coon security and paint ideas

[sunket77]

I need some suggestions! I recently acquired a small coop from craigs list and want to use it for my banties. The sides have chicken wire on them and it's low to the ground so I have to figure a way to raccoon proof it. My next question is my big coop is made of solar board so it is a big silver coop. If I paint it there would be no point to the solar board, which does keep it at least a few degrees cooler/warmer. But I need to paint the trim b/c it is untreated lumber. Any suggestions on what color to paint it with the silver? I also want to paint the small coop that same color.
here is the small one

here is the large one

 

[RL]

With your small coop you could raise that off the ground a few feet and maybe replace the chicken wire with Hardware cloth. You could also attach some shutters to the sides to close it up at night. If you did the shutter thing you would need to put a roof vent in for ventilation.

As far as the big coop with the solar board. For one thing you installed it backwards the radiant barrier side should have been facing in. With the barrier facing out it is going to get ruined and become useless. You need to cover it with regular plywood or siding of some sort. Also when you do cover it, leave an air gap between the barrier and the siding. This will help the barrier and act as insulation. Whatever you are going to do you need to cover that radiant barrier. The weather is going to wreak havoc on it and the chicken will just peck it off anyway.

 

[sunket77]

hhmm... well a friend of mine built the coop for me, but the directions said for an outer wall it should face out. Now I don't know what to do! I really can't spend much more on chicken housing right now. Should I just forget about it being solar board and paint it? Would that be my cheapest option? The chickens don't really have access to the outside of the coop they are in a run that will go to the small door for them to go to the coop at night. Right now I am bringing them back and forth.

The roof to the small coop is hinged so if I raise it it will be hard to get into What if I build a run around it? Thanks for the help!

 

[RL]

Yeah the directions are a bit misleading. When they say to face it out they are assuming that you are either placing the boards on the inside of the structure or are going to cover it with siding.

I don’t know what your weather is like where you live, but if it is a wet climate the OSB may/will start to come apart. In a dry climate it may last longer, but it will still start to come apart. The problem with just painting it is I would be afraid that moisture would build up under the foil and it will start to peel off. It will probably start to peel after a few good rains anyway and I’m not too sure how well the paint will stick to the foil. OSB was not made to get wet it should always be covered. I never was one that liked to be the barrier of bad news, but OSB is OSB.

I know it might be a pain and a lot of extra work, but can you pull the boards off and turn them around? Well, then you would have the problem of the birds pecking at it, but they may not peck at it too much you never know. If you can turn the boards around then you could put a good coat of paint on the outside and that would give you time to afford some kind of siding to cover the OSB. The barrier will still work even faced to the inside. You could try wrapping it with something like roofing felt, just something to protect the OSB from getting too wet too often. That is the main thing about OSB - keep it as dry as you can.

As far as the coon proofing the small coop just make sure they can’t dig under it if it has an open floor and make sure the open sides are chew proof. If it looks to you like a coon might be able to break into it, you can bet it can. Maybe someone on here with more coon experience can help you more with that question. Good luck to you with your chickens. Sorry for the bad news about the large coop.

 

[sunket77]

Thats ok! I guess you can say it was "Cajun engineered"! My good friend is as Cajun as they come, though he is a great guy who really helped me out a lot.

Rain is not a problem right now by any means we are in a serious drought! I almost wish it was a problem! I was really concerned about the OSB but I didn't choose it, I guess he figured that with 100 degree weather that would be the best choice. Maybe with a lot of luck and searching I can find scraps on CL to cover it.