One other thing, you don't want your nests above your roosts; otherwise, they will be roosting and pooping in the nests. Chickens will always roost in the highest location they can find.
That's all the more reason to use the six excess upper nests for storage.
BTW, do you have a door in back under the outside stairway. That'd be another great place for storage.
BTW #2, if it were I, I'd put the chickens in a less-fancy coop (same for the kids) and use this as my hideaway/office/den/? . The chickens would never know, and the kids... (Who cares; give 'em a big box.).
BTW #3, you need lots more ventilation around the ceiling perimeter, maybe the two sides. You might consider cutting off the tops or the exterior boards and covering the hole with 1/4-inch hardware cloth so that the interior air/heat can escape out the top. Actually, if all the notches in the top of the boards were open to the outside and covered with a thin strip of hardward cloth, it'd probably be enough.
Whatever, you have to find some way to get the moisture out of the room, especially during the winter. Chickens can take freezing cold as long as they're sitting/roosting on the 3 1/2-inch side of a 2x4 so they can sit on/cover their feet, BUT they can't live in a drafty room with moist, ammonia-smelling air.
That's all the more reason to use the six excess upper nests for storage.
BTW, do you have a door in back under the outside stairway. That'd be another great place for storage.
BTW #2, if it were I, I'd put the chickens in a less-fancy coop (same for the kids) and use this as my hideaway/office/den/? . The chickens would never know, and the kids... (Who cares; give 'em a big box.).
BTW #3, you need lots more ventilation around the ceiling perimeter, maybe the two sides. You might consider cutting off the tops or the exterior boards and covering the hole with 1/4-inch hardware cloth so that the interior air/heat can escape out the top. Actually, if all the notches in the top of the boards were open to the outside and covered with a thin strip of hardward cloth, it'd probably be enough.
Whatever, you have to find some way to get the moisture out of the room, especially during the winter. Chickens can take freezing cold as long as they're sitting/roosting on the 3 1/2-inch side of a 2x4 so they can sit on/cover their feet, BUT they can't live in a drafty room with moist, ammonia-smelling air.
Last edited:
