Finally getting my dream of a shed coop! Hints, tips or tricks?

[AhyokaAcres]

I had something similar with mine. There was a road widening project and we watched for several of the houses that had sheds in the back yard to see when they were available for purchase. The road dept. turned them over to Habitat for Humanity Re-Store, who sold us one for $295 (GREAT PRICE) if we would haul it ourselves. We also had a friend that hauled for us. It was a great way to get the shed and also helped out Habitat!

I'm really excited about stopping by our local Re-Store this weekend. I'm hoping to find a few windows and maybe a cabinet or nightstand to use as nest boxes. Heck, who knows WHAT we'll find! I'm also going to build a little 10x10 porch on the front with a little railing so we can visit with the chickens in the evenings.

 

[Coop de Grille]

Your shed looks just like my converted shed/coop. We built a wire wall four feet into the coop. This allows me to leave the main doors open when it's nice out. We are in South Carolina so heat is a big concern. I store my feed in metal garbage cans, my shavings and other supplies in this area.



We built it with two doors because now we have the coop split into a left and right side. If you leave it as one room, only one door is needed.

 

[bj taylor]

I'm super excited to say that we are going in about an hour to check out a shed that I found on good 'ole Craigslist! Wood, 10x10, and already has vinyl floors...and here's the real kicker - UNDER $500! I have been looking EVERYWHERE, but in my area wood sheds go for at least $900, and with a full ranch to run, that was out of the question. I gave up on my dream of a big shed coop, but happened to look on CL one more time this weekend!

Now, I need some tips. I will be repainting it when it comes to match the barn and eventually the house (white and green). I have scoured threads on the subject, and finally decided to start my own (and hopefully a coop page, if all goes well today)

However I am a construction newbie, and would love advice on things such as:

• nest boxes - where, should they be inside, or the pop-out kind, how high, and how many for 20 layer
• the chicken door - I can't afford a $200 auto door atm, however I would like to know the best and easies way to cut/instal a door
• windows - I am a TOTAL newbie to windows and framing, but was going to see what they have at the Re-Store today
• ventilation - willl windows be enough, or do I need to cut vents? I was considering using AC registers, would that work?
• floor cover - this will be right next to the house, and the run will extend under my deck, so what are the best ways to keep the smell to a minimum?
• best roost designs?

I'm sorry for all the questions! I'm excited and want to do it right the first time!

I had started building a 5x5 coop, and put too much time and money so far to just leave it, so I was considering moving it across the yard and attaching it to a dog run as a big roomy duck house, and moving the nest boxes to floor-level.


Thank you in advance!

-The Newly Addicted Chicken Lady-

*my coop sits very close to ground level. that allowed me to use the pop door as the ramp. it is hinged at the bottom & just lays down to provide their ramp. to make it extra predator proof i made a second door to go over it that slides down two brackets on either side of pop door. that way a racoon or some other determined animal can't get to them at night.
*my floor covering is cheap linoleum. i'm using the deep litter method. so far so good. there is no smell.
*i live in a hot climate & ventilation is critical if they're going to survive the summer, so i have it as open as possible.
*as far as the nest boxes are concerned, just avoid my mistake & keep the nest boxes inaccessible to them until they are old enough to lay eggs. mine started sleeping in the boxes & i let them because i didn't see a reason not to. then i read i will have poopy eggs doing that - so i now have them covered.

your shed is fabulous. you could build a coop inside, sorta like a ship in a bottle. that's what i have. that gives me space to have feed, tools, etc. that they can't get to. good luck

 

[AmyLou1782]

I am so glad you started this! I have an 8x10 building that I am going to use as my coop. We need to start it soon since we are having major predator problems right now. One idea that I saw that I loved was a lady had her DH put a little shelf in the corner to hold her wine glass when she went out in the evenings to visit her birds....haha! That is so something I would do. I also saw where cute garden hooks were used to hang the waterer and feeder from to keep them up off the ground. I will be putting cheap linolieum down in mine and using pine shavings for smell. I'm worried about the heat and humidity this summer so we have GOT to get the ventilation fixed up too. Lots of good tips on here, I hope they keep coming!

 

[AhyokaAcres]

I am so glad you started this! I have an 8x10 building that I am going to use as my coop. We need to start it soon since we are having major predator problems right now. One idea that I saw that I loved was a lady had her DH put a little shelf in the corner to hold her wine glass when she went out in the evenings to visit her birds....haha! That is so something I would do. I also saw where cute garden hooks were used to hang the waterer and feeder from to keep them up off the ground. I will be putting cheap linolieum down in mine and using pine shavings for smell. I'm worried about the heat and humidity this summer so we have GOT to get the ventilation fixed up too. Lots of good tips on here, I hope they keep coming!

Keep us updated on your progress! I love coop progress photos!

 

[AmyLou1782]

OK, we need to get this thread fired back up...we are starting this weekend on our outbuilding to chicken palace renovations. I will try to remember to take a picture of my building this evening and post it. I'm concerned about ventiliation. I'm in NC and it gets HOT and HUMID. I want it secure though because I've about had it with the snakes! Suggestions? We are planning on using hardware cloth instead of chicken wire.

 

[AhyokaAcres]

I've been procrastinating until payday so I can take a trip to the Re-Store and see what goodies they have. I had planned on painting it BEFORE cutting out the windows and such...I still might because I am getting impatient!

 

[AmyLou1782]

I can understand that! I couldn't get a picture this evening because I thought I was going to have to hunt up an arc. We got an inch and a half of rain in about 45 minutes. The creek behind the house is LOUD! We needed it so bad though so no complaints here at all. My horses sure looked like they enjoyed the shower! I guess I need to make a trip to the ReStore also and see if I can get hold of some linolieum to put on the floor and maybe a small window. I'll have to see what they have. It's kinda like going on a treasure hunt!

 

[AhyokaAcres]

I see you're in NC too, the rain today was crazy. It's always fun coming home from work to a flooded barn

 

[AmyLou1782]

Yeah, I'm about 40 minutes northwest of Charlotte. I didn't have a flooded barn luckily but I did have a flooded garden, koi pond, and paddock. Mud everywhere. We needed the rain bad though so I won't complain too much. I am curious about your farm name, Ahyoka Acres...we are trying to come up with a name for our farm and I just can't seem to come up with one that I like.