Enclose the coop?

[RockyToggRanch]

Hi, I'm building a new aisle barn and one 10x 10 stall area will be for chickens. I drew it out with one solid wall between the tack room and coop, where I could put the nest boxes and a retrieval door. The outside wall with a window and the other side wall with the 1/2 stall wall and wire mesh above. (A goat will live on the other side). I was thinking of wire mesh on the front (aisle side, inside barn) too, but after reading several posts about being draft free, I wonder if it would be better to totally enclose their coop?
Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Da Chicken Guy]

If it's already inside a barn the drafts will be much less than a stand alone coop outside with the elements. But, you have to consider the threat of coons and other creatures that like chicken dinners. I would make the coop pretty secure for this reason. Once they find out that they have a meal there, they will stop at nothing to get to them.

 

[speckledhen]

The main problem with drafts comes from floor level. If you could possibly put up a partial wall, maybe 3 ft up, that keeps cold drafts from being at their level. That said, inside a barn is much less of a problem, I'd think.

 

[LynneP]

That's exactly how we created our coop this spring, and we added a porch in the barn aisleway and a predator-secured run on the outside. Full pics in the home page below! If I can be of help, give me a shout, please!

I suspect you'll be very satisfied. Oh and we used old glass windows on the aisleway side to prevent chicken dust from reaching our horse...

 

[patandchickens]

I would go with a half wall. Not so much for draftiness (you could always block off drafts with a panel or two of plywood during the time of year when drafts are a problem) as for safety -- I assume from your description there will be horses in the barn, and it is SO easy for a clumsy or spooked or recalcitrant horse to back up or kick into the aisle 'wall'. You absolutely do not want the horse putting his foot through any kind of mesh, nor do you want him getting his foot hung up in any kind of mesh. THe only safe kickboards are solid - either 2"+ raw unmilled lumber, or very very well-braced 3/4" plywood. You can still have (horse-safe) mesh or bars above.

Good luck and have fun,

Pat

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
But then you have to find a way of protecting the *horse* from the *glass*... plexiglas is an awful lot safer around horses...

Pat, having seen some nasty injuries from "horse + windowglass"

 

[RockyToggRanch]

You are all so helpful! I never thought about the horses stepping through the mesh. Or about chicken dust getting to them.(Is that a problem?) I could use the same horse fence type that their paddock is made from. Then perhaps smaller mesh inside. Maybe the 1/2 wall is best after all. I usually leave the horses windows open a ways except during blizzards. And their stall doors are Dutch doors, so there will be some cold air floating around. I think the barn will be pretty much predator proof. We don't have many snakes around here big enough to eat a chicken. (zone 4, cold and wicked winters on Lake Ontario.)

Again, what do I need to know about chicken dust and horses? (and Dairy goat in next stall?)
Is that the dandruff looking stuff on top of their feathers?