Hi everyone! Well, we are busy painting the outside of the shed at our cottage that will be converted into a chicken coop/goat house. The chickens will be on the right and the goats on the left with feed storage inbetween. I have been working on the inside design of the coop and since this is my last chicken coop, I need to get it exactly right because there will be no do overs. Here is my dilemma.
The shed we are converting is next to a shed we will be using for my workshop/storage. There is about 6 ft between them and they are both 10 ft long. Since the actual run area won't be quit as big as I want it to be, due to the placement of these 2 sheds, I am trying to find a way to give them some extra space. If I enclosed the area between the two sheds and put a roof over it, this would give them an extra 60 sq. ft. plus the area under my shed, which I will be closing off for them as well.
So, I got to thinking. I could put their food and water in this area and just put a door from their coop out to this enclosed area. That way the goats couldn't get into it. It would be easy for me to get into and out of for feeding and water as my husband would make a door between the two sheds and doing this would free up room in the coop for a brooder!
I know there are pros and cons to both, but this would also give them a covered place to get outside in the winter time. It does get cold and snowy here in the winter, but there is electricity in the coop so I would have a heater for the water so it doesn't freeze and then add some hot water each morning. It would also give me room to keep the feed cans thereby making more room in the coop. Here is a picture of the sheds. It won't let me add pics, so here is a link.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/Ivywood/IMG_3734.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/Ivywood/IMG_3733.jpg
What do you think? Food in or out? What would you do? Just for reference, the outside pen will encompass most of the area in front of the big shed. It will be the same width as the shed and go across most of the yard. There will be a gate on either side of the shed to get into the pen, so enclosing the area between the sheds, would be very handy for me. I will be doing 90% of the chicken and goat care. Thanks for your opinions.
The shed we are converting is next to a shed we will be using for my workshop/storage. There is about 6 ft between them and they are both 10 ft long. Since the actual run area won't be quit as big as I want it to be, due to the placement of these 2 sheds, I am trying to find a way to give them some extra space. If I enclosed the area between the two sheds and put a roof over it, this would give them an extra 60 sq. ft. plus the area under my shed, which I will be closing off for them as well.
So, I got to thinking. I could put their food and water in this area and just put a door from their coop out to this enclosed area. That way the goats couldn't get into it. It would be easy for me to get into and out of for feeding and water as my husband would make a door between the two sheds and doing this would free up room in the coop for a brooder!
I know there are pros and cons to both, but this would also give them a covered place to get outside in the winter time. It does get cold and snowy here in the winter, but there is electricity in the coop so I would have a heater for the water so it doesn't freeze and then add some hot water each morning. It would also give me room to keep the feed cans thereby making more room in the coop. Here is a picture of the sheds. It won't let me add pics, so here is a link.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/Ivywood/IMG_3734.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/Ivywood/IMG_3733.jpg
What do you think? Food in or out? What would you do? Just for reference, the outside pen will encompass most of the area in front of the big shed. It will be the same width as the shed and go across most of the yard. There will be a gate on either side of the shed to get into the pen, so enclosing the area between the sheds, would be very handy for me. I will be doing 90% of the chicken and goat care. Thanks for your opinions.
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