Lookinf for advice on convering this to a chicken coop

[Chicks-A-Hoy]

I have this shed on my property, looking to transform it into a chicken coop for 5-10 egg layers.

Looking for advice on ventilation, insulation, flooring, and a chicken run

Thinking of cutting into the side of it and making a chicken door

living in Novascotia Canada 5B growing Zone

Thanks in advance!

 

[saysfaa]

I would take the existing doors off and store them for if you ecer want to convert the building back to a shed. Then build a wall of hardware cloth across half the front with a popdoor inset into it. And build a door of hardware cloth for the other half (or convert a standard screen door). The open front allows good ventilation; the rest being solid prevents drafts. Air will waft in the bottom and out the top of the open side - always enough and never too much for spring, fall, and winter. For the summer, I would add openings that could be closed up for other seasons. Probably one of: a ridge vent, or opening the peak in the back, or adding windows. I found a ridge vent harder to close up for the winter but I liked it better through the summer.

You could frame in a short knee wall across the bottom of the opening to keep the bedding in. Or let the bedding spill out and be mulch/compost in front of the coop if you want it there but that might be in the way of the door swinging open.

No need for any insulation. Feathers are excellent insulation.

I would paint the floor with porch paint and put in deep bedding.

This sort of set up worked very well for me in a similar climate (Great Lakes region).

 

[Debbie292d]

For the interior, be sure to put the nest boxes closer to the human door so you don't have to go to the back to collect eggs every day. You can put them a foot off the floor, or if you don't want to bend over, build a ramp or two for them to get up to them. That's what we have for the silkies as they can't jump down far anyway.

That does need some ventilation, and anything you have open for air, vents, or windows should be covered with 1/2" hardware cloth. I would make your run out of it too as it looks like you're bordering a woods/forest. As soon as you get chickens, the varmints will come. I'd get some solar motion lights too and perhaps a trail cam or camera so you'll be able to see if anything's going on out there.

We used this for a new wood floor, two coats, this spring, and really like how it's holding up. The Amish who built this coop had recommended it.



We use horse bedding pellets on the floor and in the nest boxes as that's very absorbative and removes smells. We're in Wisconsin, where it's subzero for weeks and we never have humidity issues.

 

[MROO]

I'd leave the doors so you can close off the front. That gives a storage area for feed, tools, and dry bedding and provides a place for you to be out of the weather when caring for and observing your birds - you'll be grateful for the protection in those cold, Nova Scotia winter winds!

Close off most of the shed by putting a kneewall (half-wall) of plywood across the bottom at the first set of studs (closest to the door) and down from the top to "square off" across the middle - then run as big a panel of hardware cloth as you can fit all the way across, above the kneewall.

Since your shed has a slanted dutch roof, side ventilation may be a challenge. If the roofline doesn't already have a peak vent, those are easy to add. You'll still need side ventilation, but you should be able to find ready-to-install ones at your local hardware store or mill. A less expensive option is a long, horizontal hardware cloth panel high up on the flat end. Make sure your vents are above the highest roosts. Drafts are fine above a sleeping chicken, but a problem when coming up from below. Add a chicken-door along the lower panel and voila! A great coop ready for customizing with whatever you want as roosts and poop boards!

A bonus consideration is to position your chicken door (and possibly the "people-doors) above the height you don't feel like shoveling snow ... a real back saver, come winter! And the one big thing I wish I'd considered when I revamped my playhouse chicken coop is to position a "trap door" somewhere on the side so I could maneuver a wheelbarrow to catch the old bedding ... maybe next year!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Whatever you decide to do with the existing doors, I'd be concerned about trying to open them outwards if snow tends to accumulate and then hang around. Having to shovel out the door swing path could get old. I don't know if you could shorten the doors (from the bottom), but if so, then add an 8" or 10" high step-over plank in the gap to keep the bedding in (as mentioned above) and to keep the doors free from any snow on the ground.

- I can't figure a way to clearly describe this in writing. I'm waving my hands around a bit.

Edit to add: @MROO I don't know how I missed your perfectly good explanation of this above!

 

[Sefirothe]

We divided our shed with a wall just as @MROO mentioned. My shed is an A frame roof so less angles to worry about.

Left over hardware cloth blocks off the top half and still allows air circulation. The door was also a scavenged leftover too.

My growing zone is 6 borderline 5 so similar-ish temps. We didn’t really insulate for cold, it’s not needed if you get cold hardy breeds with no big combs and have good ventilation.

We did put some foam board insulation on the roof because the shed has a metal roof and is in full sun all day. It gets HOT in there in the summer.