As if there weren't enough coop questions...

[RottenEgg]

We'll be moving here shortly, and though the folks who bought our house wanted our coop, I refuse to give them our ladies. So now I'm trying to figure out exactly what the best way to go about moving them with us is.

They're just going to have to deal with tight accommodations for a couple days between closings, but once we get there I'd like to have a very quick and easy way to get them in their own space to reduce the stress on them. As such, I think that a coop kit is the best way to go. Unfortunately, that costs either thousands of dollars, or is nowhere near big enough to hold our five girls. There is a shed on the property, but it's not fenced in and I don't care to cut a hole in the side of the shed and incorporate that for possible resale value in the future. We were planning to put the coop on the south side of the shed, where there's great shade, not so many neighbors that can see, and should work perfectly for not having to tear out too much of the yard.

Does anyone have any ideas for coops that would be able to be built within a day? or a way that we could prebuild parts of it, then just put the final finishing touches on when we get there? We *could* put the ladies in the coop for a day or two, but frankly, I don't care to have them pooping all over it until we get it done, so the quicker the better.

Thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

How far are you moving? Would it be possible to house the new owners to house your hens for a few days while you get ready? Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Predators may be an issue. Can you fence off a small area in that shed to keep them from pooping everywhere? Maybe spread something on the floor that can make clean-up really quick? Maybe even separate pens in there if they are really crowded? Far from ideal but it keeps them alive. They will get over the stress.

Not sure what your climate is like but maybe get a dog kennel that can go up pretty quickly as temporary housing. Put a good cover over it to keep them in and predators out. Just throw a tarp over one end to protect them from rain and rig up a roost and nests. Perhaps you could incorporate that kennel as part of their permanent run. In halfway decent weather they will be fine in that until winter. In the south permanent housing can be pretty similar. A lot depends on your climate.

 

[RottenEgg]

We're just moving across town. I could ask them to do that, but I'm not sure that the lady would love that I'm already talking about digging up some of her million flowers

It's in South Dakota, so it will get cold, but not at the end of September. Or at least not so cold that it'll be dangerous. They'd be fine. The dog kennel is a good idea. We could certainly do that for a while.

I was kind of wondering if I could just take a shed kit and modify it. It seems that if you label something "chicken coop" that all of a sudden it gets twice as expensive. If we could get a kit and do as much as we could before moving, then just move the pieces and assemble on site, that would be amazing. Not that I want to spend a ton of time messing with a chicken coop instead of moving and unpacking, but I'm really not wanting to even temporarily rehome them if I can avoid it.

 

[Blooie]

With a couple of cattle panels and some steel fence posts, you could build them a quick "hoop coop" in a couple of hours. We use our for a run, but it would work equally well for a temporary coop, then become the run when you get the coop built.

We pounded 6 steel fence posts into the ground. We arched the cattle panels between them, wiring them into place, then covered the panels with chicken wire. A hardware cloth and apron at the bottom, a piece of wire fencing for the ends, and we were done. In your case you could put a temporary roost in there and cover that portion for shelter. We've found that landscape fabric works fantastic for shade - one person stands on one side and another on the far side. Unroll a bit of the landscape fabric, toss the roll over to the other person, cut it and attach it with zip ties.




This was our run before the addition of the little lattice fence. We have landscape fabric for shade. You can see the hardware cloth skirt at the bottom 2 feet. It's folded outward at the bottom for a barrier against diggers. Cheap, easy and fast to put up, and we're still using it! By rigging a shelter on one end for them, your chickens should be very comfortable.


We put up a little lattice fence because our set up is visible from the street, but that's not necessary, of course. This run was very easy to expand this spring. We simply took off the end panel on the south - chicken wire covering and hardware cloth skirt and apron intact - pounded in two more fence posts and arched one more cattle panel between them, wiring it to the existing cattle panels. Pop the end back on and we had an additional 4 feet of room.

