Woods-style house in the winter

[Howard E]

Again, this is very close to what I've heard my friends from Texas describe as "picking the fly crap out of the pepper", but does give one an indication of how finely tuned those old guys were as to how to best setup a chicken house for the best performance. As a general rule, rather than copying what was learned over 100 years ago, we seemed determined to keep reinventing the wheel and making a whole lot of mistakes in the process.

 

[JackE]

IMO, the real reason Woods wants the coop facing south/ southeast, is for the full benefit of natural sunlight. With the open front, and the monitor windows, this coop is floodlit with natural light. Facing more to the east just gets more of the morning sunlight into the coop, and gets the birds going. Wind, from whatever direction it's blowing in, doesn't mean anything to a Woods coop. As I have stated, along with others who have a Woods, the wind can blow right at the open front, and if the coop is in winter mode, it won't move a loose feather on the floor. The wind just can't penetrate into this coop. It's a perfect coop.

 

[BoyankaTheBuff]

I have been admiring this house and a bunch of other BYC Woods-style houses since I first started reading this forum and learned about the book. Very inspiring. I built a 6x10' Woods coop in my backyard, which is all but finished, just in time for the cold that finally reached us. Used the blackjack liquid rubber on the floor too. Seems to be working pretty slick so far! Thanks for sharing your experiences and photos JackE.

 

[bruceha2000]

And you will post photos of yours when it is done right? Here and in the https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/596294/post-your-chicken-coop-pictures-here thread. More people will see it there and perhaps also get inspired

And

, I see you are a recently joined member!

 

[aart]

I have been admiring this house and a bunch of other BYC Woods-style houses since I first started reading this forum and learned about the book. Very inspiring. I built a 6x10' Woods coop in my backyard, which is all but finished, just in time for the cold that finally reached us. Used the blackjack liquid rubber on the floor too. Seems to be working pretty slick so far! Thanks for sharing your experiences and photos JackE.

And you will post photos of yours when it is done right? Here and in the https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/596294/post-your-chicken-coop-pictures-here thread. More people will see it there and perhaps also get inspired

And I see you are a recently joined member!

Better yet....if @BoyankaTheBuff would make a new thread or page/article showing all the details of the build and/or coop with lots of pics...and link it here.

 

[BoyankaTheBuff]

And you will post photos of yours when it is done right? Here and in the https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/596294/post-your-chicken-coop-pictures-here thread. More people will see it there and perhaps also get inspired

And

, I see you are a recently joined member!

Better yet....if @BoyankaTheBuff would make a new thread or page/article showing all the details of the build and/or coop with lots of pics...and link it here.

You bet I will, as soon as I have permission to do so! I have lots of pictures. It's as done as it's going to be until the temps come back up above freezing, which... who knows. I'm not optimistic.

 

[aart]

Quote: Sweet!! Looking forward to seeing it!
You should be able to start a thread....and I think 10 posts is what it takes to start posting pics.

 

[BoyankaTheBuff]

I made a post about my coop, @aart @bruceha2000.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1144881/open-air-poultry-house-aka-woods-coop-in-minneapolis

 

[Howard E]

FWIW, temps this morning were -2F, and that after 2 days of freezing rain and ice. When I went to let the birds out I found all but one of them basking in the early morning sunlight streaming in through the open front and beneath the nest boxes. Combs on the RIR and NH were fine. Didn't even bother to look at the Wyandottes. One egg already and another on the way (she was on the nest). In short, business as usual.

Water bucket with bird bath heater had a external cup frozen solid, but the horizontal nipples were working fine. We had an inch or so of snow last night, with hard winds blowing out of the north all night. Small drifts formed around the house but no snow at all inside the house.

We are in USDA Hardiness Zone 5, so at these temps, that is about as extreme as we can expect. To those wondering if these coops work as advertised, that is what I have found so far. About all one can ask for.

 

[WthrLady]

Our temps hit -16'F (-25'Fwindchill, but they weren't in the wind so that doesn't matter)

The giant comb and wattle on my copper Marans Rooster is tipped in frostbite, but that's his own fault. Sleeping with his head tucked under, breathing on it and then sticking his head out. Moisture is what zapped it. All of my large comb roos have had this happen.

Their happy as clams in the mud this morning. Playing in the run, in the hay. They had hot oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins.

Still not close to the -20s we've been down to with this coop before.

Base water heater and metal 2 gallon waterer did just fine. The base heater cannot keep up with the 4 gallon metal bucket. The base of the bucket isn't over the actual heater and the ring freezes. So we switched to the smaller base so that the ring sits over the heating element entirely.

We'll be above freezing for the week (not at night though) starting tomorrow. YAY!