From tool shed to Coop?

[jthornton]

Dimmable, but I have no intention of doing so.

TWG

Well if you wanted to experiment with additional light you could simulate sunrise and sunset...

JT

 

[paintedChix]

Fantastic build. Very educational for me. I might even be able to manage some of these tips - LOL!

Thank you for sharing. Would love to see your nest box and perch now that it's been installed for 6 months+ and how are they using it? Do you like the coop the way it is or will you be making changes?

 

[TexasWineGuy]

Update 4-25-20

Howdy All,

It's been a while since I have been back on the site because, well, everything has been going very well.

It's been about 6 months since the coop and Run build and move-in so I wanted to give an update.

Firstly, today I did my first pine shaving change-out since the original build. Some thoughts:

1. I'm surprised at how clean the coop stays, even after 6 months. The girls very rarely poop in the coop itself, unless of course they are roosting at night. It never "smells bad" in the coop.
2. Upon cleaning out the "old" shavings I was surprised at the volume of leftover pulverized food Crumbles under the shavings. Must have been a few pounds total.
3. I am VERY happy with the design of the coop and nest box/Roost tray. Many thanks to @jthornton and @aart for all the help. The roost tray is easy to clean, and the nest box quick and easy to access.
4. The removable front section of the coop that I designed and build made it very easy to do the full cleaning. Pics below of the front section removed for cleaning. 10 seconds after replacing the shavings with new, the front section is attached and secured.

We have a good schedule with the girls. They get out every day for 2-2.5 hours at about 5-6 PM. After that we coax them back in with a little BOSS treat. Right in they go!

Egg production from our 4 hens has been good. Average output is 3 per day, with an occasional 2 or 4. Not sure why but over the last 3 weeks production has dropped to more of an average of 2 per day, with the occasional 4 or 1. Don't see any molt going on so I'll continue to watch them.

So glad I took the time at first to build this thing correctly, as again, this is so easy to care for.

Hope all of you are well, and staying away from the C19.

CMOS

 

[aart]

Great to hear!
I've been linking this build thread for others modifying metal sheds.

 

[jthornton]

Great to hear everything is working out well. My She Shed to coop conversion is just about done and the new chicks ship on the 29th. The Rhode Island Red hens (140 weeks old) are doing well and some have a few issues but 4 of the 7 are laying eggs so enough to keep eggs on the counter for our use. I will be putting pine chips down in the new coop about 2" deep I think.

How deep did you put pine chips in the coop?

JT

 

[TexasWineGuy]

Great to hear everything is working out well. My She Shed to coop conversion is just about done and the new chicks ship on the 29th. The Rhode Island Red hens (140 weeks old) are doing well and some have a few issues but 4 of the 7 are laying eggs so enough to keep eggs on the counter for our use. I will be putting pine chips down in the new coop about 2" deep I think.

How deep did you put pine chips in the coop?

JT

JT,

I did about 4" of shavings for now. Might add more in about 30 days as they tromp them down.

Looks like you have a nice build of your own!

TWG

 

[jewelg]

I would leave the doors open (or remove them) and frame out a wall with a door, and cover everything with hardware cloth. Also, you could replace a panel or two with 1/4 or 3/8" plywood, and cut ventilation into that (the 2nd picture shows how I did it). Be aware that these buildings need some kind of awning to block the wind. Here's what I did so you can get some ideas. Maybe I shouldn't have cit holes for ventilation, but whatever. One was free and the other $75.


View attachment 1838883

Hiya! Sorry if this seems like a dumb question - I do have a hard time understanding sizes if there's not a chicken or a human in the photo for perspective. Is this circular hole an entance/exit for your coop, or is it venting? If venting, did you put hardware cloth on the outside end of this tube? If a door, do you have a circular wooden piece that latches on the outside side to close it? We're thinking about a shed conversion and I love how you framed this cylindrical opening - no sharp edges! What is it that you used?

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Hiya! Sorry if this seems like a dumb question - I do have a hard time understanding sizes if there's not a chicken or a human in the photo for perspective. Is this circular hole an entance/exit for your coop, or is it venting? If venting, did you put hardware cloth on the outside end of this tube? If a door, do you have a circular wooden piece that latches on the outside side to close it? We're thinking about a shed conversion and I love how you framed this cylindrical opening - no sharp edges! What is it that you used?

The circular opening is a tunnel that connects the two metal sheds. It is open on both ends so the chickens can go back and forth. I used a 55-gal plastic barrel with both ends cut out.

 

[Baumshell28]

Did a boatload of Metal Primer over the last 2 days and just shot the first coat of Rustoleum semi-gloss top coat. Used a $35 airless paint gun from Amazon, and worth every penny. Second coat tomorrow.

@jthornton

Some questions for the more experienced:

The phase II plan is to use this shed for the walk-in coop, then build a permanent 8 x 16' run that will attach directly to the Coop via a small cut door in either the Coop side, or back wall.

My question pertains to the front of the Coop (shed). It's got a 56" opening that is covered by the 2 sliding doors. I'd like to keep that opening "open" for ventilation and light purposes, but I don't know if I want to permanently remove the metal sliding doors, or keep them open and build a wood-framed insert that contains a hinged door for us to walk in. Might I want to keep the sliding doors just in case, I temporarily wanted to "close" the entire front?

What are your thoughts with regards to the front of this soon-to-be Coop?

Also, I do plan to frame in at least 2 windows also for more light and ventilation.

Thanks for any suggestions.

TWG

View attachment 1843915 View attachment 1843916

We’re practically neighbors, lol! I’m in Louisiana, so I feel we have much in common as far as heat, cold, critters and predators are concerned. My coop was built by the previous owners MANY years ago. When I decided to get chickens, I pretty much kept the bones of the coop as-is while tearing down the run to enlarge it & predator proof it (adding some sort of aerial protection was a MUST as I have countless large owls and other raptors in the vicinity). The run was originally 4x4 posts with welded wire fencing with no protection over the top. Because of cost and the headaches of engineering any sort of wooden framed roof, I used metal T-posts, PVC and an assortment of metal fencing. Depending on the location throughout the coop and/or run, our needs and it’s protection purpose, we used 4”x2” welded wire, hardware mesh/cloth and chicken wire. As soon as it dries up again I will add the last renovation...cutting out about 12” of metal from the top of each wall and covering it with hardware mesh for ventilation.

 

[TexasWineGuy]

Baum,

Nice start! My immediate comment is that the 1/2" hardware cloth is REQUIRED in lieu of the 2x4 or 1x2" wire mesh. My brother has killed 2 dozen chickens over the last 14 months due to the use of 2x4" mesh - raccoons reach in at night and rip them to pieces. Keep in mind that chickens are idiots, so when the raccoons come a callin' at night, the chickens will not move to avoid them. They will sit right where they are on the roost, and if in range of a raccoon arm - they die. No kidding.

Please add the 1/2" hardware cloth over your 2x4 wire mesh. You will thank me.

How are things going now?

TWG