We converted an old `treehouse' (up on 4"x4"'s in the backyard - getting it down was the trick!) into the chicken coop. Used the dug out 4x4's to give it ground clearance. I read about making sure that ventilation intake/outlet should be on the same wall (downwind). Cut out two three inch circles (one near bottom corner of east wall opposite roosts/one just below the eaves). I then drilled bolt holes just above both openings, ran bolts through and glued the bolt heads to the inside wall. Had a couple of 4" , round, metal blanks from another project and drilled holes through them and slipped them onto bolts on outside wall. I then attached wing nuts to the bolts. This allows us to control ventilation by swinging blanks over/off of holes as needed (don't forget hardware cloth over holes on inside!).
The chicken coop's floor is untreated plywood covered by 150Lb. of sand, over which we use pine shavings. Floor has never been wet, cleanup is easy and the pine shaving/sand makes it easy on our poor production roo's and girl's legs (roost is only about 20" but when they hop down you'd think they were made of concrete - Thump!).
We put linoleum over treated plywood in the turkey shed (plenty of pine shaving and straw) but the big devils would fly down off their roost and the straw/pine shavings would compress under their weight and the momentum would cause the turkeys to go sliding out the door on their butts! We ended up covering the linoleum with two hundred pounds of sand and then adding the rest - no more problems.
Have had several two-three week runs of below 0F the past two winters, pretty much just used the heat lamp during daytime hours when it was particularly bitter and windy (coop door open/indoor-outdoor rug over opening with lower edge pulled back and clamped) give `em a place to hide out where it was about ten degrees warmer (roosts cross in back corner so they piled together and stayed happy at night). It took us a while to get used to it, but it is best to acclimate them.
The chicken coop's floor is untreated plywood covered by 150Lb. of sand, over which we use pine shavings. Floor has never been wet, cleanup is easy and the pine shaving/sand makes it easy on our poor production roo's and girl's legs (roost is only about 20" but when they hop down you'd think they were made of concrete - Thump!).
We put linoleum over treated plywood in the turkey shed (plenty of pine shaving and straw) but the big devils would fly down off their roost and the straw/pine shavings would compress under their weight and the momentum would cause the turkeys to go sliding out the door on their butts! We ended up covering the linoleum with two hundred pounds of sand and then adding the rest - no more problems.
Have had several two-three week runs of below 0F the past two winters, pretty much just used the heat lamp during daytime hours when it was particularly bitter and windy (coop door open/indoor-outdoor rug over opening with lower edge pulled back and clamped) give `em a place to hide out where it was about ten degrees warmer (roosts cross in back corner so they piled together and stayed happy at night). It took us a while to get used to it, but it is best to acclimate them.
