I am so stuck on ideas for the chicken coop

[RoKdHen]

Hi Chicen lover familes. My husband and I are first time chicken owners, we have 4 Aurancana, 4 Buff Orps and 4 Speckled or Plymouth Rocks. We put together the 'run' between a large garden shed and a firewood shed. Its an appropriate amount of space that we can have for that many, but my question is more of the what the heck do i do next nature.

Ive got pictures I'm including of the large garden shed and what hardware thats there. Here's those dimensions its a 12x12 shed that we plan on separating in half so it will be 6 by 12 because of where the door is located....Ideas, criticism, etc??

I included a picture of the entrance so you see what i mean by having to block it in half.

Anything helps
thanks
stacey

 

[RoKdHen]

Um OK I can't figure out how to

 

[jetdog]

Roost and poop board on top of the shelf of that bench and nestboxs under the roost on the shelf, electric is a bonus it looks like you have great bones to make a nice coop.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I imagine you are wanting to use the other half of that shed for storage? Chickens create a lot of dust from scratching and shedding dander. Unless you put a good solid wall between the two sections, everything you have on the storage part will be covered in dust. That’s one decision you’ll have to make. If you feel you can live with the dust, all you need inside is a predator-proof wire wall. The rest of the shed will control wind hitting the chickens directly so you don’t have to worry about that even in your climate, but trust me, there will be a lot of dust. If you are going to be storing power tools or equipment, I’d be careful. They may need dust covers.

I don’t know what the electrical situation is out there, but if the wiring is right I’d consider putting in a breaker box. Lights come in real handy out there at night and having a few outlets around really helps when you are making modifications or just doing work in the area. If the wiring is there it is a great move, but do it safely and only if the wiring is right for it.

It’s hard to make too many specific suggestions because I’m not sure how you are going to manage them down the road or even how you are going to split it. With electricity out there, you can build in a brooder (if you are going to be brooding more chicks later) and never have to have them in your house. In any case, I’d suggest you build in a space you can lock a chicken or chicks up for a while with food and water. Under that bench looks like a great place. Just having a place to isolate a chicken for a while is real handy. I like the flexibility mine gives me and you have a place all ready. A door and walls and it is done. The framework is there.

Chickens tend to roost on the highest thing here is, whether poles, lumber, or shelves. Take out anything high you don’t want them to roost on.

You’ll probably want to leave as much shelving and such as you can for the storage side, but the way that looks like it’s put together, it looks like you’ll need to rip a lot of that out so you can build a good predator proof wall across it. I can’t give you a lot of specific guidance on that. Pictures help, but I’d have to be there to look at it and decide how to set it up before I could begin to know what to take out or leave. I imagine that’s what has you stumped right now. Just make a plan and try to reuse what you can, even if you have to take it out, cut it, then put it back.

That shed is a great resource and will make you a great coop. Good luck!

 

[RoKdHen]

Thank you thank you. Ridge and Jet. I had forgotten that we should have a place in there for isolation or brooding etc.
off the the shed to ponder some more