converted oop on the frits. what to do?

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
#1 - Looks like you don't have a lot of ventilation to let moisture out. Excess moisture will contribute to frostbit combs. It is very important to have ventilation up *high* so that the warmer, more moist air can escape...the vents should be high so that the chickens are down below and out of the way of any drafts.

#2a - As some one said...add some 4x4 posts (some 6" cedar poles would work great) under the area that is sagging....a hydraulic jack, blocks of wood or cement, the posts, and thoughtful planning would do the trick. Pay attention to what kyoko900 said about it being a load-bearing wall.

#2b - The leaking roof definitely needs to be taken care of. This is causing moisture in the coop and probably contributed to the frostbit comb. Looking from the outside it *looks like* the roof is still in fairly solid shape...just the roofing material (tin, shingles, ???) need some attention. It's leaking along a wall so I would be looking in that area and "uphill" from there for the problem...it might just take some roofing tar, a new/recycled piece of tin, etc.,. to repair it.

#3 - I might have covered that in #2b but... I'm not sure what I'm seeing "sagging" inside the coop. To me, the sagging area looks like some type of a vapor barrier(?), rather than the actual roof. Fix the leak in the roof and don't worry about the sagging "whatever" for now.

#4 - ??? It's too hard for your chickens to hop up and down...from your roost poles? Lower the roost poles down...just don't lower them lower than your nestboxes. The roost poles only have to be elevated a bit above the coop floor (but higher than the nestboxes).

What size is your coop? It's hard for me to tell from the picture exactly the setup. Is the coop under the shed roof on the left side? Is the door where it can be closed up securely? Does the door open into the area under the rest of the shed roof?

At the moment I would be would be bracing that leaning wall, patching the roof, lowering the roost poles, and getting some vents in the walls in the highest points. Doing that bit of work to it would be much less intensive than trying to build a completely new coop.

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[Doopy]

For the mouse problem you could always get a cat.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[Backyard_Chicken_rancher]

I say gut it very gently to save as much of the matts as you can then reuse everything that is reuseable now if you ask me I seen alot that I could use and build with so just take your time and remove any screws and nails if the frame is ound re use it just rebuild it the way you want it to look as for the chickens they really don't care, Take mine forexample they are inside their coop on windy,rainy, or cold days they have enough room to scratch and move around in there and you know what I havent heard not one complaint yet they seem to like it. as far as them haveing to fly up to their roost, just lower it as long as the roost is higher then the nesting boxes it will work if you don't wanna lower it build a chicken ladder for it.

Now for your mouse problem I would use traps but to keeps the chicks out of it build lil boxes with hinged lids and holes on each side lil holes you must remember if a mouse can get it's head in the body will follow so put the trap inside but away from the holes far enough that the chicken can't get at it and DO NOT USE PEANUT BUTTER!!! use bread pressed hard on it just enough to cover the pull tab if you do this right the mouse will struggle to pull the bread off and blam you got it. lift the lid take out the trap and get rid of mouse.


So good luck with this I hope you find the answer your looking for.
If you deside to rebuild don't forget to add the pictures for us all to see.

 

[springchick91]

Quote:
thanks so far to the people ideas . i like the idea of the ramp up to the roost . the funny thing is the shed never ahd a fondation to it it sits directly on the ground. its cover in straw. it sits agenst a shop and the door is just a piece of wood on 2 hings its acully quite annoying seeing as u have to bend over to get in and out of the area. the one really major reason is that were goign to eb adding 8 week old chicks in around 2 weeks (the chicks r 5 weeks right now .will be 8 when we go to move them.)we are going to be moveing them and i wanna try and fix the problems befor there added. right now the enst boxs are on a really stupid made shelve and i think im going to take it down lower the rost and then screw the nest to a board and screw thw board to the wall and that wall i can lower the roast with out it being lower then the neasting boxes.

 

[Backyard_Chicken_rancher]

I made my nest boxes out of old milk creats I cut a peice of 3/4 inch osb to fit into it on the the bottom cut one side down till it got to the soild part of it and screwed the osb down to a board that I screwd to a couple 2x4's wich I screwed to a wall with 2 more 2x4's put an angle roof on it and there you go nesting boxes "IT DOESN'T EVER HAVE TO BE PRETTY JUST USEABLE" chickens don't care what it looks liek as long as they feel safe and you have the nest boxes lower then the roost because chickens tend to go to the highest spot off the ground this is why with nest boxes you build it with the slant roof so they can't roost on them.

I was thinking about your room/coop if you don't like the way it looks paint it, paint can make anything look better as for your roof there I would get some cheap /reused plywood or osb to hang up there as for the door make it taller my human door is made of fence pickets the 6 foot high ones and two 2x4 wiith a heavy duty spring so it closes behind me the chickens have gotten to know they go in the other door after almost being hit by this door (I watch for them when I close it) mine is made just of tin I reused from a shed/workshop I tore down the 2x4's and most of the other stuff I had around the house. I belive the grand total of the coop and run was 10 bucks for screws and zip ties as I say it don't got to be purddy as lond as it works (lol). so as long as you fix minor stuff in your room/coop then they will be happy chickens they only want feed/water, warmth, safety, a place that is safe to lay eggs, and a place in the sun to run around and they will be happy. now with that being said I belive you have all that so relax they will tell you if they are not happy with the housing belive me I know......

 

[springchick91]

i found this site with these awsoem chicken coops i might try and get oen off the site

 

[prov31gal]

awww, just tear it all down, save what is good and slap up a chicken tent or two, they are easy, almost like a hoop house but triangular , with a super super easy throw it together frame, some chicken wire and old plywood or whatever flat boards youve got. looks like a 1 man long triangle tent, one half is wood, its just a roof, the othe half is the wire. cheap and easy.
here are some examples, but i like to make them more half wood and half run, as opposed to the small house part in the pics.

 

[springchick91]

id have to make a huge one ill have here in a week 16 chickens together and so id ahve to have plenty of space.

 

[springchick91]

heres a pic of the one i like.

http://www.myamishgoods.com/pro_det...=1&PHPSESSID=1def776a17201dba1500548cc334cf6e

its ok prices its $1845 not ptu together and $2245 already put togther plus shipping

 

[Intheswamp]

Run just as fast as you can from that coop!

It's only a 6x6 and will hold at the very most for your climate around 9 chickens (and I'd be hesitant on that many)....they say 20-25 chickens but you'd be asking for trouble with that many. By them saying that 20-25 chickens will fit in there I can't say that I would really put my trust in them.

If you've got the money to purchase that coop and pay for the delivery then I would definitely suggest you build your own or either hire someone to build it for you. You could have a much larger coop and just as utilitarian. It might not look as "cute", but it'd be *much* larger and much better for your chickens.

Best wishes,
Ed