Barn Stall Conversion Question

[dominiques]

Hi! I'm very new to the world of chickens. We live in Maine and have an old 3 floor, 3 stall barn with hay loft. It's an old barn but in good shape. We have 9 Dominique chicks that are almost ready to be in a coop. We have decided to convert one of the horse stalls into a coop. It's not secure at all. Any suggestions on how I make the stall predator proof? I know I need hardware cloth but just not sure where I need it. Inside AND outside walls? Where the floor and walls meet? Covering the entire floor? Over the window? Where walls and ceiling meets? Over any small openings? How small of a space do I need to cover with this? One wall that faces another stall is made up of slats. Can we use plywood to make that a closed wall or do we need thicker wood? Hardware cloth for that too?
Also, there is really no ventilation per se but it's an airy barn and not sealed tight at all. Do we need to cut openings? Thank you all for any advice you can give. Mary from Maine

 

[thecoopbuilder]

If you are looking to use minimal cost on your stall. I would recommend to just use Chicken Wire to seal off the openings to prevent chickens from escaping. But if it were me, I would frame an extra layer of OSB sheathing to seal off the the boarder of the stall. Then I would frame the stall with a roof about 3 feel high to enclose the area so it can be warmer in the winter. Then you can cut vent openings in the top for air ventilation.
Finally I would cut and built some egg boxes on the side so you can easily retrieve some eggs. This is probably very vague instructions, but give it a shot if you would like.

Good Luck

 

[FlaRocky]

Can you post some photos of the barn and stall you are talking about? That will help to see what you need to do. I have turned 2 of my stalls into coops.

Maye

 

[dominiques]

Thank you!! Here is a picture of what you see when you are standing in the doorway. I was thinking the shelving could be turned into nesting boxes. I'll post more pics because I wonder about the where the walls meet the floor and ceiling as far a predator proofing. And I also wonder about insulation (if it's needed) and about ventilation. So far the only ventilation is that window you see and the door which is a door with 2 halves that I'm standing in while taking this pic. As you can see it's an old barn, 112 years old but still solid. Use to be a horse barn. Although I wonder if there were ever chickens here. Thanks!! More pics coming.

 

[dominiques]

Same angle as the other pic but now you can see where we may put the roosts. Can roosts and nesting boxes go side by side like this? Also, this is an outside wall. Do we need to insulate? My husband is a bit overwhelmed by that thought. Thanks again. Another pic or two still coming.

 

[dominiques]

This is the opposite wall. On the other side is another horse stall, no horse though. I was wondering if we need to get ventilation here some how. Also if we cover this wall with plywood is that enough to predator proof it or do predators eat through plywood? Thanks again!

 

[dominiques]

This is the barn that our coop will be in. Inside the open door there on the left. You can see the wall that the door is in. It's those white pieces of wood.

 

[dominiques]

This is where the door will go for the chickens to exit; right where those cinder blocks are. They will be moved as will the cart. Their run will be inside this and extend outside as well. That's a whole nother post Again we'll need to discuss predator proofing the whole deal. So my number one concern is how to make the chickens safe. And ventilation. Thank you again!
!

 

[jlquick30]

We're doing something similar - turning our tack room into a coop and then letting them free range. Our has more protection, but less ventilation -- I think we might take the windows out and cover with hardware cloth or something. We are putting our nesting boxes on the shelves (similar to yours) with an added perch for them to land on. We used thick tree branches across the back as roosts but I think yours could easily go where you mentioned.

Not sure where you live, but if it's somewhere cold you might want to add some insulation - we're in Texas so it never gets very cold in the barn. Plywood should be enough to keep out predators, as long as there are no big gaps.

FlaRocky - Would love to see pictures of your stall conversions, if you have any!

 

[dominiques]

Thank you Jayme! I'd love to see pics of your conversion. For insulation, would you do all walls, ceiling, floor? Or just outside walls?