Woods-style house in the winter

[bruceha2000]

I have two 12' long parallel roosts at 4' and a 4' "broody box" shelf (with the box removed) also at 4' AND an 8' roost 2' off the ground parallel to the 12' sections. Not one of my birds have EVER roosted on the 2' high roost. I took the 2 WRs off the edge of the half inch plywood dividers in the nest box (the top of which are also about 4' high) one evening after I found poop in the nest boxes 2 mornings. They prefered to sleep high on a "roost" that could not have been comfortable to grip and stay balanced than a roost 2' lower. I put a slanted "roof" over the boxes and they went back to the 4' high roosts. My birds have never pooped nor slept in the nests except when Zorra had the chicks in one for 2 weeks.

Thus, my read is "HIGH is good". NOT high is NOT good. Harassed but sleeping at 4' is better than sleeping at 2'.

 

[aart]

What I'm reading above is that there is bickering going on with birds roosting all at the same level. Not sure that occurs as much when there is a tiered roost available.

No, there is bickering in either case.....I do not believe the hierarchy is eliminated with parallel roosts, as you proposed below.
Hierarchy exists at many levels and over many things within a flock...most of which we are probably oblivious too.

 

[Old Philosopher]

I have 2 parallel roosts, then a couple other roosts available. They all use the parallel...even if there are "roost wars". They still all end up on the parallels. Even with only 6 birds and lots of roost space they still have roost wars and still end up on the parallels.

(FYI - the 2 parallels are 6 ft. long each with a couple feet between them. Then there are about another 5 ft. of roost they could use elsewhere.)

LOL! Someone mentioned the roosting hierarchy that went something like: rooster > rooster's favorite > rooster's favorite's girlfriend > etc., etc. all huddled together on one roost.
That's pretty much how it goes in my coop. Except the rooster sits in the middle. Guess I have a dynamic commune going on, or he has a harem.

 

[featherz]

I have a big coop made of a horse run-in and pretty much the whole top is open (covered in hw cloth over open areas).. Occasionally a big snow blow might get a little in the coop but it's minor. It also has windows and big open double doors, but the doors are closed at night. I'll see if I can find a pic somewhere..

this is what it looked like BEFORE it was a coop. We added a front, doors, windows, etc - but that top is still open with HW cloth covering the open areas..

 

[Arielle]

Finally finished my original coop. Added on the extention to make it a full 11 x about 20... to miss a big rock, lol. Used a clear-white fiberglass corregaed section in the roofing but Would definitely put in more windows. Inside is dark. IMO sunlight really helps fight off germs, molds, etc..... for a healthier flock.

 

[spryfarm]

What are your winters like? Up here in Northwestern Ontario (directly across the border from International Falls, MN) we gets winters with regular temps in the negative teens/twenties/thirties, and lost blogs/coop designs/etc. don't tend to get weather that harsh. Just wondering if this design would be sufficient for our types of winters. Any feedback would be much appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Molpet]

What are your winters like? Up here in Northwestern Ontario (directly across the border from International Falls, MN) we gets winters with regular temps in the negative teens/twenties/thirties, and lost blogs/coop designs/etc. don't tend to get weather that harsh. Just wondering if this design would be sufficient for our types of winters. Any feedback would be much appreciated! Thanks!

In the book this is based on they have a photo from Kingsbury, Quebec, ... I am not sure if that is similar weather to you or not.

 

[spryfarm]

In the book this is based on they have a photo from Kingsbury, Quebec, ... I am not sure if that is similar weather to you or not. 

No, our winters are significantly colder

 

[Molpet]

No, our winters are significantly colder

Here is a link to the book https://archive.org/stream/openairpoultryho00wood#page/n7/mode/2up .... it convinced me , but I only get down to-20 f and have not started building it yet

 

[mickt42]

I am about to start building my third Woods style coop in northern Idaho and can attest to being much MORE winter-hardy than my mother's closed in and heated coop. She's a city girl and names and babies her hens. I eat my culls and expect my flock to produce at top-notch or get the hatchet. I have never had a single case of frostbite while I know of dozens in closed in coops. Chickens breathe more humidity per pound than any other livestock animal.... Heated air holds more humidity than colder air.... Dry and cold doesn't hurt chickens. Honestly the most miserable times for the chickens are when its 35 and wet.... Ducks love it though.