Horse Stall - Chicken Coop - PICS

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

YAHOO!!!! I got my ten 7 wk olds out in their 12 x 12 horse stall turned chicken coop with lot's of hardware cloth and zip ties.

They seem to like all the space. I put their stock tank brooder out with them with a heat lamp - so far at night they go into the brooder to sleep rather than the new roost with heat lamp to the side.

Stall front

Inside looking out into the backyard

Roost next to stock tank

Feeder & waterer stay clean now that they are hanging

Fresh baby grass twice a day - they LOVE it!!

This weekend I'll get started on moving the dog kennel run in place. Still debating to put in in front so I have to go through the run with door to the coop OR put it to the side to avoid the run and chance the chicks getting out. They already come to the door when I go in and if I don't close it all the way they are out the door to get to the little bit of grass.

Your input is appreciated.

 

[mediazeal]

Very nice! Great reuse of existing structures.
Is the floor dirt? do you have rats, racoons, possum, skunk, etc around that will tunnel under?
The chicks sure are cute
I love that you bring them grass treats.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Under the 5-6 inches of shavings is left-over fine horse stall shavings covered with stove pellets and stall dry (DE).

That all sits on top of 1" rubber stall mats that were cut to fit into the framing of the horse stall. Under the rubber mats is 7-8 inches of pea gravel. We do have all of the preditors mentioned to include coyottes, red tail hawks, and bald eagles.

For something to get in digging under they would have to go under the 2 1/2 in frame and under or through the 1" rubber mat that is up against the frame. I still plan on digging a trench around the outside of the stall to place hardware cloth around the bottom foot at the same time that I put in a french drain since we have heavy clay that doesn't drain well.

 

[Cheep a'lil Talk a'lil]

Nice set up! Great "coop".

With the run off to the side you could do an outside of the run handle to open the pop door, the chicks would go into the run and then you could enter without worry of them sneaking out.

Lucky! I can't wait to get my chickens.

 

[LynneP]

Congratulations!

They won't roost up there for a long time yet, so you may want to offer 4x4's on the floor until they're ready. If you think they need some heat you could lower the light substantially. it takes far longer than any of us think before they're organized 'up there'!

 

[Omran]

That's awesome.

 

[paulpig]

Where did you put the horse???? My son and I are working on our coop---adding a lean to up against the barn where our sawdust used to be housed.....solid walls....metal roof.........we should finish this weekend!!!! I am sure glad to hear that we can use a lot of the stuff we already have in our barn----stall dry, wood pellets, shavings................You did a great job!!!

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Lynne P - Thanks for letting me know about the use of the roost. They do have a 2 foot wide 4 x 4 roost in the stock tank brooder 6 inches off the shavings they continue to use at night. While others like laying in the shavings.

I just thought they weren't using the roost in coop because I didn't make it high enough. I made it 4' wide with the first 1 x 4" 1 1/2 ft off the ground and the second 1 x 4" another 1 1/2 ft up.

They do use it during the day to play on.

Cheep a'lil Talk a'lil - Thank you for the run advice. I will put it to the left of the coop door so I don't have to go through the run.

I'm thinking of using a dog door for my pop door so I can close it solidly from inside the coop. I was going to just cut out a section of the 1" plywood and hinge it at the top but I'd be afraid a coon would get it's little nails in the tiny gap and pry it open.

With the dog door, it has a metal frame that the hard plastic door stop slides down into and locks in place.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...&productId=100063533&N=10000003+90044#reviews

Paulpig - Sold the green horse last fall. Green horse and green rider makes for black and blue as they say. I got black/blue and fractured/lacerated finger. She went to a great experienced rider who lets me come visit and ride.

Good luck with your shelter. Be sure to show us pics.

 

[init4eggs]

I am glad you posted your horse stall conversion. My chicks are 5 weeks old and have outgrown the small brooder box in the garage and I have been tetering back and forth about either building a tractor style coop or converting one of the unused horse stall we have in the barn. I like how you did your setup so I going to convert one of the stalls. I just hope they dont get a attitude when I finally get the tractors built for them.

 

[cmom]

I didn't convert one of the horses stalls but I did put the brooder in the coop for the first week they were in the coop so they would have something familiar. They would go in and out of it.