Building in a building

[Lilion]

I'm about to do a new coop for my very small flock. I had only 3 hens, but the neighbor just got told he has to move and is giving me his 4, 9 week old pullets, so I'll have 7. The current coop is big enough, 7x7, but it's also metal and in the sun; just too hot in Missouri summers. So we'd been planning on moving them anyway. We have a large, 12 x 28 portable building that's been just storage. The plan is to simply build a chicken wire wall about 4 feet from one end where the coop will be, forming a 12x4 coop for the hens, with a door to walk in. We originally thought to do a 8 x 8 area with two walls, but time and ease of construction has changed plans to the simplest we can do. We intend to add on later, making a brooder or separations area off to one side. Eventually, a solid wall about 10 feet in will separate the chicken area from the storage area.

This is the shed in question. The area to the left of the door will be the coop. The run will be off the end.

It has roof venting at the peak and 4 windows currently, 3 of which are in the 4' coop area, one on each wall, so plenty of ventilation. We hope to protect the floor under by using a commercial linoleum we picked up on it.

My thought has been roosts across one of the 4' ends of the coop, nest boxes on the other end, pop door on the long wall going out into the run.

Does that seem like a decent plan? I know the 48 sq feet is big enough for the 7 hens but I wonder about the 4' width. There is literally no place to put roosts but in front of a window, but since it's a walk-in coop it's easy enough to close it if it's cold or rainy as they are just normal house windows. They will be covered with hardware cloth.

I had been planning on putting food and water both in the run, especially food in order to try to keep mice to a minimum. Maybe I will put water indoors though...I haven't completely decided. Cleanout will be a bit more complicated than I like, but I'll deal as it's not that big of an area. I may do poop boards, which I haven't before, to keep it cleaner.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or tips.

 

[cavemanrich]

Here are my thoughts;
Windows; since they look like double hung, can you open the tops, and leave the bottoms closed. This way you can have roosts at window level.
Keep food and water during warm weather only in run area. No need for that inside. Chickens do not drink/eat at night.
During winter, when weather is foul, place food and water on floor inside.
Winter and summer. Remove, food before dusk. Place in tightly fitted metal can. Keeps mice from visiting for late nite snacks.

Your square footage inside sounds sufficient. The 4 foot narrow portion is just fine.
You may see a need to place some boxes, and other obstacles inside, so chickens have a place to be out of sight from more dominant/aggressive hens. Hay/straw bales work well.

You may need to increase roof venting. You will know if there is ammonia odor present when windows are somewhat closed off.

Build your run as secure as possible. Also, block off the underneath shed portion, so chickens don't enter there. Once they do. it may be a challenge to retrieve them. Make sure that all are in at dusk. Pop door locked. That is when the most common predators rise and shine, and are hungry. Raccoons, and opossums.

If you have snakes common in your area,, consider making your run snake proof as well.
Well, that kind of rounds up my immediate suggestions. Ask anything else that I or others can suggest, and help answer.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[aart]

forming a 12x4 coop for the hens

I'd go wider than 4', can be hard for keeper to navigate and also for subordinate birds to get out of the way from higher ranking birds.

 

[Lilion]

Here are my thoughts;
Windows; since they look like double hung, can you open the tops, and leave the bottoms closed. This way you can have roosts at window level.
Keep food and water during warm weather only in run area. No need for that inside. Chickens do not drink/eat at night.
During winter, when weather is foul, place food and water on floor inside.
Winter and summer. Remove, food before dusk. Place in tightly fitted metal can. Keeps mice from visiting for late nite snacks.

Your square footage inside sounds sufficient. The 4 foot narrow portion is just fine.
You may see a need to place some boxes, and other obstacles inside, so chickens have a place to be out of sight from more dominant/aggressive hens. Hay/straw bales work well.

You may need to increase roof venting. You will know if there is ammonia odor present when windows are somewhat closed off.

Build your run as secure as possible. Also, block off the underneath shed portion, so chickens don't enter there. Once they do. it may be a challenge to retrieve them. Make sure that all are in at dusk. Pop door locked. That is when the most common predators rise and shine, and are hungry. Raccoons, and opossums.

If you have snakes common in your area,, consider making your run snake proof as well.
Well, that kind of rounds up my immediate suggestions. Ask anything else that I or others can suggest, and help answer.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Thanks. I think I've decided to go square. Like this.

That gives them ways out of a breeze and easier to plan out. Not double hung windows, sadly. The roosts to the right, nests to the left, door in the left front. That last window will go in later, outside, and a brooder/isolation area will go in later. The shrd is almost always shaded. The run we can drape with shade cloth. I think this will work.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Good. I agree with Aart, a 4' wide coop or run can have issues, especially if you have more than a few chickens.

Is that an 8' square? Many building materials come in 4' or 8' dimensions, you can typically reduce cutting and waste if you use those dimensions. But remember, that is out-to-out, not centerline.

What are you storing in there? Chickens tend to make a lot of dust. That comes from dander (bits of skin and feathers), scratching in the bedding can shred it and create dust, and dry poop can be turned to dust by scratching. You may decide you want a solid wall sooner rather than later.

That said, I did not mind if the stuff I stored in the rest of the shed got a little dusty. With that ridge vent the rest of that shed should be reasonably ventilated. I made a part of the wall between the coop and rest of the shed from hardware cloth. It was in the dry so no rain worries and it was protected from direct winds. That added a lot to my coop ventilation.

 

[Lilion]

Good. I agree with Aart, a 4' wide coop or run can have issues, especially if you have more than a few chickens.

Is that an 8' square? Many building materials come in 4' or 8' dimensions, you can typically reduce cutting and waste if you use those dimensions. But remember, that is out-to-out, not centerline.

What are you storing in there? Chickens tend to make a lot of dust. That comes from dander (bits of skin and feathers), scratching in the bedding can shred it and create dust, and dry poop can be turned to dust by scratching. You may decide you want a solid wall sooner rather than later.

That said, I did not mind if the stuff I stored in the rest of the shed got a little dusty. With that ridge vent the rest of that shed should be reasonably ventilated. I made a part of the wall between the coop and rest of the shed from hardware cloth. It was in the dry so no rain worries and it was protected from direct winds. That added a lot to my coop ventilation.

We lucked into reclaimed lumber, so thus far we've spent practically nothing. Gotta love free. Right now it's lumber and camping supplies in storage. We will build an actual wall eventually.

 

[Lilion]

Also, those two walls we're building will be chicken wire. Only 20" or so at the bottom will be plywood. I know, chicken wire isn't predator-proof, but with doors closed, the shed is.

 

[Sic]

As a builder, I would put a wall to the right of the door and that's your coop (that would give you door access and plenty of room for chooks, roosts and nesting as well as cleaning as needed.) Then just cut in a door for your storage part of the building. Simple.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Please chuck chicken wire buy hardware cloth.
predators and snake can reach in chicken wire.

 

[Lilion]

As a builder, I would put a wall to the right of the door and that's your coop (that would give you door access and plenty of room for chooks, roosts and nesting as well as cleaning as needed.) Then just cut in a door for your storage part of the building. Simple.

That would make it about 12x12. We don't want it that big. We also want to be able to enter without worrying if the chickens get out when we open the door. I appreciate it, but we've given the coop inside the building a lot of thought. Our current one in a metal building is like this and except for the heat, we love how it came together.

Our old coop when it was being built.