Woods-style house in the winter

[Leahs Mom]

GW - do you have hardware cloth on the open part? How did you attach it to help make it predator proof?

 

[GWG2013]

Hi LM. No cloth to to cover the open front. From everything I have read, that would defeat the purpose of fresh air movement and the temptation should be avoided.

Sealing around the logs was of course very important. I used diamond mesh lath as a backing and a "top and bond" type of concrete at the front. As you can see, it didn't turn out too pretty, but it worked. I will be covering this with parging mix to "fix" the appearance.



Lesson learned, I used diamond mesh backing and parging mix on the interior at the back and along the kick board at the floor. This worked much better. Any large voids behind the parging is filled with spray in foam insulation, which of course, is not exposed in any way to the chickens once the parging is applied.



...and diamond mesh and parging mix are not expensive. You have just got to be sure to wear gloves when cutting and working the mesh as it has sharp edges. Mixing and applying the parging is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I will be using the same method to re-chink the whole barn eventually. (The wooden box on the wall preexisted and contains an electrical outlet...a bonus!

 

[Leahs Mom]

When I said "hardware cloth" it isn't really "cloth". It is a wire mesh. I use 1/2". Looks like this:

Never have figured out why they call it cloth

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1290448&cp=2568443.2568451.2624969.1302712

 

[GWG2013]

Oh, I'm sorry, yes, that is what I used.

 

[GWG2013]

...and if you were referring to attaching the mesh to make it predator proof, rather that attaching the coop to make it predator proof, then that was my "senior moment" mistake!! Haha. I stapled the mesh into place and then framed around the inside of the opening screwing 1"x2" pine into place over the edges of the screen which further secured the mesh into place.

 

[Hokum Coco]

@ Woods-style house
If I were building a new coop your design would top my list.
I have a salvaged metal shed. That does the trick for me. I lately added a screened inner door (¼ hardware cloth) on the left hand side (not shown in this photo)..
I will be leaving the inner door open most days thanks to your design.
However my coop faces north so I will close the outer door when weather warrants it.

I think your coop ROCKS!

 

[Leahs Mom]

...and if you were referring to attaching the mesh to make it predator proof, rather that attaching the coop to make it predator proof, then that was my "senior moment" mistake!! Haha. I stapled the mesh into place and then framed around the inside of the opening screwing 1"x2" pine into place over the edges of the screen which further secured the mesh into place.

Yep. That was it.

Mine is just stapled with the kind of staples that you hammer in but there is no wood strip over the top. I keep thinking that I need to go back and wood strip over all the edges.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Hokum - mine is interior kind-of like you're saying. And, unfortunately, mine is facing north also so I keep the outer door closed when its really windy/snowy outside. But I am able to leave it open a good amount of the year.
'

You can see looking into the inside. The door is on the north side.



The interior framework inside. You can see that my husband just stapled down the hardware cloth but we didn't put strips over that. What do y'all think? Should we put wood strips over the stapled edges?

 

[off-grid hen]

Greetings. Here is a picture of my recently completed interpretation of the "fresh air poultry house" incorporated into the tractor port of my old log barn. Open front faces very slightly south/east. I read Wood's book and looked at JackE's very impressive coop on this site to get ideas. It is built out of rough cut lumber from a local mill. Measures 8'x18'. It get's very cold here in eastern Ontario in the winter, but I am confident from what I have read that this should work out very well. I will have to resist the temptation of placing a heat lamp over the roosts in January.

I have a Woods coop in the adirondacks, and have never used heat. The lowest the temp has gotten here in the last few years is -15 F to -20 F/ -26 to -28 C.

 

[aart]

I believe that one of the keys to the Woods coop was a clerestory roofline with windows for ventilation, along with a proportionate depth and width to shape air flows.

I don't think that your interpretation is going to function as the Woods theory does. It's real nice tho ;-)