Looking to convert my Lean to into a coop

[BetaFish]

So I am wanting to clear this out and turn this into my coop. Any suggestions on the best way to go about this? I have 12 lil chicks waiting on a new home Should I pour concrete for the floor? It gets quite chilly here in Southern Indiana in the winter time, what is the best way to keep my babies warm? Also how big of a coop do I need to make as well as the run? Sorry for all the questions, I am new to all of this.



Here are my girls

3 Ameracauna
3 Black Australorp
6 ISA Brown

 

[klohman]

The generic rule is 4 square feet per bird inside a coop. Make sure you have roosts for them to sleep on about 1 ft. in length per bird, and 1 nest box for every 3-4 birds. I don't see any need to add a concrete floor. If you do want some kind of material for the bottom rather than dirt, we did plywood on top of a simple 2x4 frame (to keep it directly off the ground) and it works great.

Make sure you have windows and ventilation, you do not want it closed up tight because of moisture. In the winter you can add a heat lamp, and we screw plexiglass over our windows and it works great (we have ventilation between the ceiling and walls).

We put nails directly in our ceiling and added a hanging feeder/waterer. The ones on the floor got to be way to much of a pain!

Hmmm...what did I miss?! I think it will make a really good coop all said and done.

 

[iawoodchip]

If this were my situation I would build a 4’ X 12’ (or equivalent to make up the 48 sq foot needed) attached coop to the building, elevated about 2’ to 4’ off the ground, and cover the rest of the area with heavy duty roll fencing like hardware cloth. I would leave the dirt floor and use mulch like hay, leaves or wood shavings, and plan to replace this periodically with fresh a couple times a year. Easy to handle, no odor, and makes great compost... Jim

 

[BetaFish]

I have thought about using just the lean to as the coop and then fencing in a run in front of it. That way I can make a storage area in the coop as well to keep all of our supplies in. Do you think that would be overkill?

 

[klohman]

We made ours large enough to store everything inside and we love it! Makes our life way easier.

 

[iawoodchip]

I have thought about using just the lean to as the coop and then fencing in a run in front of it. That way I can make a storage area in the coop as well to keep all of our supplies in. Do you think that would be overkill?

I'm sure you'll work out something that'll work fine. If chicken math works out you may need a larger coop anyway. Using the picture you posted I would still use composting material for the floor, but that's just me... Jim
BTW Don't overlook the possibilities of predators.

 

[cbissette]

I have been contemplating the same thing. I have a lean to just waiting for conversion. I started with a small Tractor Supply coop and quickly grew out of it. Just built an additional coop. I am now about $600 into two small coops with runs. Sure wish I had just put that $600 into renovating my lean to from the beginning!