coop questions

[Akane]

I am going to be using the old oat bin for a coop and I have a few questions. I posted on another forum but I'm not getting many responses so I'm reposting here.

It's a 174sq ft octagonal building with 2 windows and 2 doors but one door must have broken at some time and is held shut with metal sheets. Probably not worth getting it to open at this time.

I swept the coop, knocked down the old wasp nests (luckily none seem recent), and then sprayed it down a little with the hose. Now there's only a thin layer of dirt instead of 30years worth of dust and spider webs.

First the door... The edges are all reinforced with metal strips and some of those metal strips ran across the door along with boards at the bottom I'm assuming to keep the grain from falling out of the bin. I removed the top 2 bars and have this left:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/aqh88/chickens/sany0484.jpg

The boards kinda help seal the bottom of the door and that lower bar would require removing all the wood around it to get it out so do I need to remove all of it or can they go over it?

Second here are my perches (not all fastened down yet):

3 at ~3 1/2' and 2 at ~2'. That a good height?

Last I'm debating what to do with the wood floor. Someone said if water beads on it then it's been sealed and don't use linseed oil and if water doesn't go ahead. My water kinda splattered, partially soaked in on the edges, and then puddled. The wood was treated with something but not completely waterproofed. Should I put anything on it and what? There's already several containers of linseed oil around. It would be good to do something with the floor before I get birds out there instead of changing my mind later but it's also not 100% clean and would require lots of effort to get it there in order to completely seal it.

 

[chickiebaby]

how wonderful to have such an outbuilding just awaiting you and the birds!

My birds have a couple of perches down low for babes and to use as "stairsteps" but what they lke most is to be up in the eaves at 6 or 7 feet, so feel free to go upward . .

Poeple have lots of opinion on floors, so I will just leave that to them.

Looks just great..

 

[Akane]

Oops I probably should mention I'm doing bantams only and starting with japs. Small chickens.

 

[DouglasPeeps]

As far as the floor goes, I would cover it with linoleum. We had a wood floor (plywood) on our coop when we started. After reading many posts here about easier clean-up with linoleum we decided to add it. I am very happy that we did. Also, if you have spills, you don't have to worry about problems with the wood. We bought 2nd's from our local HD and paid under $40 for the flooring including glue.

 

[Mrs MIA]

How cool is that? I like the building... very rustic.
With bantams you should be good with those perches, but if you ever decide to get larger breeds, I'd up it to 2x4's. You get more than a few birds up there and that's going to bow down to the floor!

I agree with the linoleum, too. Wood gets icky and rots over time, and if it gets wet, it gets moldy... not good for the birds. I put linoleum down in the breeders coops and I love it. They can't walk on it so you need deep litter, but when it comes time to clean, you'll be glad you put it down.

 

[Akane]

This is what the floor looks like 30mins after applying some linseed oil:

Since the wood was already right there I played with a quick ramp:

If I can find a chunk of plywood the right size to make a removeable ramp for the outside I think I will set it up just in case.

 

[joebryant]

COVET! COVET!