Carport to Coop/Run Conversion

[FLSweetTater]

We are turning a carport into an open air coop/covered run for our chickens. We live in Central Florida. I thought I would post some photos of our progress. I would appreciate your comments and advice - especially if you see something that could help us minimize mistakes as we are brand new chicken owners. We will have 25 chickens and the carport measures 18' wide & 20' long. We also plan to let them free range during the day.

Here is the carport before any work has been done.




This photo shows the hardware cloth that has been added to the sections on the right. The very back section on the right will be covered with a wood panel...not sure what we'll use yet. The roost area will be in the back right corner. This photo also shows where we have started to dig out the dirt to lower the entire surface of the floor. This is so we can fill it with about 3" of sand.



Here is the left side with the hardware cloth & door. We made an apron with hardware cloth that extends out about 18" from the base of the wall. We will cover the wire with landscape rock. The back section on the left will also be covered with wood. I will put the nesting boxes in the back left corner.



We lifted up the siding and attached hardware cloth to the back wall and extended it out over the ground. This apron will also be covered with dirt & landscape rock.

 

[FLSweetTater]

Here is my DH breaking up the dirt so we can shovel it out. He doesn't understand why we can't just leave dirt in the coop. I explained to him that if I am the one keeping the coop & run clean and taking care of these chickens, then I want SAND! I told him to get a better attitude and pretend he was one of the 7 dwarfs from Snow White working in the diamond mine. I said "Don't be Grumpy, be Happy! Come on, sing that little song they sang. How does it go?" and He says, "You mean, 'Take this job & shove it?'" Bahhhahahah




And then we hit a big tree root that had to be dug out!



But we finally finished...a long hard day of digging & shoveling & hauling. My DH thinks we removed about 10 yards of dirt so we can put back 4 yards of sand. I was so sore the next day...

 

[jetdog]

Looks great I like the door and very spacious, I think I would have left the dirt there to, poor guy lol.Can't wait to see it with the sand.

 

[FLSweetTater]

For those of you who cover your run with sand over dirt....

Do you think 3" is deep enough? Or will the chickens scratch down through the sand to the dirt and mix it all up?

Should I put landscape fabric over the dirt and then put the sand on top of that? Or will the chickens scratch through the sand and then tear up the fabric?

I've also read that some people put the landscape fabric down and then put some chicken wire down over that...but this is getting expensive!

I'd appreciate any advice on putting the sand down in this run. Oh, and as far as the type of sand...what I'm finding here in Florida at the landscaping & sand/gravel suppliers is called "D.O.T. (Dept. of Trans.) Sand" They say it is bright white/washed sand. I'm not sure if it has Silica in it and they don't seem to know either. But it is the coarsest sand they carry, although it still seems pretty fine. Do you think this type of sand will work ok?

 

[jetdog]

3 inches should be ok, I did 5 inches I also put landscape fabric down and then welded wire over that, I put the wire so nothing can dig in but my run isn't as big as yours.

 

[FLSweetTater]

We ended up getting the sand they called DOT sand which is a washed sand. Looks like our Florida Beach sand. This is 4 yards of sand at $38/yard. I read on other posts where people paid $16/ton. Not sure how yards convert to tons. But I checked around and this was the best price available for us. Seems like it should be cheaper since we have so much sand in Florida!! We also put it down right over the dirt...no landscape fabric or wire. I'm hoping it doesn't get all mixed in with the dirt over time and the sand stays mostly on top...but we'll see. We plan to frame out the front of the carport & attach more hardware cloth this weekend. Stay tuned for more photos....

 

[FLSweetTater]

We're still making progress. Here's the latest. We put up siding on each side at the back of the coop.





Then I painted...



And we added plywood to the back wall...

 

[BCollie]

It looks great!! You are going to have some very happy chickens.

 

[Kadjain]

Sweet

 

[FLSweetTater]

Well, we're getting closer. I've finished painting the back & side walls. Plus we framed the front & put up hardware cloth. It is hard to see, but there is hardware cloth over the openings above the back wall as well. Our coop has two doors because we later plan to put up a fence that starts at one corner. Two doors will be more convenient down the road. Tomorrow I will finish the roost.