External nesting box and door

[NorthGeogia]

Geez LG, I thought you got as cold as we do We hit -22°F a couple of weeks ago. The birds do fluff up in those temps. I've posted this elsewhere but will add it here. +10°F and the girls aren't even fluffed up. The people door into the coop is open as is the metal PulletShut auto door. This old drafty barn isn't going to hold any heat.
View attachment 1253441
You can see the side of the 4' long exterior community box past the people door. There is also an open 3 nest box in the coop. The bottom is 18" off the floor so it doesn't take away usable space from the girls.


A TOTAL of 2 linear feet of nest box for 12 girls? I guess it is working for you but I go a bit fewer/nest since there are times when 4 or 5 are laying at the same time.


Time to toughen up @pkgal21! I do understand though, I grew up in So. Cal. 50°F there is "winter jacket" weather. Here it is "put on a sweater if you are going to stay out very long" ... unless it is sunny and not windy . But you do have to remember, your chickens only take their down coats off once a year - when they get their new one.

Where are you from? I got relatives in Saint Albans, VT.

 

[squadleader]

My tractor has four open sides in spring, summer, and fall. During winter I cover the open areas with clear roofing panels, except I leave the south side entirely open. This is patterned after Dr Woods House.

Here's a link to his book if you want to read it for free, it's only about 90 pages, and a wealth of information.

https://books.google.com/books?id=o...X&oi=book_result&ct=result#v=onepage&q&f=true

We've had lots of nights in single digits this winter, and even down to minus 5 degrees, which I've never seen here before. My 13 birds came through just fine, didn't even affect egg production, on 12 hens I'm getting 7 to 11 eggs everyday.

Here's the open south side. You can kind of see the clear roofing panel that closes off the side facing west.

Looks like I've got what we call the "drive thru window" open. Inside the tractor, at that window, is a slot that fits a Home Depot 18"x24" small mortar mixing tub.

If it's so cold my chicken nipple bucket freezes, we use the window to fill the black tub with water every morning. Because of it's large size, the fact it's black, and the fact being on the south side grabs passive solar energy, it usually stays clear of ice into the low twenties until dusk, when it doesn't matter anymore, they don't drink after they've gone to roost.

Next day same drill, no water in the field. But a 7.5 gallon bucket with Gamma screw on lid, makes taking the water out to the tractor easy.

This is the north side, the open wire door is closed off with a clear panel.

Closing off the three sides makes the air in the tractor very still, but the open south side, gives great ventilation.

Looking south through the tractor, towards the open end.

In the modern age of air conditioning, only a tiny percentage of the population has any need to learn how to harness the natural elements to produce a comfortable structure.

Most people think the south side of a structure is the hot side, nothing could be further from the truth.

In winter the sun is very low in the southern sky. That low angle floods south facing openings with sunshine deep into the structure, usually all the way way across it. The radiant energy of that sunlight can easily make you feel 20 degrees warmer in it. What a wonderful gift to our birds in winter.

During the summer the sun is high in the sky, rising almost due east. Almost all the heat loads have now shifted to the east and west walls, and away from the south wall.

Since the sun is so high in summer, very little if any sunshine, comes into south facing openings, especially if there's some sort of eave over the south face.

An open south wall provides sunshine and warmth in winter, and is shaded in the summer.

All good architecture, especially in the finest houses, revolved around these principles prior to central heat and air.

If I recall from earlier in this thread, the structure is roughly four feet by eight feet. I haven't studied it, but my first impulse is to turn one four foot side south, and make that side entirely hardware cloth. Put perches along it, my chickens love to perch on the south side for the sunshine, and to just enjoy seeing the world.

If you're having a pop door, put it on the south side too, that'll eliminate any draft from the open south wall, out the pop door. Put the roost all in way down one side, I think 30 inches off the ground is good to avoid Bumblefoot injuries, keep the nesting box lower at say 18 inches off the ground, leaving room to graze beneath, have the door on the north end.

You could even run 18 inches of wire, down each side, just above the bottom sill on the east and west walls. The wire would be open most of the year, maybe closed in during the winter.

I think I just described a half scale model of my tractor. Look at the pictures and see if that appeals to you, or perhaps even a portion of it.

You're very smart to explore all your options in advance, leveraging not just other's wisdom, but even more important, their mistakes, that's such a time saver.

There's a lot of satisfaction in squeezing the most out of a project, there's grace and beauty in an elegant solution to a problem!

