New Coop questions

missy1971

Songster
Dec 27, 2016
723
321
176
Harris County Georgia
I am getting a new (not new, but new to me) tin shed, about 9x8, we happened along some free chain link fencing, I will be cutting a vent on the sides,and one in the back, will be putting hardware cloth over those and it has sliding doors so i can lock them up at night. The chain link fence will be attached to the shed and wrapped at the bottom. I want to put something over the top to deter predators, but allow them sunshine. I need ideas for that.. Also, I live in GA, should I insulate the coop? the wind off the lake blows pretty much all the time, I just want to make sure they are cool in the summer and warm in the winter
 
Yeah, you will need a lot of ventilation. In Georgia cold is not your enemy, heat is, but it can still get below freezing. You’ll need ventilation in the winter but summer is when it gets dangerous. You are far enough south that you will get a lot of weather influence off the gulf coast.

Don’t worry about keeping them warm in winter, with their down coats that can manage that for themselves. Where you are they’d be fine sleeping in trees in the winter from a weather standpoint. In trees they’d be able to move around and get out of direct winds, so just ventilate your coop to avoid breezes on them in the winter. In summer, breezes hitting them will feel good.

How much shade will that coop be in? Will it be exposed to the south and west sun, the hot sides? My coop has a metal roof and the west side is metal, the rest wood. It does not get too hot. I have a lot of ventilation and no insulation. With enough ventilation you don’t need insulation. When cutting your vents, I suggest lots up high but also a decent sized vent down low. In the summer you want cooler air coming in to push hot air out up above. The cooler the air coming in the better that works. So cut your low vent on the north or maybe east side where it stays in the shade. That air will be a lot cooler than if you cut the vent on the sunny side.

Do not put your nests on the south or west sides where they can become an oven in the sun. Positioning the roosts is less important because the coop will cool off when the sun goes down, but maybe put them a bit further from the wall if they are on the west side. But if you can I’d suggest the nests and low vent on the north side with roosts on the east.

Condensation will form on that metal on many mornings. It can seem like it’s raining inside some mornings from my metal roof. It hasn’t created any problems for me, with my ventilation and the bedding on my dirt floor it dries out soon enough, but it can cause problems for some people. If you insulate anything in that coop it would be the roof to stop that condensation. With enough ventilation you don’t need insulation to protect against heat.

I don’t understand what you mean by wrapping that chain link under the shed. Could you elaborate a bit?

How big will your run be, width x length? How tall is your chain link fence? You need to be able to walk in there without hitting your head. Wire can get expensive. The heavier the gauge and the smaller the mesh, the more protection it adds but the more expensive it is. 2” x 4” welded wire fencing will stop practically any decent sized predators and isn’t all that expensive but some things can still get through. I don’t know how big the openings on your chain link fencing are either, so matching that size will give you equivalent protection.

I don’t know if you need to support that top to keep it from sagging but hog rings usually work well to attach fencing to fencing.
 
I had horses in a metal barn in GA and even with 20' ceiling and 30' doors open 24/7, it would be miserable in the summer. The daily 5:00 thunder storm were downright deafening. I'd keep the shed for storage and come up with something else for the chickens. Think outside the box. You do not need a traditional 4 sided chicken coop.
 
When I moved here I had a 12’ x 60’ loafing shed about 12’ tall at the high end, metal roof with the back and both ends metal, but wide open front in the front. I enclosed the open front with paneling and doors so I had a place to store stuff. The way it is built, the front and back of the shed are wide open at the top under the overhang, probably about a foot or so. The metal doesn’t come all the way to the ground in many places. Great ventilation. None of this is shaded by trees or anything else.

I rebuilt one end of that shed for my coop. The back (hot west side) of the coop is metal, the front and one end wood, and the side of the coop inside the shed wood. In the coop that opening under the overhang is down to about 5-1/2” but with large openings on the sides, all covered with hardware cloth in the coop section only. I have a large opening in summer down low inside that shed so it is always in the shade.

Sometimes I get over 100 degrees in the summer. That’s hot wherever you are, but it’s better in that metal shed in that shade than out in the sun. I have not used a thermometer to check it, but it doesn’t seem any hotter in that coop than it does outside in the run under the shade. When it is that hot, it is hot everywhere.

When it rains it is deafening in there. I have a metal roof on my house, it’s pretty loud there when we get a hard rain. It’s not as loud as that shed or coop because of the attic in the house, but it’s still loud. My chickens have yet to complain about that noise, it really doesn’t seem to bother them.

It does require a lot of ventilation. It does help a lot to think about how nests and roosts are positioned. Metal is not my favorite material to use, but that shed offers some good opportunities to reuse something and hopefully save money. If it’s what I had to work with I’d use it.
 
Yeah, you will need a lot of ventilation. In Georgia cold is not your enemy, heat is, but it can still get below freezing. You’ll need ventilation in the winter but summer is when it gets dangerous. You are far enough south that you will get a lot of weather influence off the gulf coast.

Don’t worry about keeping them warm in winter, with their down coats that can manage that for themselves. Where you are they’d be fine sleeping in trees in the winter from a weather standpoint. In trees they’d be able to move around and get out of direct winds, so just ventilate your coop to avoid breezes on them in the winter. In summer, breezes hitting them will feel good.

