Converting a Squirrel shed into a coop

slicvickie

Songster
8 Years
Apr 6, 2015
16
30
102
Minnesota
I am converting what used to be a kids treehouse into a chicken coop. In between the treehouse past and the chicken coop future, the building had been invaded by squirrels and used by them for years. Current renovations included lowering it from tree house status to about a foot off the ground, and releveled it. I have gutted it, removing sheetrock, insulation and most of the wiring that had been chewed down to the bare wire. It's pretty much a bare shell at this point. Some of the osb flooring was pretty rotted and is getting a new layer of osb as well.
So, here are my questions .
1. Do I need to worry that it still smells like squirrel pee? Nothing major, but you can certainly tell that it's not a kids playhouse anymore. I know it will smell like chickens in a short time.
2. I had planned on new insulation and covering it with new plywood walls. I have been reading that insulation is not required, but our winters in Minnesota can get down to minus 20 degrees.
3. If I don't need insulation, should I put up the new interior walls anyhow? Assuming the airspace will act somewhat as insulation. Also, there are nails sticking through to the inside so I want them covered.
4. My interior has open rafters and currently a ceiling fan. How likely are chickens to get up to the 8 foot ceiling and get hit by the fan?
5. I have rewired it to have 2 outlets and I moved them up to the height of the switches. Do they need covers anyhow to keep curious beaks away?
6. My interior space is 8 x 10, with a 36" door on the south 10' side. There are two 20 x 40 pushout windows on the east and north side. They will be covered with half inch hardware cloth and left open most of the time. There are holes in the eaves from the previous tenants. Do I need to patch the holes, or can I just screen them over as well.
7. I had planned on roost bars on the non windowed side and nest boxes under the east window, with storage bins under the nest boxes. Is that the best placement?
8. What's the best material to put down over the osb? Paint, rubber roofing or just leave as is?
That's all I can think of at the moment, and am looking forward to seeing comments and suggestions.
I'll try to post some pictures later.
 
DAAAANG, your kids had a treehouse with insulation, sheetrock and electricity! I had a dirtpile growing up!

1. Do I need to worry that it still smells like squirrel pee? Nothing major, but you can certainly tell that it's not a kids playhouse anymore. I know it will smell like chickens in a short time.
I wouldn't worry much about it. Chickens deal with random wildlife all the time and a little "Eau De Squirrel" won't bother them. I would check out the material for structural integrity/rot however.

2. I had planned on new insulation and covering it with new plywood walls. I have been reading that insulation is not required, but our winters in Minnesota can get down to minus 20 degrees.
Yea, insulation doesn't really matter, but ventilation does. If you can find a way to make it non-drafty but have airflow above the chickens heads, this will be good. Additionally, many chicken breeds are rather cold hardy. And the more chickens that can pile up, the warmer they stay. So make sure they have lots of friends!


3. If I don't need insulation, should I put up the new interior walls anyhow? Assuming the airspace will act somewhat as insulation. Also, there are nails sticking through to the inside so I want them covered.
I wouldn't worry too much about interior walls. In fact, not having interior walls actually adds a slight amount more walking space since they can now walk where a wall used to be. Squaring up the walls will make coop cleanout day a bit easier however since you won't be scraping weird corners. So kinda up to you on this point. As for the nails, I would probably just hammer them sideways.
4. My interior has open rafters and currently a ceiling fan. How likely are chickens to get up to the 8 foot ceiling and get hit by the fan?
I have limited experience with this with my open coop, but so far, they have not attempted to get up into the rafters. Chickens can fly to an extent, but I wouldn't expect the average chicken to get more than like 4 feet in lift.

5. I have rewired it to have 2 outlets and I moved them up to the height of the switches. Do they need covers anyhow to keep curious beaks away?
Might as well get covers for the ones not in use. Those plastic child covers are very cheap. If anything, it will keep random bugs and corrosion out of them when not in use.

6. My interior space is 8 x 10, with a 36" door on the south 10' side. There are two 20 x 40 pushout windows on the east and north side. They will be covered with half inch hardware cloth and left open most of the time. There are holes in the eaves from the previous tenants. Do I need to patch the holes, or can I just screen them over as well.
Just screen over them, they will be an important part of your ventilation system.

