Have the chickens, now I need a coop. Please help!!!

[lifein1840]

I have 8 baby chicks, maybe a week or two old (got them from Rural King right after birth). I had a pre-fab coop with run picked out, and was planning on adding another big run to give me 80 ft of ground space, but reading on here realized that there wouldn't be enough space in the coop area for 8 chickens to roost. I am needing suggestions on what kind of coop to build/modify/cobble together. I'm a totally new chicken owner, and sort of good with building things, but it usually takes much more time than I have available while managing small children, hence the attempt to purchase a pre-fab coop. The rejected coop: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/precision-xl-superior-construction-annex-coop-37077d

Would you recommend I try to convert a metal shed? Maybe this one?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Arrow-N...yQqEnNl8mMhL1QkcTcxoCL_0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I am in north Alabama, where it is super humid almost all year, maybe we get a few low humidity months in the spring and fall, land of tornadoes, maybe 3 days of snow a year, but usually a month or two of below freezing temperatures. We barely have enough cold time to grow apples. I have about 1/2 acre semi-wooded fenced back yard (chain link), with a stream about 20 feet outside my fence line and vertically down 6 ft. Almost all the trees are 40-50 yr old sweet gum, with one black walnut right next to where I plan to put the coop and run. Issues with poison ivy, issues with ticks and fleas, red hawks, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, neighborhood cats, opossum, water snakes (water moccasin, cottonmounth, rattlers), king snakes, squirrels, song birds, mosquitoes. The proposed coop area gets moderate to heavy shade most of the year (when the leaves are on the trees), and on the worst months the yard is very hot and humid, and the air doesn't move much. We have mainly weeds, violets, and rye grass in the yard at the moment, due to the shade, and lots of tree roots. Heavy clay soil that dries like concrete, and some type of sad grass that looks sorta like Bermuda. Termites are bad here, and there's lots of rotting wood on the other side of my fence and stumps on my property.

For the coop I'm worried about ventilation, poop smell, and keeping the birds safe from predators, as well as having enough space for them and for me to clean it out. There will probably be a number of days they have to stay in their coop instead of their run, for various reasons (weather, etc), and I expect I won't be around during the day most days to check on them when I let them out - they'll get a morning and an evening check. I plan to possibly free range them with supervision, but may not if the run is large enough due to the constant presence of hawks.

The area I have to build the coop and run in is 24' x 48', but I I'd like to enclose 80-100 square feet, and locate a number of pallet hot compost piles nearby. I was hoping to do the deep bedding method, but not sure how successful that would be at keeping smell down in humid alabama.

For the run, should I attempt to build something with 2"x4" and 1/2" hardware cloth, or purchase one of these the chicken runs on Amazon, etc. and cover it with hardware cloth?

I have access to free pallets, but I haven't found anything else I can repurpose, so would have to buy new. Untreated wood, unsealed wood, and unpainted wood is a very bad idea here, so I'd have to do something to every wood surface, if I go that direction.

Any and all suggestions would be welcome.

I would go with a wood shed. It's much easier to alter - adding ventilation/windows, putting in roosts, attaching nest boxes, etc.

 

[EliteTempleton]

I would go with a wood shed. It's much easier to alter - adding ventilation/windows, putting in roosts, attaching nest boxes, etc.

But do you know how to update the thread title?

 

[aart]

I haven't started a thread in a long time. How does an OP change the subject line? He's decided on the top of page 5 what he's doing but this thread still keeps on going with new advice. This is due to the subject with many responses not relevant to him as he says early on he needs to avoid wood due to termites in his area. I'm still hanging out waiting to see how it turns out.

But do you know how to update the thread title?

An OP can click report on their first post and ask a mod to change the title or close the thread.
It's almost impossible to get new repliers to read the whole thread before responding,
common but frustrating part of forums.

 

[Gypsi]

How do you guys think this idea will hold up for the chicken run frame?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LGMZVVN/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2KDBGPI4VU5M7&psc=1

Some awesome person in Florida(?) made a mobile coop out of the 7'x7'x12' version of this:

View attachment 3058026

I plan to make a permanent coop by covering the 20 Ft version of this completely in 19 gauge hot dip galvanized 1/2" hardware cloth, surround it with a 2 ft apron of hardware cloth, anchor using Shelter Logic anchors at each pole ( https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...auger-30-in-earth-anchors-4-pack?cm_vc=-10005 ) and connect the hardware cloth together with hog rings. I would frame out a door on one end and have the coop at the other, hoop coop but with a greenhouse frame. I plan to put french drains around the backside of the coop area so the rain water that likes to stand after a rain can drain to my ditch instead of flooding the run area, and use the excavated dirt from the french drains to raise the coop and possibly run area an inch or so.