 

[pkgal21]

I'll need to have my nest on the south side because that's where the porch is for easy access and the open end with the run will have to be on the other side. The mean Texas sun beats down on the back of my house until late in the evening. Even our covered porch can't keep that sun at bay. All sides but the North side will be enclosed aside from ventilation/doors. I do think I will remove part of the upper frame so I can make it more walk in than I was initially intending. I'm only 5'3" so I wouldn't have to crouch much in my pitched roof, but the more I read of suggestions for walk-in, I think I might modify that.

I really need to figure out how to build a door frame for a door to seal tight from rain and any hot sunlight peeking in. I'll have about 6inches all the way around of overhang along with some gutters to help, but those days rain like to come from all sides is what I worry about.

 

[NorthGeogia]

My tractor has four open sides in spring, summer, and fall. During winter I cover the open areas with clear roofing panels, except I leave the south side entirely open. This is patterned after Dr Woods House.

Here's a link to his book if you want to read it for free, it's only about 90 pages, and a wealth of information.

https://books.google.com/books?id=o...X&oi=book_result&ct=result#v=onepage&q&f=true

We've had lots of nights in single digits this winter, and even down to minus 5 degrees, which I've never seen here before. My 13 birds came through just fine, didn't even affect egg production, on 12 hens I'm getting 7 to 11 eggs everyday.

View attachment 1253459 Here's the open south side. You can kind of see the clear roofing panel that closes off the side facing west.

Looks like I've got what we call the "drive thru window" open. Inside the tractor, at that window, is a slot that fits a Home Depot 18"x24" small mortar mixing tub.

If it's so cold my chicken nipple bucket freezes, we use the window to fill the black tub with water every morning. Because of it's large size, the fact it's black, and the fact being on the south side grabs passive solar energy, it usually stays clear of ice into the low twenties until dusk, when it doesn't matter anymore, they don't drink after they've gone to roost.

Next day same drill, no water in the field. But a 7.5 gallon bucket with Gamma screw on lid, makes taking the water out to the tractor easy.

View attachment 1253465
This is the north side, the open wire door is closed off with a clear panel.

Closing off the three sides makes the air in the tractor very still, but the open south side, gives great ventilation.
View attachment 1253467
Looking south through the tractor, towards the open end.

In the modern age of air conditioning, only a tiny percentage of the population has any need to learn how to harness the natural elements to produce a comfortable structure.

Most people think the south side of a structure is the hot side, nothing could be further from the truth.

In winter the sun is very low in the southern sky. That low angle floods south facing openings with sunshine deep into the structure, usually all the way way across it. The radiant energy of that sunlight can easily make you feel 20 degrees warmer in it. What a wonderful gift to our birds in winter.

During the summer the sun is high in the sky, rising almost due east. Almost all the heat loads have now shifted to the east and west walls, and away from the south wall.

Since the sun is so high in summer, very little if any sunshine, comes into south facing openings, especially if there's some sort of eave over the south face.

An open south wall provides sunshine and warmth in winter, and is shaded in the summer.

All good architecture, especially in the finest houses, revolved around these principles prior to central heat and air.

If I recall from earlier in this thread, the structure is roughly four feet by eight feet. I haven't studied it, but my first impulse is to turn one four foot side south, and make that side entirely hardware cloth. Put perches along it, my chickens love to perch on the south side for the sunshine, and to just enjoy seeing the world.

If you're having a pop door, put it on the south side too, that'll eliminate any draft from the open south wall, out the pop door. Put the roost all in way down one side, I think 30 inches off the ground is good to avoid Bumblefoot injuries, keep the nesting box lower at say 18 inches off the ground, leaving room to graze beneath, have the door on the north end.

You could even run 18 inches of wire, down each side, just above the bottom sill on the east and west walls. The wire would be open most of the year, maybe closed in during the winter.

I think I just described a half scale model of my tractor. Look at the pictures and see if that appeals to you, or perhaps even a portion of it.

You're very smart to explore all your options in advance, leveraging not just other's wisdom, but even more important, their mistakes, that's such a time saver.

There's a lot of satisfaction in squeezing the most out of a project, there's grace and beauty in an elegant solution to a problem!

I'm a retired civil engineer, who focused on facilities. I once worked at a Pennsylvania hospital, built before A/C. The south facing windows had concrete overhang sunshades for the exact reasons you describe. I remember thinking how we lost common sense design features like this, when A/C become omnipresent. Kudo's to your design!

