do you have a half shed/half coop? lets see it.

[MVchickens]

I am in the process of converting half the shed into a coop. Can I see how you guys did it?

 

[Wisher1000]

I don't have any pics at this time but I may can describe it well enough. My building is 8' x 12' with the door in the 8' end. At about 5' into the space, I stacked two 2 x 8's to make a 15" wall across the 8' direction and secured them with short 2 x 4's on the ends. Then I attached some bird netting at the rafter all the way across the top above the 15" wall, all the way down the left side and half way along the 15" wall. Then I put two screws on the right wall on which to hook the netting so that it will be tight. One on the 15" wall and one about half way up to the rafter. I unhook the netting and fold it back to go in and out (similar to a tent door.) The short wall is easily stepped over, holds shavings and serves to divide the coop area from the storage area and the netting keeps the birds from getting to the feed and roosting on top of the nest boxes. The rest of the coop has shavings, the pop door, feeders and roosts and is about 7' x 8'. If I need to move or remove the partition, it will be very simple to do. Right now, all that I have in there are my brooder babies at 5 weeks old and under. If the bigger birds end up going through the bird netting I will have to frame a door and use chicken wire. I hope to get pics to share soon...


Edited for clarity and correct deminsions

 

[Kaitie09]

http://s1111.photobucket.com/albums/h472/Kaitie09/Shed design/

Here is our's from from the beginning. We still have to put the lattice on the bottom and plant something.

 

[allpeepedout]

I need to do this too, sectioning off 8x10 in a large shed with no straight lines anywhere, and hope to see some pictures here of solutions. I am thinking of a solid half wall with hardware cloth panels above to keep ventilation open to the remainder of the shed, but with openings to nest boxes and to supply feeder and waterer from inside shed, but for simplicity to not build a people door in partition. Shed already has two people doors on each end.

 

[JMPE]

For my 5 girls, I started with an old 10'x10' shed. I added the two side windows and the window on the door. The one on the door is just for light. The side windows have screen and hardwire over them. In the winter I clamp Lexan over them. These inside pictures were taken during construction, but I have an 8'x4.5'x2.5' hardwire run on the one side. This is where the pop door goes out to the run. The shelf in the front is where I now have a PVC feeder and a bucket with hanging water bucket with nipples. There is an enclosed roost area 3.5'x4.5' with nesting boxes on the other side. The lid of the hardwire run fold back in sections. When open, my girls like to hop up and visit. The pans under the roost area slide out for cleaning (little hinged door) or I can swing the entire front up for big jobs. It works great to have everything in there safe and dry (including me when the weather is bad). I use a thick layer of shavings for the floor.

 

[allpeepedout]

Beautiful! Boxing off small functional connected areas -- much smarter than floor-to-ceiling wall!

 

[krcote]

Quote:
Depends what you mean by "smarter". It is less than smart if the flock increases in size... which is usually the case

The builder would have to work the addition into the constraints of the interior of the shed which looks tight. I built a floor to ceiling wall in my shed in less than a day. I'm just guessing that this type of construction took much longer. It doesn't seem too smart to me to take up precious shed space with somethign that could be free-standing outside on its own? It is smart of the builder to have an indoor area to tend to the chickens when the weather is poor, but the same could be said with a floor to ceiling wall. Smarter means different things to different people. This setup is however very safe!

 

[JMPE]

Thanks Allpeepedout

Security was my main focus, then ease of care. I have no intention of out growing my design, but even so, full walls would not give me more floor space. When it's snowin' and a blowin' or raining cats and dogs, it is so nice to be all the way inside to clean and care for the girls without watching my step. It's also easy for folks who care for the girls when we're on a trip. There are a few things I would change, but not the overall design. The low walls give me room to move

Works for me.

 

[allpeepedout]

Quote:
Depends what you mean by "smarter". It is less than smart if the flock increases in size... which is usually the case

The builder would have to work the addition into the constraints of the interior of the shed which looks tight. I built a floor to ceiling wall in my shed in less than a day. I'm just guessing that this type of construction took much longer. It doesn't seem too smart to me to take up precious shed space with somethign that could be free-standing outside on its own? It is smart of the builder to have an indoor area to tend to the chickens when the weather is poor, but the same could be said with a floor to ceiling wall. Smarter means different things to different people. This setup is however very safe!

Indeed, apologies, smarter for my situation, with complex ceiling angles and elements of a historic building including dairy cow stantions running the full length of both sides of my shed, which I would like to save, and a concrete floor of multiple levels. A simple wall is not so simple in my space and case. This boxed approach enables storage under elevated chicken "boxes" and solves security issues of an older structure all the way around. But your points are good, and please pardon my blanket statement, which referred to my needs for retrofitting my shed. Do not mean to divert the thread from the OP. Yes, the need to expand had also crossed my mind. Best build my boxes big.

 

[KimberlyJ]

Here's the inside :



The coop part is only to the left of the door.

Here's the outside: