Fiberglass pump shelter as possible coop???

[RiddleMe]

Anyone had any experience modifying a fiberglass structure for a coop? Specifically cutting it, wondering how hard it would be to cut some ventilation and a pop door. Also, any issues with chickens and fiberglass? Those big side doors would make it easy to access for cleaning, probably worth going to take a look tomorrow if nothing else, they might make good storage.

http://bend.craigslist.org/grd/2357839990.html

 

[patandchickens]

Hm, that seems like a pretty decent price for whatcha get, if they're in good condition (not got cracks/rips started, etc).

The fact that they have the big front opening would make it a lot easier to work with them b/c you wouldn't have to do much if any cutting of the fiberglass. The doublewide one in particular would probably be not hard to convert.

That said, they do have two significant drawbacks that you should seriously consider from a coop-conversion standpoint. One, because they are translucent they will heat up more than you would think and will thus require a full-shade location or a cool climate plus lotsa ventilation. And two, fiberglass has next to no insulating value and does not absorb water at all, so unless you are in a climate that always stays above freezing or leave that one wall essentially fully open, you are likely to run into condensation problems in wintertime. I do not know enough about the inland parts of Oregon to have any sense of how much thse things would be an issue for you. If your climate is fairly mild I wonder if you could run a roofed porch off the open part, perhaps tall enough to stand up in with the fiberglass thing up on a 2' high platform so that you could just walk into the porch part to clean the fiberglass part; that might make a nice arrangement, and with the fiberglass thing left with that wall totally open you would not have condensation problems. Dunno if that would work in your climate, but, an idea anyhow.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[RiddleMe]

Thanks for the input! I'm actually building a 10x12 coop for 12-16 chickens, using a lot of input from this website (you've answered a few questions!), so don't need anything more.... for now. Was just wondering about pros and cons. Might still go take a look, hate to miss out on a bargain and if nothing else, they could be open air shelters in the free range area.