 

[bruceha2000]

Good post @squadleader and very nice hoop coop.

Where are you from? I got relatives in Saint Albans, VT.

Depending on where they live, they could be as close as a couple of miles or as many as 10. If they live in the city, not the town, they are no more than 5.5 miles from me Are you going to be visiting them?

 

[NorthGeogia]

Good post @squadleader and very nice hoop coop.


Depending on where they live, they could be as close as a couple of miles or as many as 10. If they live in the city, not the town, they are no more than 5.5 miles from me Are you going to be visiting them?

Not any time soon. My mother-in-law passed away about 3 years ago. My sister-in-law lives near the Collins-Perley recreation center.

 

[nminusyplusm]

My tractor has four open sides in spring, summer, and fall. During winter I cover the open areas with clear roofing panels, except I leave the south side entirely open. This is patterned after Dr Woods House.

Here's a link to his book if you want to read it for free, it's only about 90 pages, and a wealth of information.

https://books.google.com/books?id=o...X&oi=book_result&ct=result#v=onepage&q&f=true

We've had lots of nights in single digits this winter, and even down to minus 5 degrees, which I've never seen here before. My 13 birds came through just fine, didn't even affect egg production, on 12 hens I'm getting 7 to 11 eggs everyday.

View attachment 1253459 Here's the open south side. You can kind of see the clear roofing panel that closes off the side facing west.

Looks like I've got what we call the "drive thru window" open. Inside the tractor, at that window, is a slot that fits a Home Depot 18"x24" small mortar mixing tub.

If it's so cold my chicken nipple bucket freezes, we use the window to fill the black tub with water every morning. Because of it's large size, the fact it's black, and the fact being on the south side grabs passive solar energy, it usually stays clear of ice into the low twenties until dusk, when it doesn't matter anymore, they don't drink after they've gone to roost.

Next day same drill, no water in the field. But a 7.5 gallon bucket with Gamma screw on lid, makes taking the water out to the tractor easy.

View attachment 1253465
This is the north side, the open wire door is closed off with a clear panel.

Closing off the three sides makes the air in the tractor very still, but the open south side, gives great ventilation.
View attachment 1253467
Looking south through the tractor, towards the open end.

In the modern age of air conditioning, only a tiny percentage of the population has any need to learn how to harness the natural elements to produce a comfortable structure.

Most people think the south side of a structure is the hot side, nothing could be further from the truth.

In winter the sun is very low in the southern sky. That low angle floods south facing openings with sunshine deep into the structure, usually all the way way across it. The radiant energy of that sunlight can easily make you feel 20 degrees warmer in it. What a wonderful gift to our birds in winter.

During the summer the sun is high in the sky, rising almost due east. Almost all the heat loads have now shifted to the east and west walls, and away from the south wall.

Since the sun is so high in summer, very little if any sunshine, comes into south facing openings, especially if there's some sort of eave over the south face.

An open south wall provides sunshine and warmth in winter, and is shaded in the summer.

All good architecture, especially in the finest houses, revolved around these principles prior to central heat and air.

If I recall from earlier in this thread, the structure is roughly four feet by eight feet. I haven't studied it, but my first impulse is to turn one four foot side south, and make that side entirely hardware cloth. Put perches along it, my chickens love to perch on the south side for the sunshine, and to just enjoy seeing the world.

If you're having a pop door, put it on the south side too, that'll eliminate any draft from the open south wall, out the pop door. Put the roost all in way down one side, I think 30 inches off the ground is good to avoid Bumblefoot injuries, keep the nesting box lower at say 18 inches off the ground, leaving room to graze beneath, have the door on the north end.

You could even run 18 inches of wire, down each side, just above the bottom sill on the east and west walls. The wire would be open most of the year, maybe closed in during the winter.

I think I just described a half scale model of my tractor. Look at the pictures and see if that appeals to you, or perhaps even a portion of it.

You're very smart to explore all your options in advance, leveraging not just other's wisdom, but even more important, their mistakes, that's such a time saver.

There's a lot of satisfaction in squeezing the most out of a project, there's grace and beauty in an elegant solution to a problem!

 

[bruceha2000]

Not any time soon. My mother-in-law passed away about 3 years ago. My sister-in-law lives near the Collins-Perley recreation center.

That would be about 4 miles from me as the car drives.