Can I convert this shed to a coop?

[Tea and Scones]

Hi all!

I'm new here...sort of. Back after 11 years of not owning chickens, ready to get chicks this April, and ready to ask questions!

First, please excuse kid paraphernalia and husband's junk storage everywhere in this picture. Clearly we need to do spring cleaning already even though it's January. I want to convert this shed into a coop:

And I want your thoughts!

First, you can see how close it is to the garage; I'm a little concerned about ventilation. There's maybe 8-10" between the shed and the garage. That wall facing the garage is a north-facing wall. Can it still work if we put windows on the south side and vents or small windows on the front and back of the shed? Would it be helpful at all to put window(s) on the north side when the shed is so close to the garage?

The floor is concrete, which is a huge plus for protection from predators, but I don't really know how to attach a run to this thing or even the best way to approach the run construction because of the doors on the shed. Any ideas on that? The ground just beyond the shed is not quite level and also runs up into a sugar maple, but there's still plenty of space for an oblong run I think.

My vague plan is to have my husband install a chicken door in one of the big man doors, and maybe make an egg door in the side, opposite the nest boxes.

That's all I've got right now...any feedback, ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated! I sure would love to convert this if I could rather than spend lots of time and money building a coop from scratch, especially when our yard is so small to begin with...thanks, everyone!

Amy

 

[JedJackson]

A lot depends on your climate. If you live where it gets super cold I would be concerned that the metal walls wouldn't be enough to keep heat inside, and those same metals walls would make adding insulation and a run more difficult. Ventilation is also a concern, as you mentioned. I think people in here could give you a consensus of advice and maybe you could do a google search "converting shed into chicken coop" or something similar. Good luck!

 

[Tea and Scones]

Thank you, Jed! We live in central Ohio...so it gets cold here, but it's certainly not the coldest place people keep chickens! Our winters get down in the teens and twenties, and we sometimes get down to single digits...but today it's in the forties. I didn't even consider that those walls were metal and couldn't have even told you what they were made of if you had asked without going outside and knocking on them! So I'm glad you said that...will keep thinking and waiting for more feedback! And will Google, too.

 

[lazy gardener]

You will need to install some windows, and some ventilation. With the limited roof overhang, you will most likely need to install some louvered vents. I would suggest that you insulate it and sheathe on the inside with plywood. Chicken poo is quite corrosive to metal. The plywood and insulation would prevent the issues with condensation as well as the corrosion of the metal.

 

[Tea and Scones]

Thanks, LG! My first coop was wood, so I had no idea that chicken poo could corrode metal (I am SO grateful I came here before we tackled this project...). We did plan on putting in vents...

Would you think it would make a decent coop with those modifications (insulation and plywood)? Or would it be best to just build a new wooden coop?

 

[JedJackson]

Thank you, Jed! We live in central Ohio...so it gets cold here, but it's certainly not the coldest place people keep chickens! Our winters get down in the teens and twenties, and we sometimes get down to single digits...but today it's in the forties. I didn't even consider that those walls were metal and couldn't have even told you what they were made of if you had asked without going outside and knocking on them! So I'm glad you said that...will keep thinking and waiting for more feedback! And will Google, too.

It could be plastic, too. But either way I think you will need insulation in your climate.

 

[lazy gardener]

I would price out what you need to do to it, then price out a new building, and make the decision based on how much you want to spend, and what you want the finished product to look like. An other issue with the shed is the narrow roof pitch. I don't know how much snow you get, but when hubby built our coop, he put a 12/12 pitch metal roof to shed snow. It works great. You may find yourself raking snow off that roof after every major storm.

 

[Tea and Scones]

Update: shed is plastic, not metal. So I think that's better than metal, even though it would still need insulation...?

 

[Tea and Scones]

Oh goodness, I didn't think about the snow on the roof, LG. We really don't get a whole LOT of snow. We do get some...and we've had two storms this month with a total of 7" on the ground, but that's generally the worst of it.

I love the idea of an adorable new coop, made just the way I like...but I also love the idea of spending less money reworking an already-existing building. :-D Decisions, decisions!

 

[PetesChicks]

Plastic is better than metal, IMHO. You won't face the condensation issues that metal has, and it's easier to screw to. You will need ventilation, and lots of it.

The roof isn't that bad for your area, 7" of snow should be ok. If you were going to get 10-12", or you have snow on it and it is supposed to rain, you would want to clean it off. Wet snow is heavy snow, and could cause a collapse.

Somewhere here there is a coop build thread with a plastic shed, I'll see if I can find it.

Can't figure out how to put the link in from my iPad. @tigger19687 has the plastic/resin shed coop thread, lots of good info on it.