For a coop, I'm still figuring that out. It will have large roof overhangs, three nesting boxes, and hold a few more than 8 chickens (current number). Predator protection would be solely from the hardware cloth covering the greenhouse frame, and the strength of the greenhouse frame, as I plan to leave the coop open pretty much year round (except for freezing temps, of which we get a few weeks around 20F in the winter). The coop will be inside a fenced back yard, so we don't get neighborhood dogs (so far), but we do get cats, hawks, etc. like I mentioned earlier. I wish I could say I will get up at the crack of dawn every day to go care for the chickens, but that's not realistically going to happen. My son swears he will, but he's pretty young. I think he'll have excellent follow-through but don't want to bet our chickens' life on it, so I figured with a large run and open coop they'd have plenty of space until I make it out there in the morning.

Thoughts?

Great plan. I practice secure run open coop in my fenced backyard. In the winter I close the north facing front door, side door sheltered from wind stays open, and they can be in the coop or in the run as they choose. Drainage plan to run water off sounds good. I have my coop about 18 inches off the ground, so they can perch on under support frame, dust bath under it. I use sand in my run and try to refresh it a couple of times a year. This looks great.

 

[EliteTempleton]

An OP can click report on their first post and ask a mod to change the title or close the thread.
It's almost impossible to get new repliers to read the whole thread before responding,
common but frustrating part of forums.

Thank you! I saw someone else's title change so I thought they could just edit it on their own. Otherwise I guess they can edit their first post with something like 'RESOLVED THANKS!" I'll have to keep that in mind as an option for my next thread.
I'll continue ignoring the random irrelevant replies and understand that the modern standard of 140 character thoughts at a time seems to have ruined societies attention span.

 

[FunClucks]

I appreciate everyone's replies. I've gotten good information from almost everyone's ideas on this thread. Thanks for chiming in, everyone.

As an update, I've purchased a 10'x20' hoop style greenhouse frame, and have put it together and located it in my yard. It's up on some cinderblocks, and I plan to add soil to raise the ground within the coop to ensure there is good drainage. Kinda wishing I'd used cattle panels, as there's more information on how to strengthen and support that kind of frame, but I wanted the extra head room the greenhouse frame allowed.

So now I'm designing the wood frame support that I'll be using to install doors (at least one, maybe one on each end), and figuring out ways to attach the wood framing to the greenhouse frame without bending or damaging the frame. The frame is less sturdy than I'd hoped it would be, but I think I can work with it. Got my eye on some galvanized pipe strap (basically the frame is 1" tubing, but thin, easy to bend if you over tighten the fasteners). I'm a bit concerned about how much weight the 1/2" hardware cloth is going to add, I guess I'll just try it and see.

At the moment, 6' of one end will be the coop (with exterior next boxes? maybe if I can figure out how to frame it out), and at the other end of the greenhouse frame will be a 5' wide preparation area (chair, chicken boots and overcoat, gloves, pine shavings and food in cool seasons). I was planning to tarp the ends (over the coop and over the preparation area), but not in the middle, we'll see how the chickens like it, and how things go with rain. I thought I had pictures, but I don't have any of the completed frame. I'll post those soon.

 

[3KillerBs]

At the moment, 6' of one end will be the coop (with exterior next boxes? maybe if I can figure out how to frame it out),

In Alabama you don't need a coop per se, just an open shelter -- which should keep the weight down. You could use free-standing perches instead of fastening them to the frame.

The nests could be hung on the end wall if you make that of wood.

 

[chickencoop57]

My greenhouse is pretty much built that way and is the same length and width. I bought 1" PVC pipe and some about a 1 1/2' rebar, drove them in the ground with about 6-8" sticking up, and just put my pipe over, at both ends, making a hoop. Didn't need any blocks because my drainage is not that bad here. Of course, though, mine has heavy-duty plastic over it, which I have to replace just about every 1 1/2 - 2 years.
I did put a door frame in one end, made of a 2x4 frame, and built the door out of 1x4. I screwed the 2x4 into the PVC with 2" deck screws. I also put 2x4 all around the bottom to attach the plastic to. Also, I ran PVC pipe down the center of the top for support, as well as 1x4 down the center of each side, for more support, and all screwed into the PVC with the deck screws.
However, as I mentioned, this was for a Greenhouse. I'm not sure how it will work for a Chicken coop, without the plastic of course, but I'm looking forward to hearing more about it plus some pics! I hope it works out well, for you!

