My New Coop's Renovation!

[ChickensInMA]

That's my recollection too.

Maybe honeysuckle would be a better choice.

I'm not sure if honeysuckle will grow in my climate zone... I know of some good native vines up here, but I need to make sure they're non-toxic.

 

[Penpal]

Styrofoam is used for insulation in houses. In addition to blown in cellulose within the walls, my house has 2" of styrofoam on every outside wall. If you want insulation, put the styrofoam back, just make sure the chickens can't reach it or they will peck at it.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I'm not sure if honeysuckle will grow in my climate zone... I know of some good native vines up here, but I need to make sure they're non-toxic.

I am sure you will find something both beautiful and safe.

 

[ChickensInMA]

Styrofoam is used for insulation in houses. In addition to blown in cellulose within the walls, my house has 2" of styrofoam on every outside wall. If you want insulation, put the styrofoam back, just make sure the chickens can't reach it or they will peck at it.

My coop walls are already insulated with a combination of fibreglass and foam board insulation. We had lots of insulation left over from when we insulated our new shed/workshop so we could heat it. We didn't buy any insulation for the coop, and the only reason we insulated it was because we had all of this insulation left over, and we were planning on adding interior walls anyway to cover up the nails from the shingles on the outside and make the coop easier to clean/more mite-proof. There are far fewer nooks and crannies now that the studs are covered up with plywood. Because we insulated, we had to add a lot more hardware cloth on the outside to keep rodents from chewing in and building nests there.

I'm more worried about ventilating the coop. My coop was a shed first, and as a result, it was never properly designed to be a coop. There is very little overhang on each side. We thought about extending the roof overhang, but the coop is right next (3 inches!) to our new shed, so there wasn't enough room. I'm most likely going to be building and installing gable vents this weekend for the coop. This coop wasn't ideal, especially considering the amount of work, time and money we've had to devote to this project and the work we still have to do, but it was only $500 and really solidly-built. Almost every part of this coop was improved in some way (new roof, new vents, completely new interior, new siding/paint, etc.), but we didn't have to buy the lumber to create a new coop. It wasn't bad enough of a coop to reject the offer completely.

 

[aart]

Styrofoam is used for insulation in houses. In addition to blown in cellulose within the walls, my house has 2" of styrofoam on every outside wall. If you want insulation, put the styrofoam back, just make sure the chickens can't reach it or they will peck at it.

This isn't a house....and the removal of insulation has already been discussed.

 

[PhelanHeritageBirds]

Hi! I figured I'd post the pictures of my new coop that we've been making since July. I wanted to combine my ducks, bantams and big hens into one bigger coop. It's been quite the upgrade, and lots of research has been done. They had a 4'x4' coop with a 6'x8' run, but now they have a 7.3'x7.8' coop, and a larger 10'x10' has been connected to their 6'x8' one. The new coop I got for a great deal of $500, but it needed a lot of work. I'm trying to include all of the pictures of the entire progress, including before. I still need to install my window box and dig a flower bed around the coop. We run a childcare, so the birds are also the kids' project! Beware, the pictures are a bit out of order. Please let me know if you have any questions, or suggestions! I really want what's best for my birds.

Link to my new coop's images on Imgur

I can’t believe the previous owner left those eggs there. That is mind blowing and I’m sure the smell will stick in your mind.

 

[ChickensInMA]

I can’t believe the previous owner left those eggs there. That is mind blowing and I’m sure the smell will stick in your mind.

The worst part is that when we went to look at the coop the first time, they were there (and rotten), and we asked that they get rid of them, but when we came back a month later to get it ready to go, they were still there.

 

[speedy2020]

The worst part is that when we went to look at the coop the first time, they were there (and rotten), and we asked that they get rid of them, but when we came back a month later to get it ready to go, they were still there.

Don't toss those eggs in the trash. Just dig a few holes and plant few fruit/shade trees. The plants love it and provide very healthy growth for years.

 

[Mouthpear]

Beware, the pictures are a bit out of order.

Link to my new coop's images on Imgur

Like Cavemanrich says.

You can just as easily post your images into your thread here.

However, I'm not sure if this bugs other people but when people post pix they leave them large. It takes up a lot of room in in the post and makes hard to be reading the post and look at the pictures. I suggest to all, to make them smaller by dragging the images by the corner once they upload. They don't need to be that large since when you click on them you get to see the original size.

 

[Mouthpear]

Not trying to "beat a dead horse" here but...

VS