Greetings! I'm new to the forum
and looking for coop-building advice!
The plan is to convert an old shed to the new coop. Problems arising with this idea are that I got about 3x the number of birds I originally wanted (but couldn't be happier about it), and the shed is not in particularly good shape. I was hesitant to even post photos, as this is sort of the "junk zone" right now... but I think these will be helpful.
My husband is fairly handy, but neither of us have built any sort of structure before, just the odd bookcase and nightstand type stuff. We're wanting to learn though, but plan to take it slow and try to do it as simply as possible.
So the reason for wanting to use the shed is mainly that it's something to start with and build off of, and because it's in the ideal location for our chicken coop. We have 2 acres, but only this small portion here that is fenced in (we plan on really reinforcing this fencing to protect from bears/dogs and building a large covered run to protect them from eagles/ravens and the like). The photo above shows the shed in relation to the house. I'm thinking we should remove all the icky old wood but leave all the 4x4s and 2x4s, extend the indoor space back (left), and build another identical metal roof and attach it next to (towards camera) the existing portion. If we do that, we'll really just copy the structure (support beams, roof, etc) that is already there, which I was thinking would make this intro to building easier on us. This would be quadrupling the size of the shed, and hopefully be big enough for my 15 hens.
Oh, and because it's all about the chicks... here's the chicks at a few days old. They're now about a week old and growing fast, so I'm hoping to get started on the coop ASAP.
Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions!
The plan is to convert an old shed to the new coop. Problems arising with this idea are that I got about 3x the number of birds I originally wanted (but couldn't be happier about it), and the shed is not in particularly good shape. I was hesitant to even post photos, as this is sort of the "junk zone" right now... but I think these will be helpful.
My husband is fairly handy, but neither of us have built any sort of structure before, just the odd bookcase and nightstand type stuff. We're wanting to learn though, but plan to take it slow and try to do it as simply as possible.
So the reason for wanting to use the shed is mainly that it's something to start with and build off of, and because it's in the ideal location for our chicken coop. We have 2 acres, but only this small portion here that is fenced in (we plan on really reinforcing this fencing to protect from bears/dogs and building a large covered run to protect them from eagles/ravens and the like). The photo above shows the shed in relation to the house. I'm thinking we should remove all the icky old wood but leave all the 4x4s and 2x4s, extend the indoor space back (left), and build another identical metal roof and attach it next to (towards camera) the existing portion. If we do that, we'll really just copy the structure (support beams, roof, etc) that is already there, which I was thinking would make this intro to building easier on us. This would be quadrupling the size of the shed, and hopefully be big enough for my 15 hens.
Oh, and because it's all about the chicks... here's the chicks at a few days old. They're now about a week old and growing fast, so I'm hoping to get started on the coop ASAP.
Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions!