Have a look, if you don’t mind.

[IdyllwildAcres]

I would put my attention on the run, make it fully enclosed with a roof and predator proof. Put up wood fencing over the hardware cloth on 3 or even 3.5 of the walls. Put up some roosts and turn the tiny coop into a nest box. Then get a dozen more chicks!

 

[CoffeeKat]

I would put my attention on the run, make it fully enclosed with a roof and predator proof. Put up wood fencing over the hardware cloth on 3 or even 3.5 of the walls. Put up some roosts and turn the tiny coop into a nest box. Then get a dozen more chicks!

Love the idea. My husband would destroy me.

 

[CoffeeKat]

Have a look at this plan. Exterior and interior. Excuse my “chicken scratch.” (Badum chhh…insert pity laugh at how clever I am. I’m sure no one has made that joke on here before).

looking gutting inside but keeping boxes where they are if I can. I can add an additional box on the floor on the inside of the door if needed maybe. It’s very hard to get into the coop. The roof is only 4 ft high.

edit to add: because of the small size of this coop and run, I felt like an open concept didn’t really offer a deep enough barrier between them and the elements. I’m afraid their bedding would get soaked because we do have stormy weather.

 

[3KillerBs]

Have a look at this plan. Exterior and interior. Excuse my “chicken scratch.” (Badum chhh…insert pity laugh at how clever I am. I’m sure no one has made that joke on here before).

looking gutting inside but keeping boxes where they are if I can. I can add an additional box on the floor on the inside of the door if needed maybe. It’s very hard to get into the coop. The roof is only 4 ft high.

edit to add: because of the small size of this coop and run, I felt like an open concept didn’t really offer a deep enough barrier between them and the elements. I’m afraid their bedding would get soaked because we do have stormy weather.

That's an improvement.

You don't need more than 2 nestboxes -- the usual guideline is to have 1 box for every 4 hens (they'll tend to use the same one anyway), but not less than 2 so that they have a choice.

 

[CoffeeKat]

That's an improvement.

You don't need more than 2 nestboxes -- the usual guideline is to have 1 box for every 4 hens (they'll tend to use the same one anyway), but not less than 2 so that they have a choice.

Noted. I can remove a panel to create two roomier boxes.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Have a look at this plan. Exterior and interior. Excuse my “chicken scratch.” (Badum chhh…insert pity laugh at how clever I am. I’m sure no one has made that joke on here before).

Looks pretty good - hope you planned the open areas/ventilation in mind with the predominant wind directions at the coop location. It makes a huge difference, but it's something only you'd know, since you've experienced the weather there and we haven't.

 

[CoffeeKat]

Looks pretty good - hope you planned the open areas/ventilation in mind with the predominant wind directions at the coop location. It makes a huge difference, but it's something only you'd know, since you've experienced the weather there and we haven't.

Noted. I will take a look at a predominant wind map before I make any holes.

I want to thank all who contributed to this discussion. I appreciate your experience and wisdom as we navigate new waters—quite literally, in my area.

if you like, I can start a new thread documenting the transformation when that time comes.

 

[3KillerBs]

if you like, I can start a new thread documenting the transformation when that time comes.

Please do. We LOVE build threads.

 

[DragonBearMomma]

I also ended up with a TSC coop (the Superior Pets XL) and have 6, 16-week-olds. For the ventilation issue, we used 2x2 spacers around the roofline to raise it, then covered the gaps with hardware cloth that had the pointy ends butted up against the corrugated panels.

The attached photos are of the coop 'in progress' back 10 weeks ago, and not all sides/angles, but hopefully enough for a visual. Everything is tightened up on the coop now, plus we've added 'awnings' to block the rain from the elevated space between the roof panels and coop walls.

Regarding living quarters & space issues: my standard-sized pullets (5) & cockerel (1) have been happy and polite throughout the last 10 weeks. The only two (temporary, for growth allowance) changes I made regarding roosting/sleeping were to remove the nesting box panels (we'll be installing real boxes in a couple of weeks), and to build them a roosting ladder with natural branches (2-story) that sits just inside the side access door on the high side of the wall. Since we need to upsize their branches now that they're bigger, we're just going to mount one width-wise (above their sliding door, from window to side access door) and one depth-wise (above the side access door to the nest-box access door) just low enough so that they aren't affected by any drafts from the roof ventilation. They'll still have enough head-clearance to hop up on the nesting boxes to get on and off of the roosts.

The ultimate plan: I'll be keeping a lookout for free/lowered-cost/scrap lumber over the fall & winter in order to transform this coop into an open-air setup. I want to wall in the area directly under the coop, and the top half of the extended area on the window side, then extend the coop floor all the way to the ground access door. The man door will be converted into a dutch-style door, (the lower half for eventual access to their new enclosed run, and the original ground access door for yard access) and I'm still trying to figure out how to convert the original side access door into a screen door, since it will also open up into the enclosed run.

 

[Onyxflock]

Thank you for all these wonderful options.

since we have already paid my friend for this coop, this is what we have to work with. I’m in a position where I don’t particularly want to ask her for my money back and have her come back and get it. So I’m a bit stuck here. I’m willing to readjust it to make it comfortable for the girls I have and forego the 4th hen. I was outside looking around it from all angles this morning trying decide how to convert the run to coop space based off a prior post with a modification on a similar coop.

In the future, perhaps I can keep this coop as a secondary setup for chicks and build something else down the road that is a little better suited.

I may sit down today and draw out some modifications to post.

I started out with a similar coop and 3 birds quickly outgrew it. Very little roost area.
There's hope though - my girls use it to lay in. I installed a divider and leave both doors open so they can choose which side.
We added a 4x6 heavy plastic shed to the end of the run - $495. Easy to cut a hole for a window and a doir at the bottom, installed 2x4 roosts. We use the door side to clean and add bedding. Working out really well for 5 hens