Hare brained idea? Steel coop...

[Mikey D]

Howdy Folks!

I am new to chickens and am anticipating clearance from the control tower to start a small flock in a month or two. I live in beautiful sunny Arizona and love designing and building just about everything. Thing is, building outdoor stuff out of wood is well...

... for the birds.

Silly stuff dries out and blows away in the heat. I have basically stopped building using wood and now prefer the concrete & steel permanence. My question is:

Has anyone any experience building a steel coop?

I figure square steel tubing frame, with welded wire, welded to it and painted would be dandy. Galvanized corrugated steel for the roofing and a side (The AZ coops I've seen so far only have a single side) with an optional surround for the cold weather (doesn't hardly ever freeze but once or twice a year) and maybe break down and use plywood for the nesting boxes (to try to keep the gals cool - a steel nesting box would be more akin to a convection oven for them

)

I guess I am only talking about using steel for the framework, doors & such.

All comments are encouraged!

Thanks,

Mikey

 

[Doopy]

Mikey - I don't think it's hair-brained at all. I used an old rusty 8' x 8' steel yard barn for the first 10 years that we had chickens. It worked very well. One modification that I did was to install a second roof about 2" above the original roof. A steel roof deck will transfer heat very efficiently and, as you know, that isn't good in the summer sunshine. I used steel roofing panels and screwed them to the original roof using 2" conduit spacers and 3" long self tapping screws. That reduced the interior temperature by about 25*F in the bright sunlight. Our chickens free range so they really do not spend much time inside the coop.

 

[KFox]

I think it's a great idea.

 

[Mikey D]

Quote:
Doopy,

Excellent idea on the double roof. Don't know why I didn't think of it myself as it was one of the arguments I used for solar electric on our house. Big giant panels a few inches off of the roof = shaded roof!

Thanks!

Mikey

 

[birdstheword]

Mike,

I made our run using rebar. Welded it together, then covered it with chicken wire.

 

[Omran]

Miky the only reason I did not use steel is because I can't affored it, especially when you want to build a huge coop like mine.
But my Dadu=y built the first coop for us when we were little all from steel.

 

[MARANMAN2011]

Why not lets see pics when done.

 

[farmer_lew]

The only down side would be heat radiated inside the coop. Too much heat is bad for the birds. But, the double roof idea is a good idea. Extra work and materials, but a good idea. Arizona has a reputation for being quite warm. Make sure that the birds don't get too hot, they could suffocate.

 

[ChicKat]

Hi Mikey

New Mexico, Arizona and West TX, as well as parts of the south that are East of the Mississippi often have coops that are primarialy made from mesh like welded wire hardware cloth.

Your climate needs lots of shade and air for the birds. So your double roof is a good idea, and one wall -- if your roof over-hang is big enough.

You may be able to find some plastic nexting boxes so you won't have to use wood. I have seen both square and round designs. In the long, long run, plastic may be easier to clean so that parasites like mites never have a chance to move in and set up housekeeping.

Here is an example of a plastic nesting box
http://www.premier1supplies.com/image_gallery.php?type=product&id=78703#

Your steel coop sounds really neat. Post back once your chickens are cleared to land!

 

[CajunWildTurkey]

I have a metal roof on my coop here in Louisiana, but where I place my coop the roof is never in direct sun light. I place my coop about 5 ft from the tree line in my back yard to the north of me and 10 ft from the tree to the east of me. The only part of my coop the gets hit with direct sun light is the west end and is only a few hrs before sunset. My coop is 6 ft wide by 16 ft long the back is solid and the rest of the walls are solid to 2 ft the chicken wire for the next 4 ft. I have 3 shutters to cover the wire at night. Now I did put 2 box fans in about a month ago when the temp got to 110 degrees. and built a few shade lean-to's for the yard. I think about redoing the west fence of the yard with 6 ft cedar privacy fence as it will help shade the yard and the coop in the evenings.