Conversion Advice Needed

[sjharris53]

My DH is currently converting a playhouse he built many years ago for our daughters into my chicken coop. It is wood sided, 7.5 feet square, with 2 x 2' windows on the SE, NE, and NW sides. All windows are hinged on the side, two open towards the inside, the one by the door we changed to open to the outside. The SW wall is solid.... here in North Georgia, that's the direction most of our storms come from in the summer. The door is on the NE side.

My main concern is about ventilation. I know that the windows will be great for summer ventilation, but leaving them open in winter could cause drafts. DH thinks we should cut openings into the flat ceiling, and cover with HW cloth. The ceiling is about 6.5' from the floor, with about 3 more feet to the roof ridge above the ceiling. I am wondering if ventilation along the top of the walls would be better. I know it would be easier to cut openings in the ceiling, and easier to secure.



Also, I am thinking it would be best to put nesting boxes and roosts along the back solid SW wall. Planning on 2 x 4s for the roosts, with a poop board underneath, and nesting boxes under that.
As for the yard, we are building a 15' by 7.5' wide run off of the SE side. We are using 1/2" HW cloth.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Very cute building, and a good size to turn into a coop - really nice that it was built tall enough to fit adults instead of kids only!

Venting via ceiling should work provided there's outlets from there, such as under the soffit or in the roof, to let moisture out of the "attic." The rest of the plan (roost and nest boxes) sound like it should work. How many chickens are you planning to have?

 

[aart]

Remove ceiling and open soffits, add gable vents, and maybe a ridge vent.
Pics of underside of roof overhangs?

 

[sjharris53]

Very cute building, and a good size to turn into a coop - really nice that it was built tall enough to fit adults instead of kids only!

Venting via ceiling should work provided there's outlets from there, such as under the soffit or in the roof, to let moisture out of the "attic." The rest of the plan (roost and nest boxes) sound like it should work. How many chickens are you planning to have?

My riding buddy has 4 hens she wants me to have, so that would likely be the number I would start with.

 

[sjharris53]

Remove ceiling and open soffits, add gable vents, and maybe a ridge vent.
Pics of underside of roof overhangs?

I will get some more pics tomorrow. DH was trying to avoid removing the ceiling.

 

[aart]

DH was trying to avoid removing the ceiling

It will greatly improve your ventilation.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Nice!
Going to be an adorable coop!

 

[blackdog043]

Remove ceiling and open soffits, add gable vents, and maybe a ridge vent.
Pics of underside of roof overhangs?

+ 1 on doing this, it will be well worth it for your chickens.

 

[aart]

I will get some more pics tomorrow. DH was trying to avoid removing the ceiling.

It will greatly improve your ventilation.

For some reason this has stuck in my mind......depending on how ceiling is constructed it might not be too bad a job, and you might be able to use that material for other parts of tricking out the shed for chickens.
...or might only need to remove parts of it to facilitate ventilation.

Curious to see pics...wonders if there's any 'attic access' for pics above ceiling too.