Best way to adjust this coop

[Mother of Chaos]

The area with the A frame is a completely enclosed coop area that’s inside a bigger run they have, so I was going to add an electric door on this area that opens in the morning and closes at night so they can let themselves into the run in the morning without needing me to, yeah I was thinking maybe just something on the roof, back wall and sides to give protection from wind and rain, nothing to crazy, I just wasn’t sure what materials would work well for it, I could possibly use the tin from the A frame on the roof screwed in, it can get extremely hot here in summer with bouts of torrential rain, very dry and windy in winter, and the wind in the area I live can be harsh at times blowing a gale, I live in central west nsw Australia, in a small country town, have plenty of acreage that I let the chooks free range on when I have time to remember to put them in and out, and we have foxes around unfortunately, but the run is dig proof and the coop area in the run has a roof and is dig proof so it’s a good little set up. I haven’t considered deep littering yet because of how hrs it is to access certain corners of that A frame, and they only seem to poop in one spot under the roosting bars that I just shovel out every now and then, but if I make that whole area accessible to them with different levels etc I might try it

Does the A-frame have enough structural integrity that you could maybe elevate it ~2' (600 cm) off the ground, sitting on a frame, without the whole thing coming apart? If you think that it provides decent protection from the elements, and the only problem is that it's a PITA to get eggs (and clean), maybe that would be enough. You could even have a pop door mounted in the additional framing.

Be careful about having an automatic door leading from a protected area to a non-protected area. Depending on who your predators are (aerial or terrestrial), they might observe it for a few days and find out when the snack bar opens, and be there waiting.

Edit to add: I see that @RojoMarz also mentioned raising the A-frame, and described it a lot more clearly than I did!

 

[Obsessedchickenmum]

Does the A-frame have enough structural integrity that you could maybe elevate it ~2' (600 cm) off the ground, sitting on a frame, without the whole thing coming apart? If you think that it provides decent protection from the elements, and the only problem is that it's a PITA to get eggs (and clean), maybe that would be enough. You could even have a pop door mounted in the additional framing.

Be careful about having an automatic door leading from a protected area to a non-protected area. Depending on who your predators are (aerial or terrestrial), they might observe it for a few days and find out when the snack bar opens, and be there waiting.

It’s pretty old so I’m thinking it may fall apart, and I wanted to completely empty that area so the when the flock is added to they have plenty more room in there

The only predator we really have around here is foxes, the eagles here have never come close to the property before, and I have 4 dogs in there own pen just outside the chook pen so during the day foxes aren’t brave enough to go near them as the dogs are always on high alert

Do you think waterproof shade cloth could work for the walls if I leave that gap between the roof for air flow or would that be too thick for summer?

 

[Mother of Chaos]

It’s pretty old so I’m thinking it may fall apart, and I wanted to completely empty that area so the when the flock is added to they have plenty more room in there

The only predator we really have around here is foxes, the eagles here have never come close to the property before, and I have 4 dogs in there own pen just outside the chook pen so during the day foxes aren’t brave enough to go near them as the dogs are always on high alert

Do you think waterproof shade cloth could work for the walls if I leave that gap between the roof for air flow or would that be too thick for summer?

I've never come across waterproof shade cloth, as the shade cloth I have is pretty permeable, but it sounds worth a try. We have a waterproof tarp that hung partway down one wall, although we're switching to a framed roof. The tarp just got beat to death.

That long side in the first picture, the one that's not overhung with trees: what compass direction does it face? If it faces north (south for us in the Northern Hemisphere), it probably gets some serious sun in the spring and fall, when the sun isn't at full zenith. Is that the side that you're considering shade cloth for?

 

[Obsessedchickenmum]

I've never come across waterproof shade cloth, as the shade cloth I have is pretty permeable, but it sounds worth a try. We have a waterproof tarp that hung partway down one wall, although we're switching to a framed roof. The tarp just got beat to death.

That long side in the first picture, the one that's not overhung with trees: what compass direction does it face? If it faces north (south for us in the Northern Hemisphere), it probably gets some serious sun in the spring and fall, when the sun isn't at full zenith. Is that the side that you're considering shade cloth for?

Yeah that side faces north here, I was thinking of putting the shade cloth on that side, the back wall and the south side, so the only wall that doesn’t have anything on it is the front wall with the door, giving the complete back section protection from rain wind and sun, sun isn’t to much of a concern coz they’ll be able to leave it during the day and get shade under the tree, but nights during summer can get as high as 36 Celsius so I’m concerned if it’ll make it way to hot at night in there

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Yeah that side faces north here, I was thinking of putting the shade cloth on that side, the back wall and the south side, so the only wall that doesn’t have anything on it is the front wall with the door, giving the complete back section protection from rain wind and sun, sun isn’t to much of a concern coz they’ll be able to leave it during the day and get shade under the tree, but nights during summer can get as high as 36 Celsius so I’m concerned if it’ll make it way to hot at night in there

One reasonable option is to not shade-screen the entire fenced run area. With your climate, you probably should create one area with dense shade, a completely opaque screen like a tarpaulin. That way, you'd still have plenty of airflow overall, but you'd be able to maintain a cooler spot in the dense shade.

I don't know if you have power out there, but solar-powered small fans, often called camping fans here, can make a big difference when combined with dense shade. My girls were spooked by them at first, but during the worst of the heat several months ago, I sometimes found them right in the path of the fan breeze. (My fans are rechargeable battery-powered.)

 

[Obsessedchickenmum]

One reasonable option is to not shade-screen the entire fenced run area. With your climate, you probably should create one area with dense shade, a completely opaque screen like a tarpaulin. That way, you'd still have plenty of airflow overall, but you'd be able to maintain a cooler spot in the dense shade.

I don't know if you have power out there, but solar-powered small fans, often called camping fans here, can make a big difference when combined with dense shade. My girls were spooked by them at first, but during the worst of the heat several months ago, I sometimes found them right in the path of the fan breeze. (My fans are rechargeable battery-powered.)

That’s not a bad idea, there is power from the shed beside their coop and run but plenty of sun for solar aswell, the dogs electric fence is solar powered, they will have dust bath spots also to help cool them down