Help a girl out? Retrofit shed to coop...

[Emilys3guppies]

Hello!

I'm Emily. My husband isn't keen on chickens but he's agreed that my happiness is more important. In respecting his feelings about birds, I'd like to do this coop by myself. I have an empty metal shed in the back corner of my yard. It is 5.5'x7.5' (is that weird? I was expecting 5x6 or 6x8). I will be fitting this as a coop for 4 girls and 4 girls only. Out the side, where you see my ugly garden from last year, is where we will have a 5x8 run. We are raising the garden beds this year and won't need that space anyway.

So....I can use a drill. I can use a saw. I can use a hammer. I have access to tin snips. I have loads of 2x4s in 8' and 4' lengths.

I would like to put in:
*a screen door
*vents
*windows
*pop door
*linoleum/sticky tiles on the particle board floor
*insulate the ceiling and walls with that foam board

How do I do these things? Would a piece of plexiglass work as a window and how would one install that (how does one buy a peice of plexiglass)? How do I prep the particle board to put down tiles? How do I cut holes in the shed, and how is best to frame it in? What kind of screws would I need? Or do I need nails? I'm a young mom with 4 kids who runs a home daycare too. I don't know how to do this stuff but I'm ITCHING to get going. I don't want to make too many mistakes though.

Maybe the recommendation of a book that could teach these basics? I'm very excited to get started.

 

[WhySayWhat]

No idea about the rest, but the vinyl tiles (linoleum stivky kind) are easy! You just pull the paper off the back and stick them down! I would wash the floor with a strong mix of TSP (a super strong chemical cleaner used in painting and flooring) first and let if air dry, but a good bleach/water bath would do it too. Then, when the floor is dry, start in one corner and work your way across! I did the floor of my coop using the cheapest possible tiles I could get at Home Depot ($0.38 each), mainly because we had leftovers from redoing the master bath still. I even stuck them down when it was only 40 degrees outside and they weren't covered or protected! That was Jan/Feb...they are still doing great, in my (yet unfinished) coop! I was worried after several days of below freezing wheather that they'd pull up, but not even a corner has lifted!

I kneeled and sat on mine as I went...making sure they got a good amount of pressure! If you have a "straighter" corner, start there and work in rows all the way across, that way you just have oneor two edges where everything isn't "perfectly square" to deal with cutting the tiles. To cut, just score them with a razor blade and bend, they will break at the score line!

Good luck and I can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[SqueakyRoseShalom]

I've heard that "chicken Coops for Dummies" is a great resource, but I don't know if it would include instructions on how to retro-fit a shed; it might just be building from scratch instructions... Home Depot sells pre--cut plexiglass in perfect sizes for windows. I would encourage you to look at some of the coop design pages here on BYC and also just Google "shed to coop ideas" to get a bearing on where to start. I'm a beginning myself but some things that I have learned thus far (and I am still building, one month and counting!) is that the nesting boxes and the roost need to be off of the ground, roughly 3 feet for the boxes and anywhere from 1-3 feet for the roosts, that the deep litter method works well to hid the smell of poop and doesn't require too much coop cleaning (deep litter is 4-6 inches of pine pellets and shavings on floor of coop) and that ventilation is super important for the hot months... hope this helps!
and

!!! best of luck!
p.s. oh yeah, and there's this theory called "chicken math" that states: figure how many chickens you think you want and DOUBLE THAT NUMBER when building your coop!!

 

[Pampered Hen]

I can't help you on the construction part, but wanted to let you know that chickens LOVE foam board. They will devour it if you leave it unprotected! In drawing up your plans for your retrofitted coop make sure you cover the foam with plywood.

 

[Emilys3guppies]

Yes, I will cover the foam board with plywood..but I don't have to worry about the ceiling, right?

Thank you for the tips on the sticky tiles. I will get some TSP tomorrow to scrub it down. I can do the floor tomorrow!

Anyone know about cutting window & vent holes?

 

[love-my-wolves]

I know you can buy plexiglass at Ace and Lowe's, just tell them what size, and they'll cut it for you. It's not terribly expensive, but if you can find a cheap used window with screens that would be better and cheaper for some ventilation. I got mine at a yard sale for $5 each. Windows should be framed with 2x4's for best support, and if you do go with plexiglass, just pick up some cheap trim molding, and put it on both sides of the window with glue and tack nails, to make a "sandwich". Good luck!!!

 

[Kudzu]

Yo go girl, there is no wrong way, might have to fix a few things after time, just go for it. BTW, I own the same dump truck as you, my German Shepherd puppy has played with it way more than my grandchillin.

 

[Paws4fun]

Hello, I have the exact same shed as you - and I am looking to do exactly the same thing!!! Do you have any tip you can offer me? How did yours turn out?

 

[marktoo]

Yes, I will cover the foam board with plywood..but I don't have to worry about the ceiling, right?

Thank you for the tips on the sticky tiles. I will get some TSP tomorrow to scrub it down. I can do the floor tomorrow!

Anyone know about cutting window & vent holes?

If you're asking what to use to cut through the metal, tin snips are probably your best bet. Mark out the opening, trying to stay away from seams & between metal studs. Take an old flat bladed screwdriver and a hammer, place the corner of the screwdriver in the center of the marked opening & whack it with hammer, it should pierce the metal, now put the edge of the screwdriver in the hole & continue to pound till you get to the edge of you intended opening. Now force the snips in the slit you've created & cut along the line, you will have to pull the metal out of the way as you advance. Use gloves, it will be really sharp! You don't want to cut the full length of the snip before advancing or you will leave a very sharp fishhook affair each time. Tin snips, in general, the red handled ones are easiest to use for a right handed person & cut straight or to the left, you would want to cut in a counterclockwise direction. Green snips the opposite! You may need a pair of each because the close quarters you are working. Should you have trouble making the cut, angle the snips slightly one way or the other till it will cut. The first hole will be the hardest! You might be able to get away with using a recip or jigsaw if you have them but I would use the snips & I have all of them at my disposal. Anyway, after you've got your hole cut frame it out. I would bring the wood a little above the edge of the metal so you don't have a sharp metal edge. You might check on Youtube for videos on the use of tin snips! Good Luck! Ops! Failed to check the date of the OP. Perhaps it will be of some use for someone else.

 

[Alaskan]

I would skip the plexiglass, and just cut out a big window and cover the hole with wire. Ventilation is very important.

I would also try to make the run bigger than you mentioned. The bigger the run the less maintenance it will need, the nicer it can look, and the less it will smell.

I know nothing about construction, NOTHING, and managed to insulate my coop, then build a duck coop from scratch, and a bantam coop from scratch.

The important things to remember are:

-the chickens will NOT care if it isn't square.
-paint can cover a great number of mistakes