From Old Metal Shed to Trendy Fresh-Air Chicken Coop

[teach1rusl]

Sounds like that guy basically did a mini coop within a coop...a fully enclosed huddle box with doors.
Most fabric stores sell a thick, transparent vinyl "cloth" that you could staple up over the wire sections (like you said, leaving up to a foot or so along the top) come winter time. You'd have to screw battans along the edges to make sure wind didn't pull it loose. That would be your simplest route to winterizing. Well, tarps would probably be simplist, but the clear vinyl would allow the sun in, would keep blowing snow out, and would make the coop a much nicer place to visit when tending the flock in winter time, plus it's much easier on the eyes than tarps. And you may STILL want to do the huddle box (but I'd forgo the light in a small space like that), but not so fancy a one. Whatever you go with, you want them be out of icy drafts come winter time. If your chickens are anything like mine their first winter will be their hardest; my girls handled winter much better the 2nd year.

 

[Teeah3612]

Please keep us posted with pictures. I do have an old metal shed and was hoping to use it on the farm I just bought to make a chicken coop. Now I don't have to make my own mistakes I can just learn from you.

 

[MamiPollo]

One thing I noticed this evening....and I guess we'll figure it out tomorrow.

I bought 2x4's to do the frames, but now I am not sure if they will work.

If you look at the Mother Earth News photo, it looks like they used 1x3's and turned them sideways, like an old-time window screen frame. The man at Lowe's told me to use 2x4's and demonstrated to me how to build the frames. But, I don't actually think they are going to fit, and I think I know now why the couple in AZ used the narrower boards and turned them sideways.

There is a metal bar that runs horizontal about halfway up the wall. I suspect it is there more to hold the wall panels on than it is to hold the building together. I will get a better look tomorrow. Maybe they removed that part.

If you have to fit the screen frame between that and the exterior frame, then you are going to need something narrower than a 2x4.

Guess I'll start playing with it tomorrow and see what happens.

Boy, is my carport a MESS!!! I'm sure my neighbors are waiting for me to move a major appliance out there (although it would be hard to find in all the mess) and take the wheels off my care and replace them with cinder blocks. It is really that bad! Hopefully only temporary though.

 

[MamiPollo]

What an amazing day!!

My day started with Teach1Rusl pulling into my driveway with her power tools, and ended up with all the framing up on the new coop, along with 2 freshly constructed doors...one for humans and one for poultry.

I cannot believe the charity and generosity this incredible woman has demonstrated, to give up a Saturday to help a stranger...although she hinted it was really my chickens she came to help, I have a hunch it wasn't all for the birds.

Thank you, thank you, Teach1Rusl! You definately built up some good karma today. And serve as an example to all of us of how to make the world a better place for both poultry and people!

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

Wow! wasn't that nice of her! Incredible

 

[elmo]

In the coop pictured in the linked Mother Earth article, the article says they used chicken wire and a screen door. Those are two big mistakes from a predator safety perspective. Use welded wire, sometimes called hardware cloth, and if you use a screen door, reinforce the screen with hardware cloth, too. Chicken wire and regular insect screen won't take a raccoon two minutes to rip through.

I've seen a couple of similar articles on Mother Earth with chicken setups that have obvious design problems.

 

[zookeeper15133]

Absolutely awesome!
Thank you Teach1Rus! I know there are incredibly kind, wonderful people out there, but I think most of them are here on BYC!
MamiPollo, we need pics!

 

[MamiPollo]

I added some photos to this album. For some reason they did not upload in chronological order, but I am sure you can figure it out.

http://s1128.photobucket.com/albums/m487/mamipollo/From Metal Shed to Chicken Coop/

I will post more details (and possibly more pics) later this evening.

 

[teach1rusl]

Kathryn - you are certainly welcome. And thank you for your hospitality! When you go to put together your BYC page, be sure to tilt the camera so the crooked door isn't so obvious...lol!

Can you tell it's STILL bugging me???
Can't wait to see how everything looks with hardware cloth, door handles, and latches...and with chickies inside! BTWay...when I was telling DH about the need for caulking, he suggested horse stall pads on the floors to elevate the floor enough for regular bedding. You might visit a Tractor Supply or something similar to see if those would work??? I'd try the caulking first though to see if that does the job.

 

[MamiPollo]

I love that I will be able to look out my backdoor window and see my chickens walking around in their coop.

We had a little rain this afternoon. While I was at Lowes' buying hinges and one more 2x4, Teach1Rusl was able to identify some leaks: One in the roof and a spot where water poured in under the wall (next to the rainbarrel, so possibly overflow from that). One of my jobs is to caulk around the bottom of the wall all the way around.

Then will put sand in for the floor, and build a little platform for woodshavings within the walled area.

I am so excited about this coop! It is going to be so cute!