Another Southern Carport Coop

Consider this a coop build thread We just got the carport delivered today and will be basing our build similar to this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/877656/carport-to-coop-run-conversion

We won't be using sand and since we're in a location that actually gets some days of below freezing temps, we'll be adding "panels" in on the inside to help provide additional windbreak. I'm so excited to get started but wouldn't ya know, thunderstorms ALL WEEKEND LONG. Le sigh. I have almost 3 week old chicks that REALLY need to move outdoors, but I digress. Anyway, just a couple pics to start with.

We have 20x20 worth of kennel panels so we'll build what we need to on the carport for the coop, move the birds at night, then move the kennel panels to come off of the side of the carport to give them a 20x30 run area, in addition to the 18x20 coop/run area.


The back side, closer to the trees, we are going to mostly create a solid wall with plywood, and hardware cloth up at the peak. I want a set of single level nest boxes in the middle section on the back wall.


The roosting area will be at the back section, to the left, and then I'm planning on an in-coop brooder/intro area to the right, maybe with its own separate small pen to get out of the shielded off area.


To the right here, I'm planning for 6 foot panels on the side to provide windbreak, and then another 6 foot "wall" coming inside from the side to create a little cubby, on both sides. The kennel panels are going to run out towards the current coop. That blue tarped thing on the left in the background is my current pvc introduction pen that I want to move the chicks into in the meantime, if the weather would cooperate.


More updates to come!

These are some of my "drawings" to demonstrate some of my ideas. We'll see what happens since my husband has slightly different ideas

Yes, the 18 foot side is the open side, not the legs side. Pallet roosts to the left, brooder area to the right, nest boxes in the center. With curtains of course.


General overhead idea. The dash at the bottom right is meant to be a note for a door. This has moved to the left side now, with consideration of the direction we want the kennel panels to go.


And these are the "wall panel" ideas, for the inside. In the image above, you can kinda see my little dash marks where I was making mental notes on where I'd want these to go and the areas I want to create inside the carport.

Looks good but some things to think about.

I can’t tell for sure, but I think your brooder area is on the other side, away from your run? When integrating it might be beneficial to have them be able to see each other when in the runs. You might put them both on the same side and carve out a run inside the big one where you can isolate the chicks if you want to but have a gate you can open to give them access to the whole run. Since it is inside your kennel panels it doesn’t necessarily have to be predator proof so you can maybe save some money on materials.

How many chickens and how much roost space are you providing? It looks like ladder roosts so they can just hop up, they don’t need as much room to spread their wings and fly up but I’d still be generous with roost space. They will all want to sleep on the top rung.

One advantage to having that much room is that you can do things in there if you need to. I love having extra room. One thing I’ve found beneficial when integrating is to have a juvenile roost, separate from the main roosts and a little lower down but still higher than the nests. When integrating, my chicks are afraid to sleep on the main roosts with the adults until the chicks mature into adults themselves, usually about the time the pullets start to lay. I’m not saying you need to do anything yet but if you start having problem with chicks sleeping in nests instead of on the roosts with the adults, this might be a solution. You have enough room to manage do things.

It looks like six nests, that will handle a lot of hens, easily 24 and probably 30. I don’t know how you are building those nests. Sometimes it’s just as cheap and easy to build a lot as it is a few, it depends on how you are building them. There is nothing wrong with having extra nests either. You should not need more than 1 nest for every 4 hens, even if you build them the minimum recommended 12” x 12”. Larger nests can handle more hens. And you can make nests as simple or as complicated as you wish. It’s just something to think about. If you are spending a lot of time or spending extra money for individual nets you might look at how many you actually need.

What you have planned looks like it should work fine. I’m not criticizing you at all, just tossing out some ideas to think about.

Good luck!

Sweet!!

Ridgerunner said:

Looks good but some things to think about.

I can’t tell for sure, but I think your brooder area is on the other side, away from your run? When integrating it might be beneficial to have them be able to see each other when in the runs. You might put them both on the same side and carve out a run inside the big one where you can isolate the chicks if you want to but have a gate you can open to give them access to the whole run. Since it is inside your kennel panels it doesn’t necessarily have to be predator proof so you can maybe save some money on materials.

How many chickens and how much roost space are you providing? It looks like ladder roosts so they can just hop up, they don’t need as much room to spread their wings and fly up but I’d still be generous with roost space. They will all want to sleep on the top rung.

