Converting horse stall into coop

[srhalford]

Hello! We are adding another coop to our small farm by converting a 12x12 horse stall into a coop. We will be adding an automatic chicken door opening into an already established fenced in, hard wired corral where my current chickens/ducks have full access to all day. We are in the process now of building everything out inside. The main door to the stall opens directly to the outside front of the barn and is a Dutch door. The door top remains open all the time, and we will add another door frame covered with HC that opens/closes separately from the main door. Two of the inside walls have four small “window” openings that will be covered in HC as well. All stalls are open at the top for ventilation purposes, and we will cover the coop stall at the top completely with HC. The back of the barn has 4 additional open air stalls that house our equipment. We’ve never had any issues with weather elements disturbing the back or inside of the stalls. The stalls stay very cool in the summer and have provided great shelter for our other animals when used during the winter. I feel there is adequate ventilation for chickens. The whole barn has great air flow, but it’s always good to gather other opinions. I have added pictures for reference. The last picture shows the corral area that the chickens will have access to all day. Our other chicken coop/run open into that now and our garden, duck coop and pond are in there as well.

Any recommendations welcomed.

 

[Krugerrand]

That's a beautiful structure!

 

[srhalford]

That's a beautiful structure!

Thank you!

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Perfect! Highly recommend Poop Boards withe sand to keep it clean as can be.

 

[srhalford]

Perfect! Highly recommend Poop Boards withe sand to keep it clean as can be.

I might do poop boards. I haven’t decided what I’m using on the floor. I do deep litter in my current coop and run which has been the best. I have only had to deep clean once. The chickens keep it turned, and it has never had a foul odor. The stall roosting bars will be on a pulley system to make it easy to lift and shovel underneath, but I’m just not a fan of sand.

 

[aart]

All sounds pretty good!

Will dust from coop be a problem with other barn inhabitants?
My coop is part of a large shed, everything outside the coop area that is not handled regularly gets covered in thick 'chicken dust'.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It sounds good. My main coop in Arkansas was set up similarly, I built it on the end of a 12' x 60' shed. That shed had a lot more ventilation than your barn. I put a section of hardware cloth on the shed side of the coop. Great ventilation, no rain blowing in, and no breezes hitting the chickens. The chickens do generate dust but it wasn't that bad. Not like in a small space. Still, it is something to watch, depending in what equipment you might have in there.

I used poop boards to collect the nighttime poop for my compost pile. It stayed very dry. I used wood shavings on a dirt floor and never really had to clean it out. I'd just add more shavings as they scratched those shavings to powder. I'd clean it out every three or four years in the fall just because I wanted that stuff in the garden. Like you should have in Manchester, I had weather where they could be outside practically all day every day so the poop load in that coop was really small. As long as it stays dry I don't know if the bedding matters that much, not like one you are regularly cleaning, but I'd want an organic material that can be composted or put on your garden when you clean it out. Something like dried leaves, wood shavings, hay, straw, or dried grass clippings.

I think that will work great for you.

 

[srhalford]

All sounds pretty good!

Will dust from coop be a problem with other barn inhabitants?
My coop is part of a large shed, everything outside the coop area that is not handled regularly gets covered in thick 'chicken dust'.

I doubt it. If they utilize this like my other coop, they will only sleep in here. The other animals rarely use this barn as well. They are out 24/7 and have another barn at the front of the property. I only open 1 stall at this barn during colder months for weather purposes.

 

[srhalford]

It sounds good. My main coop in Arkansas was set up similarly, I built it on the end of a 12' x 60' shed. That shed had a lot more ventilation than your barn. I put a section of hardware cloth on the shed side of the coop. Great ventilation, no rain blowing in, and no breezes hitting the chickens. The chickens do generate dust but it wasn't that bad. Not like in a small space. Still, it is something to watch, depending in what equipment you might have in there.

I used poop boards to collect the nighttime poop for my compost pile. It stayed very dry. I used wood shavings on a dirt floor and never really had to clean it out. I'd just add more shavings as they scratched those shavings to powder. I'd clean it out every three or four years in the fall just because I wanted that stuff in the garden. Like you should have in Manchester, I had weather where they could be outside practically all day every day so the poop load in that coop was really small. As long as it stays dry I don't know if the bedding matters that much, not like one you are regularly cleaning, but I'd want an organic material that can be composted or put on your garden when you clean it out. Something like dried leaves, wood shavings, hay, straw, or dried grass clippings.

I think that will work great for you.

Yes, the ventilation is the main concern, but I think it will be ok. We’ve been working in there in high 90 degree heat and it is always cool in there. We will change things if we see problems once we start using it, but I have found chickens to be easy thus far.
This flooring now is dirt with pine pellets that have broken down over time. I might just put another load of dirt in there and see how it does. I use deep litter method in my other coop. It has been great. I just clean off the nighttime poop in the mornings, throw it in my compost pile and then use in my garden. We had the best garden this year!