Does anyone have a coop built into a larger building?

[shopchicks]

Like my username implies, I'm planning on housing some chickens in the shop. Actually, it WAS going to be the shop, but now we're buying a new house ( YAY!

) and the building would be the garden shed, rather than workshop. It is a 12x16' wood-sided shop with power to it, and there is an ideal location to attach a run on the west-facing side of the building (12' wall). I am going back and forth between building a coop in the run, outside of the shed, or building a coop into the corner of the shed.

The idea of being able to clean the coop, feed and water from inside the shed when the wind is howling and it's 10 degrees out, is very attractive. The building is not insulated, and there is a powered exhaust fan at the top of the wall above where the coop would be. I was thinking that if the coop was inside the shop, the interior walls could be mostly hardware cloth, and I could then put opening windows on the north and west sides of the coop for additional ventiliation.

I was wondering if anyone else has done this, and if so, whether you have an photos? Are there any downsides to this that I'm not thinking of? I'd be housing 3-5 hens, and I'm thinking that the coop would be about 3x6 with two exterior-mounted nest boxes, and the run would be about 4x12' built as a lean-to onto the shed.

 

[CARS]

Bigger the building, the bigger the opportunities!

 

[Frogdogtimestwo]

We have one of our coops in a storage shed and the BIGGEST drawback is the dust, since they are incredibly dusty critters. All the tools had to be moved until we completely sealed off the coop from the inner building (we made a plexiglass window instead of open mesh, tightly sealed the door, and cut in a vent on the outside wall for fresh air) this eliminated most of the dust issue. I would think your fan would greatly eliminate the dust being a problem.

 

[eac04]

CARS we have a set-up almost like yours. When we bought our property there was an OLD house towards the back. A few weeks ago DH decided to tear down some walls and make 1/4 of it into a chicken coop. Will have to take pictures of it and share.

 

[shopchicks]

Thanks! I remembered today that I have a storm door sitting behind the shop. It has a 2x2-ish area where the glass slides back and has screen in it. I'm thinking of hanging it sideways as the interior wall of the coop. Even with the screened part open, dust shouldn't be too big of a problem. The rest of the building will just be for the lawn mower, garden tools, and maybe a potting bench, so dust won't be too consequential anyway.

If anyone else has more experience or photos, I'd love to hear/see them!

 

[Maggies Pop]

We built our coop in our 2 car garage. We don't use it for our cars so why not.

My husband built the coop next to a window that opens up to the sideyard where the chicken roam. There is a ladder from the window to the ground. The coop is totally insulated and is perfect. Protects our chickens from predators, which was my biggest concern.

We can clean, gather eggs, feed/water all from inside the garage. Super easy!

 

[krcote]

I am in this very situation- maybe 6x8 for an initial shed size. I have been given about 2/3 of the space

I can't seem to find too many pics either. I was thinking of a solid wall seperation due to dust/warmth as well. Thanks for any pics you can give!

 

[newchicksnducks]

Can't say I've been lucky enough to have an extra outbuilding to partition into a coop but...

The cost savings would be a big plus. You would only need to name one or two walls to partition off a section (depending on your desired coop size) If you make a complete wall (going all the way to the top with wood) this should eliminate the problem with the excessive dust getting into your shop area...because chickens DO create a lot of dust!). Although my 8x8 coop is plenty big enough for me to get inside and close the door behind me when I want to scrape the droppings board. The girls don't mind me getting in their small house...The worst problem is they are nosey and keep jumping up to see what I'm doing Good luck in whichever design you choose.

 

[shopchicks]

Thanks, I think I am going to go with it! I don't want to build a walk-in sized coop since I will only have 3-5 hens, and they will be spending at least half the year in a tractor. I will be able to use 2 spare storm doors for the walls. The coop floor will be raised up about 3' above the shop floor so that I can store feed cans and litter underneath. That will also put the exterior next boxes at the perfect height for egg collection. I'm thinking I'll build a "ceiling" with 2x4's and hardware cloth, and then I can cut pieces of plywood to fit over the top, so they can be removed for ventilation if they're in there during the hot months. The best part is that there are already shelves in that area made out of 2x4's, and then adding in the storm doors, the interior part should be VERY cheap to build, just leaving me with the expense of the run, though I might just attach the tractor run for a while. Just thinking out loud now.

8 days until closing, then I order my chicks!

 

[perrym1962]

That is awesome. Wish I had something of the sort..Cool