Building Chicken Coop inside a barn

[Alaskan]

Ok... I just googled... Google says your average lows are 12F.

In that case, no, I would not box them up.

Since you say parts of the barn tend to be drafty I would build a poop shelf for them with a back and sides, NOT a top. Your roof there is pretty low anyway, and you don't want them sitting in a cloud of humidity from their breathing.

The back and sides of the poop shelf would keep the perch area draft free, and poop shelves make life MUCH easier.

The back side of the poop shelf can be up against where the Alpacas sleep... they will share a bit of heat that way.

If the air is really gusting through, then yes, you will want to try to block that as much as you can. Fresh air is great , blasting wind is not.

Making a box like coop, inside a barn, will reduce fresh air way too much.

One thing though, being in upstate NY, AND them being in a barn... you will need to figure out a way to give them a light on a timer. Be EXTREMELY careful though. Even a regular lightbulb in a barn is a huge fire hazard. I think there are cool LED lights that might be safer. Look into that.

But.. . Once you are much under 10F the feed requirements of poultry increase greatly. I find for the healthiest animals in cold weather a 10 hour day is best. That is long enough for them to eat enough...but not so long that they are forced to lay.

Also... higher protein is very good for cold. (Ignore the pro-corn people) I find 18% protein is good, 20% is better if it is staying below 0F.

 

[aart]

@Alaskan has given some great advice.
I may repeat some of it.

Biggest thing to remember is that chicken coops need lots of fresh air and they need to be dry. Think more about dry and ventilated than about heat. That may be hard to do with block walls, but adding windows for light and ventilation would be good.
Or use mesh walls to maximize air movement and volume with the rest of the barn.

Chickens are dusty as all get out, that could be an issue with your alpacas.

Their area will be from
It’s after that first window past the second window.

I would include all 3 of those windows. What's behind that board between the 2nd and 3rd window?
Some pics of the outside of the building may help here too.

Your roof there is pretty low anyway,

Wondering what's above that 'ceiling'...or is that the roof of barn?

 

[ColtHandorf]

The open concept I originally posted I think would work well in this situation. Essentially you're going to frame out the area of the barn you want them to have and put wire up. You can make portions of the walls solid in order to cut down on drafts.

 

[Acre4Me]

@WthrLady - any thoughts here? I recall you have alpacas and can get pretty cold (and windy) winters.

 

[WthrLady]

HEY! Thanks for tagging me!

Yup chickens and pacas (boys). For the pacas, I would just make sure they have a couple of walls to hide next to in the winter, yes, even inside. We have sliding doors and walls we can move around to allow us to change the wind flow based on the prevailing winds of the day.

As for the featherbutts, I would basically build a coop INSIDE the barn. Leaving the barn open for the fluff butts will allow predators into the barn. NO CHICKEN WIRE, all hardware cloth, even inside.

I don't know what direction your open alpaca doors face, but that wall should be a solid wall for a windbreak for the hens. As long as they are out of the wind and drafts, they're fine. Mine only have 3 walls and have gone down to a normal (not windchill) of -20'F.

If you find that the one wall isn't enough of a windbreak, you can always put clear plastic roof panels up on problem walls in the winter and take them down in the summer.

BTW your hens will love the alpacas. Paca poo attracts worms delicious, delicous worms.

We get below freezing in the barn, which is unheated, but we have insulated water buckets for the pacas that only manage to get a thin glaze on them, and wouldn't if mine were smart enough to let me use the water caps that come with the water buckets.

Lovely barn!

 

[WthrLady]

Also, just read the bit about the tarps. If you can find shop tarps, those are best. They are made from heavy duty canvas or even re-enforced Poly Vinyl. You hang them with eyehooks, wire, and turnbuckles to tighten them like a drum.

You don't want flapping anything or crinkling plastic tarps around alpacas. They are skittish enough to start with, and the movement and noise will make them worse and actually drive them outside, even when you don't want them to be out there.

With the concrete floor, you can even invest in self supporting horse stalls that don't need to be anchored into the floor. These are frames that you simply fill with wood Alpacas arent kickers, so you don't need oak. If you run the wood horizontally, you still put treated for the bottom 18 inches, then you can switch to regular lumber. No treated at the top, as they don't really crib like horses and donkeys, but they still play with the tops of things with their lips.

You also can get the shorter 4 foot tall indoor self-supporting stalls, usually made for mini horses, as alpacas are jumpers, or fence challengers. And making some of those solid would make a windbreak for the fluff butts.

OH and mine come and go as they please. I DO have coats for my boys for severe extreme weather. We went weeks with extreme low temps, and high winds. We have winds in the winter in excess of 55mph on a normal basis, and windchills of -50 are not uncommon. During blizzard conditions, everyone is lock inside, so I KNOW where they are and that they are safe and warm.

 

[sorce]

Late to the party heh?

I would avoid fastening anything to the Barn itself, to save loads of money on the hardware necessary to keep it predator proof.

Ignore the fact you have a barn, except that the coop is inside it.

Make it so it can move to a different doorway if ever necessary.

You can leave the top just hardware clothed for good ventilation.

Seperate connections for indoor and outdoor runs.

Looks like a fun project!

Sorce