- Jul 10, 2015
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Good morning all! I have recently been given the clear to get chickens again, so I have been thinking nonstop about housing. Due to how big of a project this will be for me, I’ve decided to document it here so I can get advice as I go. Hopefully these pictures are good because it’s about to start pouring in muggy Houston.
Backstory: Our property came with a dog run when we bought it. We repurposed it into a chicken coop and it worked pretty well, with some ventilation issues. Then a tree fell on my coop during harvey. I made emergency shelter in the run but ended up having to relocate my flock to my in-laws ranch. The destroyed coop, run, and emergency shelter have all been untouched since Harvey. It is quite a yucky mess.
Full view of both coop and run from coop angle. The silver thing is the crushed and overgrown coop. The wooden pole leaning sideways is some electrical thing from the previous owners that we never used. The black tarp was for emergency shelter in the flood rain that has slidden off.
Another frontal view from the other side. Dog for scale.
Back view of coop, opposite from first picture. Did I mention it’s overgrown?
There are two separate runs. One smaller one, and a larger run that wraps around in an L shape.
View from inside larger run, facing the crushed coop:
View from inside large run, looking into the small run, facing crushed coop:
Inside smaller run, facing the crushed coop. This is where the emergency shelter was set up as the other run was totally flooded. Plastic pallets and plywood were put down to get hens out of water. There is a built in wooden deck that my dog is standing on in this photo.
View from outside both runs, looking in at the wooden deck part. Crushed coop to the right.
Sideways and frontal view of crushed coop. Yep, she’s dead.
Damaged chain link doors. There is pretty big gaps on either side and they just kinda suck.
Picture of a bottom beam corner, showing some of the rotting going on.
For some reason, the previous owners decided to put the cross beams in and THEN wire it. So the wire is very janky having been squished into the empty space made by the cross beams (not sure if that makes sense), and warped in some places. It’s also quite rusty, but not necessarily weak.
Alright, I’m a little overwhelmed. I’m not even sure if I can fix this thing up. I’ll be doing most or all of this by myself, which IS doable, but I am tiny with no muscles (don’t judge). My mother in law is giving me an old 6x4 coop that I plan making into a 3 sided “open faced” shelter and placing in the run. I am planning for this to be totally predator proof so I don’t have to lock them up.
Here’s my tentative plan.
Phase 1: cleanup. Weed whack all overgrowth and possibly spray perimeter with weed killer and fire ant killer. Get rid of old crushed metal coop.. somehow. Destroy wire barrier between the two runs to make one giant run, and then disperse the sand in small run throughout entire run. Rip off old run wire (?) and rotten bottom boards of the run. Cleanup plywood, tarps, plastic grates, etc. Remove damaged chainlink doors?
Phase 2: rebuild. Place new treated boards along the bottom of the run to replace rotting boards there currently. Line the wooden deck area with something like vinyl or garage sealant stuff (?). Move coop inside onto the covered sealed wooden deck area. Rewire entire perimeter of run with hardware cloth (currently old 2x4 poorly stapled welded wire) and roofing screws (?). Cover top of run with heavy duty bird or deer netting zip tied around the sides. Figure out what to do with door situation..
Phase 3: Success? Build up deep litter in run with weeds, leaves, and old pine shavings. Cover sealed wooden deck area with pine shavings that can be added to deep litter when necessary. Get chicks and be happy.
Alright, so here’s my main concerns:
1) Is this even worth it? Should I just build a new run somewhere else? These beams are already cemented in and this area is ideal on our property for chickens. But this is a lot of work.
2) assuming this could work, should I go through the effort of ripping off the old wire, or just rewire over it with hardware cloth?
3) I read roofing screws work well. Is that true? We previously used a pressurized staple gun and I hated it. The staples have not held up.
4) the bottom run beams need to be replaced. They’re literally crumbling away. I’m not sure how to replace them if I don’t tear the old wire off though, and I don’t know how to prevent future rotting..
