Have the chickens, now I need a coop. Please help!!!

[EliteTempleton]

How would I attach the hardware cloth to the metal? For both the apron and the ventilation I plan to put on the coop sides and eves? All I can think of is metal zip ties, and that could get pricey cause I'd need a lot of them. I was thinking of pine shavings bedding.

Self tapping screws with washers for attachment.
When I had a stationary coop and run I put pavers (I got more basic cheaper ones at the store but this is the roughly the size I had) all the way around the outside, I was in the city so I mostly just had racoons to worry about. But the digging animals go up to the fence and start digging down, they don't naturally realize they can start further back and go under it. Had it that way for years without issue.
Pine shavings is probably best but this video did a good job of describing pro's and con's of the typical options depending on your drainage and such.

 

[aart]

The area has standing water after a rain, so I'm thinking about building it up a bit where the shed will sit. Not sure if gravel or dirt is best to do that with.

Yep, dirt would be better. Gravel will just fill with water and eventually chicken poop for a nasty morass.

How would I attach the hardware cloth to the metal? For both the apron and the ventilation I plan to put on the coop sides and eves? All I can think of is metal zip ties, and that could get pricey cause I'd need a lot of them. I was thinking of pine shavings bedding.

Self tapping screws with washers for attachment.

Yep, sheet metal screws.

 

[MadGardener]

Leveling just under the blocks at the corners is what I'd do.

Another option to attach the hardware cloth would be to attach 2x4 horizontally between studs inside the coop. It would give your screws (with washers) something substantial to bite into.

 

[EliteTempleton]

My soil is hard clay. The area has standing water after a rain, so I'm thinking about building it up a bit where the shed will sit. Not sure if gravel or dirt is best to do that with. Maybe both? Either that, or bury rain diverter around the building (like 6-12" landscape edging) to keep any standing water from running underneath. Also there's a floor kit for the shed, which is a possibility, but it's not structural, just an open frame on which one would place plywood sheeting about an inch above the soil

Depends on the dirt. Most dirt holds moisture. Gravel drains very well but would be tough on their feet. Sand drains excellent, wouldn't bother their feet but will be harder to clean. I want to say add sand and shavings on top but they'll just scratch it up into a mixed mess.
Don't do plywood, decide how you want to clean out an inch of manure first. I prefer dirt with shavings but I don't have the water problem. A Concrete pad with shavings would clean out well and you can hose it off. Doesn't have to be perfect, it's a coop not a deck. But I'd want them to have a natural floor in the run.

Turn your problem into a solution:
Capture the roof runoff into a white barrel so you can easily check the water level and plumb in a horizontal nipple water system with a Uniseal fitting to 3/4" pipe.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC!

Here in the Steamy Southeast an Open Air coop is a great option and metal has the advantage of being termite-proof.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

The area has standing water after a rain,

This is worrisome.

Dry chickens are healthy chickens so, if at all possible, chicken coops should be located in well-drained areas.

If this is the only space possible then you will need to put in the work to correct the drainage with whatever combination of diversion ditches, French drain, regrading of the land, building up the soil, etc. is required to move the water somewhere else or your coop and run will, to be blunt, turn into an open cesspit.

Do you have photos of the area?

 

[EliteTempleton]

Rereading your comments about metal being better where you are, termites and painting being a concern, and how much you would have to modify the shed...
They have this mostly metal one on display at my TSC, it's one of the few perfabs I've seen since I have experience that I would buy. I looked at it pretty close as a breeding or sick isolation pen. It does have wood sides but I recognize the wood from a barn I built years back, it's probably the same and if so is pre-treated for termites and decently treated for water. Plus the rest will hold up and you have a good frame to modify down the road after you learn what isn't working. When I started I bought a similar one like you posted after the farm store worker tried to talk me out of it . That clean out tray is a joke. After about 3 months I built my own like he recommended.
I wouldn't put the floor in probably on this one either, looks like a nice mice cave if you do. Unless you have outdoor cats.
My thought for this option was also that you can probably easily add dog kennel panels to expand it over time. The holes are too big, allowing a predator to reach in and grab them by the neck or get one when it pecks outside of it but it's easy to add HW cloth for the ~18" around the bottom. Plus the covered run will help with your water issue and protect them from the bird flu.
Oh maybe chicken wire above the HW cloth to keep the small birds out of the feed also, if you hang it outside to give them more room.
Otherwise check out cattle panel coops and in general you could do well starting with a dog kennel option, starts fast, easy to keep modifying or growing and can add a different coop on the end if you don't like it so it's not a waste of $.

 

[EliteTempleton]

Oh that one I linked to says it can hold 14, assuming the industry standard 2sq'/each your 8 will have almost 4sq'/ea.

 

[FunClucks]

The inside of the shed.

https://images.thdstatic.com/catalog/pdfImages/18/1802dd4d-dbc6-447a-a6bc-35764f64f785.pdf

I'm kinda worried that once I start removing metal sheeting on the sides it won't be structurally stable.

 

[aart]

The inside of the shed.

https://images.thdstatic.com/catalog/pdfImages/18/1802dd4d-dbc6-447a-a6bc-35764f64f785.pdf

I'm kinda worried that once I start removing metal sheeting on the sides it won't be structurally stable.

As long as you don't cut thru the metal framing it should be ok.
Adding wooden framing would work too....and may be needed anyway for windows.

 

[FunClucks]

Welcome to BYC!

Here in the Steamy Southeast an Open Air coop is a great option and metal has the advantage of being termite-proof.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/



This is worrisome.

Dry chickens are healthy chickens so, if at all possible, chicken coops should be located in well-drained areas.

If this is the only space possible then you will need to put in the work to correct the drainage with whatever combination of diversion ditches, French drain, regrading of the land, building up the soil, etc. is required to move the water somewhere else or your coop and run will, to be blunt, turn into an open cesspit.

Do you have photos of the area?

There's an oval garden bed, then a 2-3 ft tall berm which you can just see the top of going across the middle of the picture, then a post sticking out of the ground (hammock stand), and past the post is a stump. Just past the stump to the fence and from the stump to the fence on the right is the area I plan to put the coop. The land drains from the back of the property towards the berm (like a 3 ft down ditch where the water runs sideways to the right off the property). However, there's some depressions where trees were removed, and the soil is clay, and the grade isn't high, so there is some standing water when it rains.