Coop and Run and Done!

[Malfean]

I finally finished both my Chicken Coop (out of a Home Depot shed), and my Chicken Run as well. That wasn't easy, given that the temps around my area were scorching for weeks. The coop itself is 7x7, providing my ladies a comfy 49 sq. ft. of floor space. The Chicken Run itself is 12' x 10', with an 8' ceiling. I'm still trying to figure out how to do a coop door so I don't have to open a shed door every single day when winter arrives. My chickens are doing quite well too. Because of the high demand, when I ordered my chickens they required a minimum of 20 to ship. I figured, well, since this is my first time I would undoubtedly lose some. Perhaps as many as half, due to stress, or incompetence, or ignorance. To my happy surprise, 10 weeks later, I still have all 20 chickens. They are alive, getting fatter by the day, and seem quite happy. Although I have critters in my area who would positively love a chicken snack, I do let them out of my Chicken Run on occasion. But I stay with them in the yard (which is fenced in), just in case. I know I have Hawks, Falcons, Raccoons, Possums, and Coyotes in the area, so the only time I let them out of the run is when I am standing there with them. That, and I have a nice large dog that enjoys outings with the ladies as well. I also made a quality Chicken Roost for them as well, using Stair Frames and some boards. So they get premium stadium seating in the coop for their sleeping comfort. I attached some pictures here of the work.

My only question to anyone is what direction do you think I should go with a Coop Door? Should I cut out a section of the resin-cast door to fit something for them, or should I build and mount my own door? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[ibarbidahl]

The stair frame is sheer genius! Love this... if you are not opposed to going in to shut the door at night I would simply put a latch to hold the door open in case of wind. Your chicks will do best if you are in there daily anyway. My only advise is to look into rat proof feeders or take the food up at night. Don't forget to start looking for your nest boxes. You'll need those soon enough!

ETA- I would take the plexi out of the front of the doors and replace with hardware cloth. Anything you can do to increase circulation...which is another reason to leave the door open all the way otherwise the shed will just cook them without insulation.

 

[3KillerBs]

If you tell us where you're located we can give better-targeted advice.

For example if using a plastic shed like that here in my section of steamy central NC I'd have to cut out big sections of wall -- probably the entire gable on both ends -- and replace them with hardware clorth to even begin to make the ventilation adequate for a climate where today's forecast of 92 is fairly moderate for July and Thursday's predicted 89 will be downright cool.

One option would be to remove both doors and build a wood and wire wall with both a human-access door and a chicken pop door.

 

[Malfean]

Hardware cloth is a good idea. I will do that this weekend. I was wondering what to do about those. The doors have a latching system to keep out the critters, which I use nightly. all the chickens have learned to go into the coop from the run when the sun goes down and I simply walk into the run, gently close and latch the doors. But I was hoping to figure out some way of limiting the whole 'door opening' thing during the winter months to minimize heat loss. As for the next boxes, I got 6 milk crates measuring 13x13 inches. I also got the nesting materials for them. I am going to put a small stacked shelving unit into the coop, opposite the roost and place them there, 3 to a row, 2 rows with a small walkway connecting the roost to the nesting boxes (I have plenty of extra wood!). But I was told not to put in the nesting boxes until a week or 2 before they begin egg laying. If you have thoughts on that I could sure use the advice!

 

[Malfean]

If you tell us where you're located we can give better-targeted advice.

For example if using a plastic shed like that here in my section of steamy central NC I'd have to cut out big sections of wall -- probably the entire gable on both ends -- and replace them with hardware clorth to even begin to make the ventilation adequate for a climate where today's forecast of 92 is fairly moderate for July and Thursday's predicted 89 will be downright cool.

One option would be to remove both doors and build a wood and wire wall with both a human-access door and a chicken pop door.

West of Chicago, by an hour. So we can get some reach scorchers in the summer months and some epic freezing in the winter.

 

[3KillerBs]

West of Chicago, by an hour. So we can get some reach scorchers in the summer months and some epic freezing in the winter.

Ventilation remains critical in the winter, but preventing icy winds from ruffling the chickens' feathers is a different set of problems. Hopefully someone from a similar climate will stop by to offer more targeted advice.

 

[Malfean]

Ventilation remains critical in the winter, but preventing icy winds from ruffling the chickens' feathers is a different set of problems. Hopefully someone from a similar climate will stop by to offer more targeted advice.

I was thinking of some kind of electric air circulation pump I could mount to the exhaust port on the ceiling of the shed. There's a nice one at the local Home Depot I was thinking about but I don't know if that would be a wise thing to do.

 

[Ryguy3684]

My only question to anyone is what direction do you think I should go with a Coop Door? Should I cut out a section of the resin-cast door to fit something for them, or should I build and mount my own door? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

I made my coop from the exact same shed. I placed my run on the side, cutting a hole in the wall, and put a small door for chicken access. That way, I can still use the main doors to get in and out. For better ventilation, I did a couple things. I added a fan, with a thermostat to the top vent, to pull hot air out. I also added these cool vents from Home Depot that open above 70 degrees and close below 40. They are spring loaded so there's no electronics to break. I'll send pictures when I get home tonight. I'm in Virginia, so I get the hot, humid southern temps and very cold, northern winters.

 

[Ryguy3684]

The fan made the biggest difference. The panels cut easily with a box cutter

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

It looks good. Go with the extra ventilation and create a pop door for them. If your run is predator proof you can leave the pop door open during the warmer months.