7. I had planned on roost bars on the non windowed side and nest boxes under the east window, with storage bins under the nest boxes. Is that the best placement?
This one is pretty subjective to what will work best for your daily routine. Just as a general rule that you will want your nestboxes lower than your roostbars and your roostbars lower than your ventilation. This encourages your chickens to sleep on the roost bars rather than pooping up the nests, also keeping them lower than the ventilation will keep them at a good ambient temperature.

8. What's the best material to put down over the osb? Paint, rubber roofing or just leave as is?

I'd probably paint it to seal it from any potential spills, but if you have deep litter, that will typically absorb most waste before it makes it to the flooring, so painting isn't strictly necessary. I've also heard of people putting in tile floors in their coops, which would make cleanup a breeze and make the floor near invincible to chicken damage, but this comes at a decent price point.
 
Wow! What a structure!

2. I had planned on new insulation and covering it with new plywood walls. I have been reading that insulation is not required, but our winters in Minnesota can get down to minus 20 degrees.
3. If I don't need insulation, should I put up the new interior walls anyhow? Assuming the airspace will act somewhat as insulation. Also, there are nails sticking through to the inside so I want them covered.

Have you read this article on cold climate chicken keeping yet? https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

The thing with insulation and the hollow between interior and exterior walls is that you create a perfect habitat for rodents. The nails could be an issue, however.

4. My interior has open rafters and currently a ceiling fan. How likely are chickens to get up to the 8 foot ceiling and get hit by the fan?

I would take the ceiling fan out. It's almost certainly not rated for barn use and the problem with that is that both the dust from the bedding and the feather dander is highly flammable. The best-case scenario is that the dust simply ruins the motor. The worst case is a serious fire.

5. I have rewired it to have 2 outlets and I moved them up to the height of the switches. Do they need covers anyhow to keep curious beaks away?

Again, dust. I would use an appropriate cover meant for use outdoors.

6. My interior space is 8 x 10, with a 36" door on the south 10' side. There are two 20 x 40 pushout windows on the east and north side. They will be covered with half inch hardware cloth and left open most of the time. There are holes in the eaves from the previous tenants. Do I need to patch the holes, or can I just screen them over as well.

That sounds like an amazing space. How many chickens do you intend to have? The rule of thumb for ventilation is 1 square foot per adult, standard-size hen of permanent, 24/7/365 venting, best located above the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost. But you also have to avoid drafts, which means putting the ventilation in the right place. And since you have both bitter cold winters and blistering-hot summers you'll need to design a lot of flexibility into your system.

When you say "pushout" windows what, exactly, do you mean? If they're the top-hinged kind that form their own awnings that's PERFECT for your supplemental summer ventilation.

For the permanent venting, soffit and ridge or soffit and gable vents are some of the best possible options.

I'm still working on these diagrams so they're a bit crude but this is what you want for airflow:

cover-image

And this is what you want to avoid:

drafty-png-png.3118596


7. I had planned on roost bars on the non windowed side and nest boxes under the east window, with storage bins under the nest boxes. Is that the best placement?

As long as the roosts are in a draft-free area and above the level of the nests you should be fine. Different people have different preferences so go with what works for you. :)

8. What's the best material to put down over the osb? Paint, rubber roofing or just leave as is?

Some people leave the floor as bare wood, some cover it with sheet vinyl, some use that blackjack coating, some use porch-and-floor paint, .... A lot of it comes down to personal preference and budget.

My only coop with a floor has bare plywood and it's just fine because I keep it absolutely dry. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-deep-bedding-in-a-small-coop.76343/

Also, some additional information for you. Not everything in this article will apply but since you're summers are as extreme as your winters you'll want to consider some of it: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

Can't wait to see the photos. :)
 
After gutting it, I have a pretty much bare slate to work with. I rewired everything and put the outlets at light switch height. They will get safety/dustproof covers. The ceiling fan will be removed as well. The windows will eventually be covered with hardware cloth, but for now they are such a convenient place to lay tools and for those same tools to fall outside!
 

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I decided to add insulation because of our Minnesota winters. I think with adding a barn fan and opening up the eaves along both sides, with screens, it shouldn't get to hot in the summer, and retain enough warmth in our brutal winter!
 

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Here's my dozen little cuties that showed up way before I was ready for them! I'm in hustle mode now! I can't believe how quickly they have grown in just 10 days! They are currently in a big bin in the house and rapidly outgrowing it!
 

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