My. plans for converting a shed

[Irishhenman]

I have recently gotten an 8 x 8 shed. I plan on putting cages for breeding, keeping broody hens, preparing show birds and housing sick birds. On one side I plan on having four cages each 4' long, 2.5' deep and 2.5' high. These will be used for pen breeding rosecomb bantams. On the other side I will have two 3' long, 2.5' deep and 2.5' high along with two 2.5' by 2.5' by 2.5' cages. These will have multiple uses including housing a pair of rabbits. On the same side I will have a feed storage unit that doubles as a desk and some shelves. Does anyone have any advice, are my plans ok . Are the breeding pens big enough for a single bantam hen all the time and a cockerel will be alternated between the runs? Will a 3' wide passage down the centre be enough room to walk around. Any other ideas are welcome.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

it all sounds good to me but im a little concerned about putting sick chickens in with show hens. seems like a risk to me.

 

[aart]

Get some graph paper and lay it out, using the squares to represent a specific measurement....
....better yet or in addition to, get some stakes and lay it out on the ground to get a feel for how big things are.

 

[Irishhenman]

it all sounds good to me but im a little concerned about putting sick chickens in with show hens. seems like a risk to me. 

Sorry I should also have said that each cage will have a separate vent(as well as the main ones I will put int he shed) and if it is necessary I have plans to have a thick plastic cover on the access doors of cages that will contain sick birds (which would normally be wire). Also I don't tolerate respiratory diseases (the most common airborne sickness in birds) any bird that is coughing sniffling or has any other symptoms they are just culled to remove the problem completely. I regularly show and sell birds and having sick birds on the premises while other birds are being brought to shows and sales is just not responsible chicken keeping.

Get some graph paper and lay it out, using the squares to represent a specific measurement....
....better yet or in addition to, get some stakes and lay it out on the ground to get a feel for how big things are.

I already have it drawn out on graph paper and the shed is marked out in pencil lines where everything is to go.

 

[aart]

.....I already have it drawn out on graph paper and the shed is marked out in pencil lines where everything is to go.

Well, let's see it! Just take a digital pic and post it.

 

[Irishhenman]

I am having some problems posting the pictures (I have posted pictures before)

 

[Irishhenman]

second try, brown indicates a door/board and black a supporting beam


(sorry images won't directly upload again)

here is a link to an imgur album for the photos

http://imgur.com/a/9mcWh

first picture is a floor plan, second one of the sides, third the other side

 

[aart]

This one?



or this one?


or this one?

 

[Irishhenman]

This one? or this one? or this one?

Thanks for putting up the pictures. If you look at my above post, the first picture is a floor plan, the second will be the cages on the right hand side and the third will be the cages on the left hand side.

 

[aart]

Oh OK, that makes sense.

It's always good to label your drawings, sorry, I'm a drafter by trade.....so I'm going to tell you more about drawings, I just can't help it.
The floor plan should be labeled with a North arrow, then you can label the elevations by North, South, East, West.
Usually North points to the top of the floor plan drawing, so the second drawing here would be the North elevation and the third drawing would be the South elevation.
It's a good idea to put door swings on your plan view to help plan access and also orients the elevations to the floor plan further.
That all seem really picky but proper prior planning makes building the thing MUCH simpler as you can fix your mistakes in pencil instead of in wood!

It looks like a pretty good concept for breeding and broody's......but sick and/or quarantined birds should really be in a separate building.
......tho you're elevations are not drawn to the same scale as the floor plan and the dimensions the South elevation don't match the floor plan.

You might want to make the cages not quite so deep so you can reach all areas from the door for cleaning, catching birds, etc.
I bring that up having had a hard time the past few days cleaning a brooder, wishing it wasn't quite so deep from the access door...lol..
That would give a tad more room in your aisle, especially if there's more than one person working in there.