My "new-to-me" coop

[Doopy]

Here are some pics of the coop that came with our mini-farm we purchased last month. We call our new mini-farm "PayStation II". This coop was used for chickens and dwarf goats. The left side was the chicken coop and the right side was the goat pen.

It does not look like it's in very good condition but in reality it's in excellent shape. The old paint looks bad but it's structurally sound. All the windows open and have 1/2" hardware cloth screens. I plan to apply styrofoam insulation and vinyl siding this coming spring. I also plan to make a door to access the laying boxes from outside to collect eggs. I also plan to install a low door along the floor in the rear to sweep out the floor into a wheel barrow or wagon.

The chicken side interior has 8 laying boxes. There is a white metal sloping top on the boxes - I assume this is to keep chickens from roosting there.

As you can see there is no insulation. There is no electricity out there either. Yet.

I plan to make and install a roosting rail (2" x 4") along the back wall. Your comments and suggestions are welcome. I'm not sure how to do the poop board under the roost. Please help.

I will use the goat side of the building to store stuff.

My last pic is my home away from home. I call it The Boogity Express . . . it's a long story and I will share it with you some day.

The Boogity Express calls to me during the night sometimes - "Larry, can you come out and play . . . I'm lonesome out here in the cold" . . . "let's go south and play in the sun" . . . "my tank is full and it wouldn't take long to fill the 'frig" . . . "come on, let's go".

Can you hear it?

Happy new year everyone.

 

[pkeeler]

I doubt you need insulation. You might want to add another window for more light. You will definitely need roosts. From the size, and number of boxes, I would guess the old chickens roosted in the boxes, which is not desirable.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Nice score!


I'm with Boogity!! time to head south and play in the sun!! I hear a beach calling my name

 

[Doopy]

Quote:
Hmmmm! I have some translucent white roofing material that I could make a skylite over the chicken area. The tin roofing is easy to work with. Good suggestion. Thanks.

 

[teach1rusl]

I may be mistaken, but it looks like it has a total of 4 windows, which seems like plenty of light to me. Personally, I love having insulation, but that may not be an option for you??? How much space is there on the chicken side? I'm wondering how many chickens you will be keeping... I'm thinking you don't need that many nest boxes (the area for chickens doesn't look really large?). So, depending on how many chickens you'll be having, could you remove the top layer of boxes? Then you could lay the dropping board across the top of the nest boxes, and put the 2 x 4 roost wall to wall above that??? Just a suggestion. The building looks great! I mean it doesn't look new, but it looks nice and solid!

 

[b.hromada]

Wow! Its great!!! You are lucky!!

Beautiful motor home! Yeah, come south, its VERY warm here!

 

[MissJenny]

I'd say that's a nice looking henhouse -- sturdy, square, clean. I'm a fan of insulation too, but I'm a Mom and I want everybody to be warm and snuggled in.

In agreement with teach1rusl, removing the upper deck of nest boxes in fabor of a roost and roost board seems an efficient use of space.Along the same vein, it does seem to have plenty of windows -- I don't know what the vent situation is, but having proper venting makes a world of difference in keeping the humidity down.

I'd be tickled to pieces with that coop. Is there a secure run. The Mom in me wants nobody to get eaten by varmints -- it makes for a very bad day.

Jenny

 

[MissJenny]

You know what I would do, I would spray this coop really well with a bleach solution. I'm not usually the cautious sort... unless it makes sense. An ounce of prevention, as it were.

Jenny Again

 

[Overeasyplz]

awesome coop. I need to rebuild my present one and this is a sound structure! thanks for sharing!

 

[Doopy]

Quote:
Yeah I like insulation, too. It will make it so much more economical to keep the coop warm if needed.
I don't know how many chickens to get yet. The interior of the chicken side of the coop is 4' x 8' and the fenced run is about 50' x 30'. As you can see I have 8 nesting boxes and if I act on some of the suggestions here I can remove 4 of them and still have lots of nesting space.

How many layers could I have with 4 nesting boxes?