 

[RottenEgg]

http://www.menards.com/main/buildin...p-2314691-c-9485.htm?tid=-5375467613267865991

Thoughts on converting something like that for a permanent coop? Not sure how the plastic would do, but it looks nice, and would have enough space. I may have to throw more ventilation in it, but I'd have to check that out.

Thanks for the run/temporary coop ideas! I didn't even think about not having a hard sided shelter for them right away. They'd be fine for a few days in something like that.

 

[Blooie]

I'm originally from South Dakota - around the Sioux Falls area - so I know what your weather is like. September and early October are my favorite months! That resin shed might work fine, but bear in mind that lots of people who have done it say that the resin walls can be a wooly-booger for cutting in ventilation and/or adding windows. Can you find something similar at Menards that's wood? Lots of times they'll even deliver and set it up for you. Just a thought.

 

[RottenEgg]

Sioux Falls is where we live Nice to meet others from SoDak!

I'll have to look again to see if there's a shed that is the right size. The wood ones seem quite a good bit larger than the plastic (don't want it too big so the heat stays in) and about 5x as expensive. I've already lined up some kennel panels, though, so the short term is taken care of. I do have another month to plan this out, but I'd like to not get there and then have to figure it out. So stressful anyways!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I prefer wood too. It’s better insulated than plastic or metal and is easier to work on. Around here Lowe’s or Home Depot have prefabbed wooden sheds that they will install for you, though the cost is up there. If you go that route figure out something for the foundation. I once had my boys, aged around 11 and 13, assemble one of those 8’ x 10’ kits by themselves, including reading the instructions so they could get some experience in erection. I provided some muscle but they basically did it themselves. It is work but it’s not that hard. You will need to add ventilation, a pop door, roosts, and nests. That makes it a coop.

A trick to add things to the metal or plastic sheds is to put a piece of wood on the outside and inside of the wall and screw those together, clamping the wall in between. That way you have something to attach to.

 

[Blooie]

Sioux Falls is where we live Nice to meet others from SoDak!

I'll have to look again to see if there's a shed that is the right size. The wood ones seem quite a good bit larger than the plastic (don't want it too big so the heat stays in) and about 5x as expensive. I've already lined up some kennel panels, though, so the short term is taken care of. I do have another month to plan this out, but I'd like to not get there and then have to figure it out. So stressful anyways!

Just remember that you WANT that warm air to escape. It's warm and it's moist, and if it travels up to the colder areas of the coop it condenses and the vapor falls right back down on the chickens - sure recipe for frostbite. As long as they are dry and out of the wind, they do extremely well.

I grew up in Sioux Falls. Now we live in Northern Wyoming. But we go back a few times a year because all of my family is back there. I'm eager for this year's trip at Thanksgiving. If you're in Sioux Falls you've probably seen my little great niece Ashley on the news pretty regularly. She was diagnosed with leukemia in January. GO TEAM ASHLEY! teehee It's always a little risky going that time of year - crossing the mountains in winter is bad enough but winter on the prairie brings a whole new set of problems!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I know your winters get colder than this but I’ve seen chicken sleep in trees with the outside temperatures well below zero Fahrenheit. Those trees were in a thicket in a protected valley and they could move around to get out of a direct wind so they did not have wind hitting them but they did fine. One member of this forum in upper Michigan that I trust told a story about chickens that went feral and spent the upper Michigan winter outside, foraging for themselves and eating snow for water. They really can handle cold pretty well as long as they have decent ventilation to protect against frostbite and are not hit by a wind strong enough to ruffle their feathers. I’d still make sure they had plenty of water and feed them well.

The idea is not to keep the area around the chickens warm. The idea is to keep the chickens themselves warm. They manage this the same way wild birds do. They trap tiny pockets of air in their down and feathers. If the wind ruffles their feathers it can let those tiny pockets of air escape and they can get cold. My chickens forage outside in zero Fahrenheit weather as long as the wind is not blowing. But if a cold wind is blowing they get out of the wind.