Woods-style house in the winter

[welsummer4]

Quote:
I think Pat is referring to my post here, but to be clear, I do not have a Woods-style house. I know better than to scale his design down to 8'x4' (I read the book

). I described my coop as "scaled back open-air," but it's really just well ventilated by most small, backyard coop standards (6 square feet of open ventilation in winter, about twice that in summer). All the winter ventilation is along the roof-line, so my girls enjoy draft-free conditions while in the henhouse. Even the pop-door is elevated so as not to cause too much of a draft when open during the day. Here's a pic:

It's funny that some of us like to brag about how much ventilation we use during the winter (I admit to belonging to this camp), while others opt to use minimum ventilation and a heat lamp. I don't think either system is necessarily better than the other--it just depends on personal preference. There are so many different approaches to raising chickens! I love it!

 

[CoyoteMagic]

If you check out the pics on page 4 you see that the floor is a good 6-8inches below the window. You can also see what looks like a 2x 8 or 2x12 on the other side of the pop door that appears to be keeping some of the litter from getting up towads the popdoor and front windows.

I think this would work great in the piedmont. Nadine has an even more open air coop. She is just down over the border in SC off 85. Where in the Piedmont are you? I'm in Mt.Holly and will be rebuilding mine like Nadines as we don't get cold and snow like other folks do.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Because then you don't get as much air circulation, especially not in the rear part where the roosts are. Which is the whole point of the design. Yes, a bit of wind and precipitation can get in the front (although these houses really need to be oriented so that the open side is the usually-downwind side, usually to the E or SE) but the chickens can easily go further back in to get out of it and any damp bedding is limited to just the very front there so it dries out real fast, think of it kind of like a roofed run

Also, how do you think an all sand floor would work in this type of coop?

I believe a lot of them had sand floors, at least in the front half of the house. So, same as sand in anything else; fine in the south, not appropriate for a Northern winter (unless you put something atop it).

This open-air concept would be great for the South where our winters are usually mild and the NC summers are quite warm and humid, to say the least.

Actually it was mainly used in New England and the upper Midwest AFAIK. As Woods himself points out in the book, if you want to do it somewheres hot like TX (his example, IIRC) or the Carolinas you really need a considerable bit MORE ventilation openable for summertime.

Pat​

 

[peeplessinNC]

Thank you, Coyote and Pat, for answering my questions! I learn so much here!

 

[Mamachicks28]

Wow, these are some nice fancy coops here. We just built one but not nearly as fancy as any of these. But we like it and our kids are having a great time painting it now.

As I'm reading, I'm mentally checking off the dos... we do have the ventilation of the side and we will keep the door lock at night along with the pull up side door. Thanks for sharing all the information.

 

[NaeNae]

i LOVE this design

can you please tell me any con's you have personally discovered with it i.e cleaning it etc also does the book specify what to do if your in a different hemisphere. I think you said it had a SW face ... for us here SW is one of the directions our weather comes from ... we have awfully strong SW winds that will blow right through the coop.

Thanks
Nae x

 

[Arielle]

I find this design interesting too. Most modern barn designs close up the barn too much resulting in other health problems than being chilled.
I was thinking the same thing--how to orient the coop to make use or avoid the natural wind patterns. I'm on the N slope of a hill, with a river at the bottom. Our air has a distinct daily pattern: moves up hill during the day as the air warms, then as it cools, it flows down hill. And that's not even accounting for the big Northeasters that hit.
Know your location--you are the best judge of orientation. Note: many barn building books say to orient the open end of a horse shelter to the south for winter warmt. This has never worked for me. The horses want to be out in the cold,crappy weather; it's the HEAT in the summer that they hate. And look for shade. Go figger . . . .I think the old timers got it right. More ventilation and orient according to conditions on your peice of land. My 2 cents and 20 years of large livestock . . . still learning chickens!

 

[NaeNae]

Arielle,

we never bothered with shelters for the horses for that very reason. The land here is quite undulating. and of course the "house block" is on a hill top LOL.

I think I will need to buy the book so I can get a good understanding of what the coops need and work it out from there. Would hate to invest and get it sooo wrong LOL.

oh and yeah the "old timers" seemed to know a lot more about building things than most modern day stuff. Home is living proof of that they sure don't build them like this anymore!!

 

[RareBreedFancier]

Quote:
WOW, thanks for posting this link!! I was able to save it to my pc!!

Can someone please tell me how to open those files? Do I need a particular program? I really want to read it but my computer won't open them.

I love that coop, I'd like to build something similar. In my climate it would be perfect.

 

[3chimama]

I sure like the looks of it!