How much shade will that coop be in? Will it be exposed to the south and west sun, the hot sides? My coop has a metal roof and the west side is metal, the rest wood. It does not get too hot. I have a lot of ventilation and no insulation. With enough ventilation you don’t need insulation. When cutting your vents, I suggest lots up high but also a decent sized vent down low. In the summer you want cooler air coming in to push hot air out up above. The cooler the air coming in the better that works. So cut your low vent on the north or maybe east side where it stays in the shade. That air will be a lot cooler than if you cut the vent on the sunny side.

Do not put your nests on the south or west sides where they can become an oven in the sun. Positioning the roosts is less important because the coop will cool off when the sun goes down, but maybe put them a bit further from the wall if they are on the west side. But if you can I’d suggest the nests and low vent on the north side with roosts on the east.

Condensation will form on that metal on many mornings. It can seem like it’s raining inside some mornings from my metal roof. It hasn’t created any problems for me, with my ventilation and the bedding on my dirt floor it dries out soon enough, but it can cause problems for some people. If you insulate anything in that coop it would be the roof to stop that condensation. With enough ventilation you don’t need insulation to protect against heat.

I don’t understand what you mean by wrapping that chain link under the shed. Could you elaborate a bit?

How big will your run be, width x length? How tall is your chain link fence? You need to be able to walk in there without hitting your head. Wire can get expensive. The heavier the gauge and the smaller the mesh, the more protection it adds but the more expensive it is. 2” x 4” welded wire fencing will stop practically any decent sized predators and isn’t all that expensive but some things can still get through. I don’t know how big the openings on your chain link fencing are either, so matching that size will give you equivalent protection.

I don’t know if you need to support that top to keep it from sagging but hog rings usually work well to attach fencing to fencing.


The shed is approx 8 1/2' wide, length is approx 9 1/2'
The back of the coop will be facing West and the front east, I do have a lot of shade, and like I said, we live on a lake which the back of the coop will be facing. The run will be wrapping around in the shade. I'll take pics to show you when I get home.
What I said about the chain link, is to wrap it around the bottom of the chain link to deter predators, but you are right...thats going to be expensive.
The one thing I forgot was this coop shed will be right next to our shed, and the run behind it, so trees and our shed will provide a lot of shade.
The shed has no holes in the roof, but a few on the sides. The chain I guess is standard openings, never really thought about it. The fence will only be about 4ft tall, the dog run we have them in now is 6ft tall, so we will be putting post up to double it. I was thinking of a pitched sun shade, but dang those are expensive ..so I've got to figure out another option
 
When I moved here I had a 12’ x 60’ loafing shed about 12’ tall at the high end, metal roof with the back and both ends metal, but wide open front in the front. I enclosed the open front with paneling and doors so I had a place to store stuff. The way it is built, the front and back of the shed are wide open at the top under the overhang, probably about a foot or so. The metal doesn’t come all the way to the ground in many places. Great ventilation. None of this is shaded by trees or anything else.

I rebuilt one end of that shed for my coop. The back (hot west side) of the coop is metal, the front and one end wood, and the side of the coop inside the shed wood. In the coop that opening under the overhang is down to about 5-1/2” but with large openings on the sides, all covered with hardware cloth in the coop section only. I have a large opening in summer down low inside that shed so it is always in the shade.

Sometimes I get over 100 degrees in the summer. That’s hot wherever you are, but it’s better in that metal shed in that shade than out in the sun. I have not used a thermometer to check it, but it doesn’t seem any hotter in that coop than it does outside in the run under the shade. When it is that hot, it is hot everywhere.

When it rains it is deafening in there. I have a metal roof on my house, it’s pretty loud there when we get a hard rain. It’s not as loud as that shed or coop because of the attic in the house, but it’s still loud. My chickens have yet to complain about that noise, it really doesn’t seem to bother them.

It does require a lot of ventilation. It does help a lot to think about how nests and roosts are positioned. Metal is not my favorite material to use, but that shed offers some good opportunities to reuse something and hopefully save money. If it’s what I had to work with I’d use it.


Ridgerunner...i swear ill send those pics tomorrow...i would really like to get your opinion
 
Ok here are pics of my space. At the corner Of the shed on the right, the coop shed, (which is 10x12) will be going, with the back facing west, then the run will go to the fence post all the way around the back of my shed which is 20ft, then around the corner 10ft. ...insights ??
 










jumpy.gif
D.gif
Well here are a few photos of my castle! Just need to put the hardware cloth on the ground around the perimeter. Every time I turnaround I seem to add something. Today it was the LED solar photo cell - motion lights. Doesn't look like much but don't ask the cost. Let's just say every egg will be golden!
 
Ok here are pics of my space. At the corner Of the shed on the right, the coop shed, (which is 10x12) will be going, with the back facing west, then the run will go to the fence post all the way around the back of my shed which is 20ft, then around the corner 10ft. ...insights ??
That last pic is the back side of my shed


Ok obviously my pics didn't add. Let's try again!
400

400

400
 










jumpy.gif
D.gif
Well here are a few photos of my castle! Just need to put the hardware cloth on the ground around the perimeter. Every time I turnaround I seem to add something. Today it was the LED solar photo cell - motion lights. Doesn't look like much but don't ask the cost. Let's just say every egg will be golden!
Omg that is awesome! great job!
 

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