What would you do with this coop?

...or run, specifically. (And the answer "tear it down and start over" doesn't work - LOL).

I just moved into a rental house with a short-term lease. I wasn't able to get my coop into the backyard, but this house has a coop already, so my three birds are in it. The problem: it's a wet place. Winter is very wet in Seattle. The actual coop portion is semi-dry, but the run has no proper roof. The existing bedding of the run (half straw, half leaves) is just gross. Some previous tenant put a tarp across the top (which is otherwise covered in hardware cloth), but it has since been punctured, not to mention weighed down with leaves. It's not a sturdy setup.

So my question is how I might temporarily remedy this situation and not have the place be so disgusting for my chickens. My mom suggested a new tarp. I wonder if maybe setting plywood on top might work. I really don't want to invest much in this thing, because I don't plan on staying more than six months. Should I put down new straw and hope that's enough to stay decent until spring? Also, this thing is pretty tall, and I don't have any power tools, so I'm kind of limited in what I am able to do to it myself.

Front pic. Chickens are perched on a board separating the two sides. I think they prefer to roost there rather than go inside. I know at least one of them has gone in the coop though, since there have been eggs in it.




View of coop doors.



Shot of the roof, taken from the back left corner of top pic. There is a haphazard board going through the center (L to R in top pic) and then a tarp on one side (R in top pic).

It does not need a roof on the run. Put down more bedding, like the soiled stuff you clean out of the coop if you do not do deep litter, and garden cuttings, leaves, wood chips, whatever you have every time it gets wet. Will you free range? If not, you should probably add on to the run unless it would cost too much for you. How big is it?

I can see your dilemma.
It is really hard to tell in the pics ... Is the roof on the coop pitched or flat? Not the run but the building itself.

Not having power tools I would suggest fresh straw or hay in the run and that means cleaning it out often. If you are only staying about 6 months it may not be so bad. There do not seem to be any windows on the coop itself. No wonder they would rather sit in the run.

It does not look strong enough to handle any sort of real roof on it. Bummer there for sure. I am assuming it does not get much sun in the run since it has the tarp and huge trees.
I am betting it cannot be moved to a sunny spot easily either.

Personally if it was mine to deal with and as icky as it seems to be I would put my gals in a tractor coop in a sunnier part of the yard. A simple a frame style would work and could be topped with clear plastic if needed.

Is there an unused garden in the yard? It would work for a tractor without tearing up the grass since it is a rental.

You do not have to clean the run out. Just add more to make a deep litter. It makes a home for bugs and gives them something to scratch in.

If you are only going to be there a short time and want them to have a covered run you might just use an inexpensive disposable plastic drop cloth (Lowes has one that is 9x12 for just under 9 dollars). Staple it to the existing framework. It is opaque so light will get through. Chickens don't really have to have a covered run but in your area with all the rain they would probably appreciate it. Rake out the existing wet and moldy straw and replace it with some new dry straw or pine chips/shavings. They will do fine with a dirt floor but again with your weather that would probably be a mud floor.

It's pretty big. I've have to measure it during the day. But it looks to be roughly cube-shaped, with length and width close to the height. I still let the chickens out in the backyard, though not all the time. The roof is flat or close to it. I took these pics at dusk; during the day, it gets some light. The trees are only behind it, on the east side.

jtn42248 said:

If you are only going to be there a short time and want them to have a covered run you might just use an inexpensive disposable plastic drop cloth (Lowes has one that is 9x12 for just under 9 dollars). Staple it to the existing framework. It is opaque so light will get through. Chickens don't really have to have a covered run but in your area with all the rain they would probably appreciate it. Rake out the existing wet and moldy straw and replace it with some new dry straw or pine chips/shavings. They will do fine with a dirt floor but again with your weather that would probably be a mud floor.

Click to expand...

Ditto^^ new tarp..... measure first, get the best you can afford that's big enough to cover the whole thing in one sheet.

This is what the top currently looks like. It's water weighing it down, not leaves. I wonder if the same thing will happen if I put a new tarp across the top.

I see no picture.

Should be there now. It was too big to load.