Tips on ventilation and cleaning this coop.

[tori729]

With how it's built I think the only way to get enough ventilation is to do wire mesh on one wall/door as you mentioned, as long as that open side is facing away from predominant wind directions.

How cold does it get in winter? Sounds like just below freezing, but I want to make sure. Chickens can handle cold just fine as long as they have protection from drafts and rain/snow. Your 90+ summers will be harder on them than a few days in the 20s or 30s.

Generally we have temps just below freezing for maybe a month out of the winter; it almost always gets above freezing during the day. This winter we had slightly lower temps overall. That's why I'm looking towards the summer since it gets hot and humid here which makes it hard to cool off.
The one half wall we could do mesh on b/c it's not attached yet is probably the most susceptible to wind since it's facing out/towards our house and not towards a tree/fence. However it would be easy to cover with a tarp in the winter.

Need to see pics from farther back, please.

See below

I also would like to see pics from farther back.

In this picture I think a simple change can gain a bit of ventilation.
If the long board were moved back 5-6" it would still support the roofing but would allow a gap for airflow. The gap would definitely need covered with hardware cloth.

View attachment 3643363

Great idea, thanks! I've taken more pictures from the inside so you can get a better idea of that area. Right now the roof isn't completely attached on the far side and not on at all on the closer side.

Also, I actually went out and measured and it's 36" at the peak and 30" at the sides.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The one half wall we could do mesh on b/c it's not attached yet is probably the most susceptible to wind since it's facing out/towards our house and not towards a tree/fence. However it would be easy to cover with a tarp in the winter.

That's problematic. No way to turn this unit around so the potential mesh wall faces away from winds? Ventilation is just as important in winter as in summer. Frostbite can happen as high as right around freezing point, not because of the cold, but because of moisture trapped inside the coop + cold temperatures.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Another thought......
You may be to close to the fence for this to work but here it is anyway.
This vent is on a very small bantam coop. It was made with 2 cedar fence pickets so provides roughly 11" high x length of the coop ventilation. There is hardware cloth affixed to the inside.

 

[tori729]

We could turn it - that's just the end with the nesting boxes which I preferred to have face the house so it's closer however I could potentially rotate the whole coop around and have that end face the fence instead, still being outside of the run area. Door hasn't been cut yet.

What if he cut the door hole larger and framed it but put HWC around the outer edges? Or would that be a problem with drafts? I don't really understand how to achieve an open coop design but then not worry about drafts? Seems like a contradiction.

 

[tori729]

Another thought......
You may be to close to the fence for this to work but here it is anyway.
This vent is on a very small bantam coop. It was made with 2 cedar fence pickets so provides roughly 11" high x length of the coop ventilation. There is hardware cloth affixed to the inside.

View attachment 3643456View attachment 3643457

This is what we were thinking of doing - just cutting the sides down a bit more like this. If we did this, it would give us 6sq ft on each side, right? We could move it away from the fence more if needed.

ETA: NVM we could only do 6" probably on each side b/c otherwise it would hit the roosting birdies. Maybe we could do that, giving 6 sq ft plus do the roof idea you suggested and give more up there.

I really appreciate the constructive advice! I've been SO stressed trying to figure this all out and communicate to our builder. I really didn't know how complicated it would all be. :/

 

[rosemarythyme]

What if he cut the door hole larger and framed it but put HWC around the outer edges? Or would that be a problem with drafts? I don't really understand how to achieve an open coop design but then not worry about drafts? Seems like a contradiction.

It's all about wind direction and wind flow. If let's say your winds mainly come from the west, an open wall facing east would not be affected by those western winds.

Air flow through the coop is desirable. What you don't want is so much air movement that feathers are getting ruffled, especially in roost areas.

This is what we were thinking of doing - just cutting the sides down a bit more like this. If we did this, it would give us 6sq ft on each side, right? We could move it away from the fence more if needed.

One caveat to doing it this way... I would top hinge the cover on the opening, not bottom hinge it as shown in the example. A top hinged cover provides rain and snow protection from above, and can be propped open more in summer, or a little less in winter or during storms.

 

[21hens-incharge]

One caveat to doing it this way... I would top hinge the cover on the opening, not bottom hinge it as shown in the example. A top hinged cover provides rain and snow protection from above, and can be propped open more in summer, or a little less in winter or during storms.

Yes. This was a problem for mine due to it having been a conversion of what was a ground level broody coop that had been hinged to open the lid. There simply wasn't a good way to secure the hinge.

Even better would be to have it tilt inward so no fence clearance needed BUT with the OP's coop reaching it would mean crawling inside.

However with a top hinge and a latch on each side all they may need to do is be able to get to each side from the outside......it could still work.

@tori729 Maybe not 2 fence pickets for yours but one instead will work better. With it being on the fence side it will have the fence blocking MOST of the wind by the way.

 

[tori729]

So those walls - the one towards the fence faces west and the opposite faces east. So with the fence protection would I even need the covers?

Or again since the one wall faces east could I just do half of the door open? There won't be any roosts close to there as the nesting boxes will be on the other side so it's just a little corner area.

 

[21hens-incharge]

So those walls - the one towards the fence faces west and the opposite faces east. So with the fence protection would I even need the covers?

Or again since the one wall faces east could I just do half of the door open? There won't be any roosts close to there as the nesting boxes will be on the other side so it's just a little corner area.

Just to be super clear (I may have misunderstood what you wrote). It sounds like the plan is for them to sleep in them.
They should not sleep in the nest boxes. Those are a place to lay eggs. If they sleep in those they will be leaving tons of poop in them.

They need a roost (board or 2-3" diameter branches) to sleep on. You will need 2 with the number of birds you have.

That said you should run them so they are not in the way of the clean out doors. From what I see that means parallel to the roof peak.

 

[tori729]

Just to be super clear (I may have misunderstood what you wrote). It sounds like the plan is for them to sleep in them.
They should not sleep in the nest boxes. Those are a place to lay eggs. If they sleep in those they will be leaving tons of poop in them.

They need a roost (board or 2-3" diameter branches) to sleep on. You will need 2 with the number of birds you have.

That said you should run them so they are not in the way of the clean out doors. From what I see that means parallel to the roof peak.

Sorry I didn't word that right. I was saying that the side that opens up - the door that's on is going to have the nest boxes attached to it. The roosts will be on the other side. We plan to make 2-3 of them.
So the other door will just open and won't have anything attached. So we could just leave it hwc framed.