-barn-sash-with-single-pane-glass/p-1444449410454.htm