 

[FunClucks]

My greenhouse is pretty much built that way and is the same length and width. I bought 1" PVC pipe and some about a 1 1/2' rebar, drove them in the ground with about 6-8" sticking up, and just put my pipe over, at both ends, making a hoop. Didn't need any blocks because my drainage is not that bad here. Of course, though, mine has heavy-duty plastic over it, which I have to replace just about every 1 1/2 - 2 years.
I did put a door frame in one end, made of a 2x4 frame, and built the door out of 1x4. I screwed the 2x4 into the PVC with 2" deck screws. I also put 2x4 all around the bottom to attach the plastic to. Also, I ran PVC pipe down the center of the top for support, as well as 1x4 down the center of each side, for more support, and all screwed into the PVC with the deck screws.
However, as I mentioned, this was for a Greenhouse. I'm not sure how it will work for a Chicken coop, without the plastic of course, but I'm looking forward to hearing more about it plus some pics! I hope it works out well, for you!

Thanks for the information. Good to know. I'll keep this thread updated as my build progresses.

 

[FunClucks]

So, the build progresses. Pictures will come eventually.

By application of gravel under the vertical supports on half of my site, I've managed to level the greenhouse frame. I've added a 2x4 wood frame to the interior bottom of the greenhouse, and attached it to the metal frame with pipe strap. I drilled out 1/2" diameter indentations in the wood ( with a path to drain) where the screws that attach the vertical to horizontal greenhouse tubing run into the wood frame so that the metal tubing would fit flush to the 2x4 frame. I've also made good progress on connecting the 1/2" mesh hardware cloth strips that will cover the curved surface of the greenhouse frame. The strips of hardware cloth are 6'x20', although I messed up and did two strips of 4' wide hardware cloth. So it's going to look a bit different than I planned, but oh well, it will still work. How does one mistake 4' wide hardware cloth for 6' wide hardware cloth long enough to spend most of a day attaching two 4' wide strips to each other? I'm still not sure what I was thinking. I'm going to blame my allergy medication.

For anyone considering a similar project, these are the things so far that I hate:

1) Hog rings. A great idea that did not work like I expected it to in practice. The 1/2" mesh hardware cloth did not have wide enough spaces to get the DeWalt hog ring tool into, and I was not about to use a manual tool. I applied 480+ hog rings to attach one 20' long strip of hardware cloth to the next, and then still had to stitch the overlap together with 20 gauge galvanized steel wire. I bent a 5" wide section of hardware cloth that was 20' long at a 30 degree angle and laid it across the ground so it looked like a tent, and laid the second sheet of hardware cloth on top, meeting at the bend (top of the tent), in order to be able to use the hog ring tool to attach the two sheets of hardware cloth together. Even then, I had to apply excessive force, and often the hog rings wouldn't close all the way, or they'd work themselves back off the hardware cloth, or there would be a feeding issue. I have small hands and not a lot of hand strength, so I had to use two hands to make each hog ring close completely, while juggling the hardware cloth placement at the same time. Even after I finished, enough of the hog rings didn't appear to close all the way that I felt the joint was insecure, so I ended up stitching together the overlapped joint, so that was double work. The DeWalt tool itself was awesome, and for securing fencing with any larger size mesh I think this tool would work great. But I was working with 1/2" mesh, so I hated it.

2) Stitching hardware cloth together. This has taken loads of time, something like 5 hours per seam, and is tons more time intensive than anything I read on this site previously suggested. Also my hands are so sore now. I've had to use pliers to pull the wire through after feeding it into each new location, sometimes two pairs of pliers, one to secure the mesh and one to pull the wire through, and the pliers are so heavy, and sometimes they slip. I've hit myself in the face with the pliers at least twice, and luckily didn't lose an eye. It's been three days and still hurts to wear glasses. Stitching seams laid out on the ground worked better for me and was faster than stitching seams already laid across the greenhouse frame. I'm going to assume that two people are enough to lift the entirety of a 14' x 20' section of hardware cloth into place over the greenhouse frame. Guess we'll see.

I went with vertical panel layout and stitching seams because I'm nervous that the greenhouse frame will not support a lot of weight, and I couldn't figure out a good way to lay wood across the seams that wouldn't be just as much work as stitching and add a significant amount of weight to the structure. If I had laid out my panels along the length of the frame, I could have screwed the joins between two pieces of wood, but there would have been significant additional weight that I'm not sure the frame will be able to handle long term. If I had bent my own greenhouse poles, or the poles were made of a thicker steel, I'd probably have gone with the wood strip joint method. Haven't found a good means of reinforcing the frame yet that doesn't use more wood than I have the budget for.

I've built a doorframe and a door. Not yet installed everything into the greenhouse frame, but everything was fit checked. I made a door from 2x4 and a no-sag gate kit. It sags. It is sooo heavy and drags on the doorframe. I may have to do something else to adjust it after it's installed in the greenhouse frame, but I don't know what yet. If i have to do this again, I'll use wood that's not so chunky and heavy. Also, brackets that aren't warped from welding so badly that I had to make an unplanned cutout to get my 2x4 to fit into the bracket would be a plus. It's a good thing the chickens won't care.