How to salvage/renovate this old coop/shelter?

[VeggieGoneEggie]

I'll be bringing home 4 new baby chicks to this currently chicken-less home in a couple of weeks! I'm pumped. The brooder is ready, but I still need to figure out our coop situation.

Adjacent to my house is a lower "side lot" (which is also part of the property), on which rests a dilapidated little building that looks like it was once home to chickens and/or goats (based on the varieties of poops present inside...

) a long time ago.

I'm no experienced carpenter, so I'm wary of building a brand new coop by myself. And ya'll have done a fantastic job in countless other forum threads dissuading others (and now, me) from buying a prefabricated store-bought coop, despite the temptation!

So it seems like the best option for me is to work with what's already on the land, and fix up this old coop to my liking.

But again, I lack construction skills and experience, so I'm not even sure where to start! There's a lot of gaping holes in the siding. Not sure exactly what roofing material that is. And there are nails jutting out every which way, it's a serious hazard! There's no obvious nesting box, unless the upper shelf inside is suppose to serve that purpose, and no roosts. I'm not sure if there's actually a floor under there... I dug a shovel down and was hitting something hard, and spotted at least a partial apparent tile-type floor (???), but I didn't dig too much because straw/poop dust was starting to fly (I'll need to get a mask). Do I need to fully clean out all that old poop/bedding? But the frame of the structure still seems pretty sturdy. I measure it: it's about 81" long and 67" wide (roughly 5.5' x 6.75' not too shabby for 4 large hens, right?) and at it's tallest point, my 5'6" tall self can stand up straight and my scalp just barely brushes against the pointy ends of those awful nails! Are the cracks in the siding okay, or should be thinking about fully replacing that?

Anyway, with all the experience here, I wondered if I could crowdsource some of your ideas of how you'd approach fixing this baby up? Is this worth salvaging?

I like the idea of being as thrifty as possible, BUT it's of course imperative that my ladies can be healthy, protected from cld and hot temps, and safe from predators! And once this is done, I'll plan on attaching a run to it...

 

[Bteeg]

I'm new to chickens and currently converting our old shed into a coop (have week old chicks in brooder now!) But from the looks of your building, I'd say it's a diamond in the rough and could definitely be turned into the perfect little coop.

 

[VeggieGoneEggie]

I'm new to chickens and currently converting our old shed into a coop (have week old chicks in brooder now!) But from the looks of your building, I'd say it's a diamond in the rough and could definitely be turned into the perfect little coop.

Oooh, I'd love to see pics of your coop conversion!! Congrats on the new venture into chickens, and thanks for the encouraging words!

 

[Bteeg]

I'll definitely post before/after pictures once we get a little farther into the project. Hopefully we will be pretty far by the end of the weekend!

 

[Bteeg]

I'll definitely post before/after pictures once we get a little farther into the project. Hopefully we will be pretty far by the end of the weekend!

 

[Yaychicks]

I'd replace the roof. Power wash or scrub with a wire brush all the sides (soap and water). Replace any other boards taht look suspect. Paint.

 

[Cntry1958]

1. I would remove the roof. Pull all the nails out of the board from the roof that are salvageable and use on the side of the coop where there is boards missing.

2. I would remove all the crap that is on the floor using a mask and a shovel. Fill any holes around the bottom of the coop and maybe ever place hardware cloth around the bottom so nothing can get in.

3. Pull any nails you see sticking out where you or one of the hens could end up hurt in some way. Look on the 2x4 , 4x4's the walls and anyplace else you may find one. If you need to replace a nail with one that does not come through all the way.

4. Then add a few more 2x4x8 or 10's or 12's or what ever length your roof would be so you have a base to nail onto. Nail them into the frame. Place plywood as roof then paper it and shingle it.

5. I would take a wire brush to all the wood inside and outside of it. Then power wash it let it dry and paint when finished inside.

6. You can take the large opening and put in two windows make sure they can go up and down for ventilation, or frame out some plexiglass and put it in the opening which will still give them light. But you will still need ventilation towards the top.

7.Make some nesting boxes and place inside make sure roosting bar will hold the hens and is not rotted.

8. Give them some branches or other items to play and explore since there is no run area there yet.

9. You could even plywood the whole inside of the coops so nothing could get in making it a bit more secure.

 

[VeggieGoneEggie]

You all rock!! Thank you so much for the guidance!

Seemed like the first thing to do was to get rid of that roof, so my hammer and I went to town this afternoon. After taking a closer look at the siding, I think I will rip that down too (leaving just the structure's frame). Then I'll work on shoveling out all the crap on the inside, cleaning, and putting in a proper floor.

Taking that roof off was hard work! It looks like over the years, someone had patched together 4 or 5 layers of asphalt roofing material, nailing it every which way. I probably pried out roughly 200 nails today. Here's the progress!

 

[Greg Mann]

You are really getting a good start on your coop rebuild.
Thanks,
Greg

 

[Cntry1958]

You all rock!! Thank you so much for the guidance!

Seemed like the first thing to do was to get rid of that roof, so my hammer and I went to town this afternoon. After taking a closer look at the siding, I think I will rip that down too (leaving just the structure's frame). Then I'll work on shoveling out all the crap on the inside, cleaning, and putting in a proper floor.

Taking that roof off was hard work! It looks like over the years, someone had patched together 4 or 5 layers of asphalt roofing material, nailing it every which way. I probably pried out roughly 200 nails today. Here's the progress!

I am glad you got rid of the roof. Remove the one 2x4 that was holding up the roof that is 2 boards nailed together. So you don't have to do it later down the line before you place a roof back on.
You need a good support to hold up the roof and the rest of the building . If anything look rotted replace them with new lumber. Your doing a great job.