Woods Open Air Coop Design - Amish Built

[Shevraeth]

And speaking of Amish built, met with a young Amish lad yesterday to arrange to have him do some barn repair work for me. I was explaining the Woods house and he had never heard of one. I offered to share with him plans and photos of my build....hoping he might get the idea to start building these and offering them for sale. His home is on a heavily traveled highway and they already have a roadside produce stand. If this comes to pass.......may be an option for those in the Midwest who want an Amish built Woods of their very own.

A buyer would have to make arrangements to transport it, but it could be either the 6' x 10' (up to a dozen birds) or 8' x 12" (up to 2 dozen birds).

Am in KC... want Woods coop... would probably buy >.>

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Project-So...25-in-x-25-25-in-Actual-20-in-x-25-in/3683850

Looks like the price went up........

Well now what the heck??? Why didn't he show me those??? I shall print that page off and go hunt him down. lol A $5.00 difference is insignificant for the love of sweet baby Jesus...

 

[Howard E]

Yes, these are known in the big box stores as "barn sash" windows. There is no need for anything greater.....like double pane insulated, etc. And even more so when one whole wall is wide open!

Trick then becomes finding a way to replace what would be the screens on a commercial made window. For a variety of reasons, including strength to repel varmints and wide open air flow to allow dusty air to pass.........hardware cloth or stronger is a much better choice than any window screen.

 

[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

 

[Jenny Loves Chickies]

I’m loving the discussion and the thought that the Amish are catching onto this idea!!! Here are the most recent pictures of our coop...we are almost there!!!

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

View attachment 1301191 View attachment 1301192 View attachment 1301193 I’m loving the discussion and the thought that the Amish are catching onto this idea!!! Here are the most recent pictures of our coop...we are almost there!!!

Looking great! What size did you go with again?

 

[Jenny Loves Chickies]

Thank you! I will past below for you, the Amish mill all their own lumber - I've seen comments on here that people have gone with slightly different sizes because of the lumber size available however the formulas for getting the measurements should still be the same.

FINAL Dimensions
8.5 ft Width x 14 ft length
Roof slope should be 5/12 on the back and 3/12 on the front.
Height to top of monitor windows - 8'9"
To the extent possible back part should be a square and height of monitor framing should be the same height deep as it is wide.So the "front" section should be approximately 5'1"Lx8'5"Wx5'3"H and "back" section should be 8'9"Lx8'5Wx8'9"H
Height front wall - 5'1"
Height rear wall - 4'5"

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

Thank you! I will past below for you, the Amish mill all their own lumber - I've seen comments on here that people have gone with slightly different sizes because of the lumber size available however the formulas for getting the measurements should still be the same.

FINAL Dimensions
8.5 ft Width x 14 ft length
Roof slope should be 5/12 on the back and 3/12 on the front.
Height to top of monitor windows - 8'9"
To the extent possible back part should be a square and height of monitor framing should be the same height deep as it is wide.So the "front" section should be approximately 5'1"Lx8'5"Wx5'3"H and "back" section should be 8'9"Lx8'5Wx8'9"H
Height front wall - 5'1"
Height rear wall - 4'5"

Will you need special permits to haul it to your location?

 

[Jenny Loves Chickies]

Will you need special permits to haul it to your location?

Not that I am aware of, they will actually be delivering it for us. They build it on a skid of sorts so it can be dragged into place. I can't wait for my chicks to check it out

 

[squadleader]

Congratulations, what a terrific house you've got, beautiful and functional!

It's nice they're handling the delivery, it's easy for them, they do it all the time.

8.5 feet is 102 inches, that's not overwidth, there's lots of vehicles that wide, I used to have a motor coach that was 102 inches wide. I put a lot of miles on that thing!

If anyone is interested, now or later, the best and easiest way to move to move skid buildings, sheds, and conex containers is a roll back wrecker. They typically have beds 96 inches wide, but some have 102 inch wide beds. The rails on the sides simply lift out, so you can have a perfectly flat bed.

If what you're moving is a little wider than the bed, you simply place a cross-timber beneath the frame, on top of the wrecker bed.

The wrecker has a tilt bed, and the bed can moved back several feet hydraulically. The wrecker has a powerful winch to pull your building up onto the bed, and when unloading, they simply tilt the bed and the structure slides off. A rollback is perfect for this kind of job, and the operator has probably done it several times before, ask him and make sure.

I moved my 3,000 plus pound chicken tractor several miles on a rollback wrecker in January, and it only cost $125.

When you build anything on skids try to keep the width 102 inches or less, my tractor is 16 feet long, and they can handle even more length than that. Call around and find someone local and with some hustle, to get the best price.

Here's a few photos of my tractor being moved on the rollback wrecker.

This wrecker had a 96 inch bed width. You'll notice he's removed his side rails to create a perfectly flat bed with no obstructions. My tractor did hang over the sides a few inches, but he had it well secured with straps. These guys know how to secure a load.

It really worked out well, I didn't even have to remove the anti-dig mats, just folded them up and tied them in place with rope during the move.

After the move (the last photo), I simply released the mats and they went right back into place without any kinking. I use a couple of cinder blocks on each corner to keep the mats down firmly, and I recently found I didn't even need to take the blocks off the mats for the weekly drag of 8 feet. That's all I have to pull the tractor to keep fresh grass under it. Takes five minutes, just throw the chain over the trailer hitch and it's an easy pull.

The key to that is the plastic I wrapped the skids with, because of it slides so easily, I can pull it in any direction, forward or sideways.

This drag system can work with any strongly built coop, the key is a flat skid wrapped in 60 mil PVC sheet roofing, that creates a very slick skid with nice rounded edges, so they don't dig in during the pull.

Look at the skids, you'll see they're wrapped in 60 mil PVC sheet roofing, secured with screws and washers every six inches.

If anyone is interested in more details on that, I put a link to a thread with more information on it at the end of this post.

If you happen to have the space, and a vehicle to pull it, your Woods House could easily be placed on flat wrapped skids, and could be a chicken tractor you drag 8 feet a week.

That would be the end of poop management, you'd be leaving it behind for grass fertilizer every week. I have plenty of room and have my rotation set up so I never occupy the same ground with the tractor, more than once a year. That gives the ground plenty of time to absorb all that nitrogen in the poop.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-easier-less-expensive.1220330/#post-19519592