[Buddy]

I plan to get 2-4 hens next spring and I am planning my coop. I live in Louisiana and I am more concerned with heat than with cold. Our temperature dips below freezing about 40 nights a year, but it only dips into the 20s a few nights a year. We rarely have snow. On the other hand, our temperature often breaks 100.

I am thinking about a 4x4x4 coop with a gable roof. The peak of the roof would be about 1 foot from the top of the walls (could be higher if that would help). I plan to have vents in the doors and a large window, all of which can be closed in the winter. I am thinking about leaving the gables open permanently except for hardware cloth. The roost will be 25-30 inches from the floor or about 18-23 inches from the bottom of the vents (I want the roost high enough so that there is enough head room under the poop board).

Will the 2 open gables be too drafty in the winter? Should I reduce the size of the openings, or close one off completely during cold nights? Should I design some sort of baffle to keep the wind from blowing in one gable and out the other? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I have not built anything yet, so I am not married to the design.

 

[Bee]

They won't cause too many drafts and will really help heat and humidity to rise and leave the coop.

You'd be surprised at how much I leave my coop open to air in the winter...I'll post a pic here when I get the hatches all battened down for cold weather. I learned last year in this coop just how much is too much when preventing airflow...I had it buckled down too much and condensation was dripping from the ceiling! Not good.

I'm in WV, so we get colder weather than you, more wind, more snow, etc. but it doesn't matter...I still needed a lot of ventilation in the coop and I have a hoop coop, which is basically ALL ventilation. I had put way too much plastic on it, trying to keep out the cold winds and found it was a big mistake.