5) what the heck do I do with the doors.
Any and all advice is welcome. I am way in over my head.
Backstory: Our property came with a dog run when we bought it. We repurposed it into a chicken coop and it worked pretty well, with some ventilation issues. Then a tree fell on my coop during harvey. I made emergency shelter in the run but ended up having to relocate my flock to my in-laws ranch. The destroyed coop, run, and emergency shelter have all been untouched since Harvey. It is quite a yucky mess.
Full view of both coop and run from coop angle. The silver thing is the crushed and overgrown coop. The wooden pole leaning sideways is some electrical thing from the previous owners that we never used. The black tarp was for emergency shelter in the flood rain that has slidden off.
Another frontal view from the other side. Dog for scale.
Back view of coop, opposite from first picture. Did I mention it’s overgrown?
There are two separate runs. One smaller one, and a larger run that wraps around in an L shape.
View from inside larger run, facing the crushed coop:
View from inside large run, looking into the small run, facing crushed coop:
Inside smaller run, facing the crushed coop. This is where the emergency shelter was set up as the other run was totally flooded. Plastic pallets and plywood were put down to get hens out of water. There is a built in wooden deck that my dog is standing on in this photo.
View from outside both runs, looking in at the wooden deck part. Crushed coop to the right.
Sideways and frontal view of crushed coop. Yep, she’s dead.
Damaged chain link doors. There is pretty big gaps on either side and they just kinda suck.
Picture of a bottom beam corner, showing some of the rotting going on.
For some reason, the previous owners decided to put the cross beams in and THEN wire it. So the wire is very janky having been squished into the empty space made by the cross beams (not sure if that makes sense), and warped in some places. It’s also quite rusty, but not necessarily weak.
Alright, I’m a little overwhelmed. I’m not even sure if I can fix this thing up. I’ll be doing most or all of this by myself, which IS doable, but I am tiny with no muscles (don’t judge). My mother in law is giving me an old 6x4 coop that I plan making into a 3 sided “open faced” shelter and placing in the run. I am planning for this to be totally predator proof so I don’t have to lock them up.
Here’s my tentative plan.
Phase 1: cleanup. Weed whack all overgrowth and possibly spray perimeter with weed killer and fire ant killer. Get rid of old crushed metal coop.. somehow. Destroy wire barrier between the two runs to make one giant run, and then disperse the sand in small run throughout entire run. Rip off old run wire (?) and rotten bottom boards of the run. Cleanup plywood, tarps, plastic grates, etc. Remove damaged chainlink doors?
Phase 2: rebuild. Place new treated boards along the bottom of the run to replace rotting boards there currently. Line the wooden deck area with something like vinyl or garage sealant stuff (?). Move coop inside onto the covered sealed wooden deck area. Rewire entire perimeter of run with hardware cloth (currently old 2x4 poorly stapled welded wire) and roofing screws (?). Cover top of run with heavy duty bird or deer netting zip tied around the sides. Figure out what to do with door situation..
Phase 3: Success? Build up deep litter in run with weeds, leaves, and old pine shavings. Cover sealed wooden deck area with pine shavings that can be added to deep litter when necessary. Get chicks and be happy.
Alright, so here’s my main concerns:
1) Is this even worth it? Should I just build a new run somewhere else? These beams are already cemented in and this area is ideal on our property for chickens. But this is a lot of work.
2) assuming this could work, should I go through the effort of ripping off the old wire, or just rewire over it with hardware cloth?
3) I read roofing screws work well. Is that true? We previously used a pressurized staple gun and I hated it. The staples have not held up.
4) the bottom run beams need to be replaced. They’re literally crumbling away. I’m not sure how to replace them if I don’t tear the old wire off though, and I don’t know how to prevent future rotting..
5) what the heck do I do with the doors.
Any and all advice is welcome. I am way in over my head.