One advantage to having that much room is that you can do things in there if you need to. I love having extra room. One thing I’ve found beneficial when integrating is to have a juvenile roost, separate from the main roosts and a little lower down but still higher than the nests. When integrating, my chicks are afraid to sleep on the main roosts with the adults until the chicks mature into adults themselves, usually about the time the pullets start to lay. I’m not saying you need to do anything yet but if you start having problem with chicks sleeping in nests instead of on the roosts with the adults, this might be a solution. You have enough room to manage do things.

It looks like six nests, that will handle a lot of hens, easily 24 and probably 30. I don’t know how you are building those nests. Sometimes it’s just as cheap and easy to build a lot as it is a few, it depends on how you are building them. There is nothing wrong with having extra nests either. You should not need more than 1 nest for every 4 hens, even if you build them the minimum recommended 12” x 12”. Larger nests can handle more hens. And you can make nests as simple or as complicated as you wish. It’s just something to think about. If you are spending a lot of time or spending extra money for individual nets you might look at how many you actually need.

What you have planned looks like it should work fine. I’m not criticizing you at all, just tossing out some ideas to think about.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

Yes, as I have it in my head now, the brooder area will be away from the run, though I'm planning on a small section to come off of it out into the carport area itself to get them out of the cubby a little more. I get what you mean about them probably having better chances at introductions if they had more access to the run area instead. I'll give that some consideration for sure.

I have 9 adult chickens and 13 chicks to go in, so 22 birds total, for now. It looks like at least 2 of the chicks are boys so they may not be staying. I'm still planning on adding more girls of other breeds because I really want a rainbow basket. The area I'm planning for the roost will be 6x6, roughly. They currently have a "ladder" pallet roost and yes, the majority of the birds try to cram on top. The one they have now is already too small for them so I'll be getting one more pallet, then attaching a smaller half pallet in an upside down L shape, to bracket onto their current roost. 7 can comfortably fit across the length of one of the pallets (standing up) so with the addition of the extra stuff, I should at LEAST have room for the 22, if not up to 28. I may just find a second pallet to go ahead and build the new roost and have it in there. That's probably the smarter idea lol

This is what the 9 are using now



As far as the boxes, we haven't fully decided how we're doing those yet. We like having them accessible from the outside, but the way my husband wants to build the back wall, there are going to be more support studs down the center, so there probably won't be 6 boxes lol. Probably 4 or 5, realistically. If it's not too difficult, we'll make them accessible from the outside, but it's also not a big deal for me to go in and collect them either. I also want to have a larger box on the brooder side of the coop for any would-be broody hens. I'm thinking whatever we come up with for boxes will hold those dish pans so I can just pick the whole thing up, bird and all, and move to the brooder area. That's the thought anyway

Thanks for offering some additional thoughts

It's been a hot minute since an update! We aren't finished yet, but we're getting closer now























I'm still planning on the roost going here. This is actually an 8x6 ft spot. We'll run the tubing for the water through the studs and such to the area just outside the panel both inside the coop and outside. I'll need to come up with something to provide some afternoon shade over it. We have enough leftover plywood and such, it shouldn't be a problem.


And this is going to be the 8x6 ft brooder area. We're probably going to get a 6ft chain link gate and be forced to add some wood on either side to hold it in place.






The nest boxes will be on the back wall,




Still have more painting to do, hardware cloth to install, and doors to hang, but things are taking shape now, and it feels good

If the exterior walls of the carport will be predator proof, consider making interior walls using chicken wire and 2x2's(ripped 2x4's).
You could attach some wood 'nailers' to the metal rafters to attach interior chicken wire 'walls'.

Just some thoughts.

aart said:

If the exterior walls of the carport will be predator proof, consider making interior walls using chicken wire and 2x2's(ripped 2x4's).
You could attach some wood 'nailers' to the metal rafters to attach interior chicken wire 'walls'.

Just some thoughts.

Click to expand...

Yes, hardware cloth will be going floor to ceiling on the open areas as well as a perimeter around the base of the carport itself. I haven't totally decided on how we'll be closing the brooder area in, but using chicken wire is an option, especially up to the roof. I think my husband really wants to build a gate for me for that inside wall too instead of working around a chain link panel. We've got a little bit of time to brainstorm some options. Maybe a 4ft wide panel framed with wood and chicken wire to cover, and another 4ft wide panel to be the gate for me to walk in.

Another thing I'm trying to sort out is covering the exterior plywood walls. We thought about doing vinyl siding, but part of me wonders if we could just get some wood-look vinyl sheet flooring to install instead. I wish the wall panels that the big bix stores sell came in better options for "wet conditions" applications.