garage door on my coop?

[kristim23]

Well, after months and months of research, DH and I decided to remodel one of our sheds into a coop. It is 8x16, with a garage door on it. I think the door is 10 ft wide. This whole time I have been thinking we would remove it and replace it with a man door, but as I was looking out the window at it, I had a DUH moment and realized, why bother?? If I make sure it shuts tight, it would be SO much easier to clean out! Plus it has windows across the top, so I wouldn't have to worry about a window in that side. The only thing is that this is where I was going to put the nest boxes, so I think they would have to be moved to under the "poop board". Is that a bad idea?


So , I was wondering if anyone has a set up like this, or if there is a downside to this plan....what do you guys think???

 

[The Tinman]

My coop is under my garage. I would just make sure you do not get a breeze from the side of the doors.

 

[kristim23]

Well, after months and months of research, DH and I decided to remodel one of our sheds into a coop. It is 8x16, with a garage door on it. I think the door is 10 ft wide. This whole time I have been thinking we would remove it and replace it with a man door, but as I was looking out the window at it, I had a DUH moment and realized, why bother?? If I make sure it shuts tight, it would be SO much easier to clean out! Plus it has windows across the top, so I wouldn't have to worry about a window in that side. The only thing is that this is where I was going to put the nest boxes, so I think they would have to be moved to under the "poop board". Is that a bad idea?


So , I was wondering if anyone has a set up like this, or if there is a downside to this plan....what do you guys think???

 

[cabincrazyone]

My first thought was, what part of the country are you from? If you have cold winters the garage door may be too drafty and cold.


(spelling edit)

 

[kristim23]

We are in Pennsylvania. That is my main concern. I'm going to have to go down and check it out really well. I really hope it will work, or can be made to work, just so to make less work for DH.

edited to add:

Well, scratch that, I geuss. DH just came in from hunting, and it won't work, the cement is too rough at the bottom, and its an old door. So, even if its sealed along the outside, the seams are still drafty.

Bummer! Thanks anyway!

 

[patandchickens]

Depends on your climate. If you're somewhere down south where the only time you'd want a reasonably-closed coop would be in hurricanes or the occasional cold snap, then it makes perfect sense as long as you can put mesh over the opening so that hawks and owls (and raccoons and such) aren't going to be flying in and eatin' all your chickens.

If however you are somewhere that gets cold winters, I think you will find you want a dedicated "people door", so you can enter the coop without having all the day's weather whoosh in there with you. In some climates you might still wish to keep it for summertime use but may also need to insulate it so's to avoid condensation/humidity problems in winter (unless it's already an insulated door!)

If you do decide to use the garage door (and here I am assuming you mean the typical overhead doors, not just two wide 'regular' doors?) then two design challenges -- by no means insuperable, just inconveniences to be worked around -- will be a) putting mesh over the opening in a way that does not interfere with the operation of the door, and b) preventing chickens from roosting atop it when it's open. (most of the garage doors I'm familiar with have a couple feet clearance between the open-and-horizontal door and the building's ceiling, and that is just ASKING for chickens to go sit up there and cr*p all over

)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[gryeyes]

Just put poop boards under the roosts and over the nest boxes. Voila!

 

[kristim23]

Jeez, you guys are fast!! By the time I edited that last post, more replies were up!

Pat- It is an overhead door, and I never even thought of poop on the door!! And, I would've put a man door on the other side, forgot to mention that!!

Gryeyes- Thanks!!

It's probably better that I can't use the garage door, I already had a layout for what I wanted to do, where I wanted to put windows, etc. I just wish I could put it on here for you guys to see, and tell me if I'm making a huge mistake!

edited-
Not sure why my original post is now also the third post, I just got back on, and the order isn't what it was when I left, and now there is a double!? Sorry- but not quite sure how that happened!

 

[The Tinman]

You can put pine shavings on the cement floor. (Deep litter method) Post pics of your mastiffs

 

[kristim23]

I am going to try out the DL method, and see how it works for us.

Tinman- here they are, Bella (brindle) is 9 years and Rocco (red) is 5 years. I know I'm biased, but they are the best dogs ever! Hopefully, they'll protect my flock like they protect my family, house, and property!!

She isn't nearly as "typey" as he is, she's petite! We got her from a breeder, but they weren't happy with her looks! Their loss, I think!!