Need advice on turning old shed into coop.

[Teresaann24]

We have had this old shed for awhile not used much we put the lawn mower in it and my cousin kept a hound dog in there at one point. Would like to use it for somthing?? for my chickens but not quite sure where to start or what to do???

 

[ellie32526]

Not sure how cold it gets where you are, but you may have to put up some plywood in places to keep out drafts in the winter. But you don't want it to be airtight because you will need plenty of ventilation, especially in summer. My windows and vents are covered with hardware cloth on the outside and plexiglas on the inside. That lets in the light but not the wind. I can open them in the summer to bring in lots of ventilation or leave them shut when it is cold.

If your house has electricity that is a plus in the event you need to hang a heat lamp in summer or run a fan in summer. The house should protect the chickens from rain and snow and also from the heat of summer.

The house should also protect the chickens from predators, especially at night. Racoons, Opossums,Weasels, Snakes, and Rats too etc love to raid chicken houses and prey on chickens and eggs.

You will need to decide how you want to feed and water your chickens, there are lots of good ideas on this site. Do you plan to have a yard for your chickens during the day or let them free range?

You will need nesting boxes for them to lay their eggs in and roost bars for them to roost on at night. Chicken coops/houses are as differnt as the people who keep chickens, but those are the basics. Hope that helps.

 

[Teresaann24]

Yes that does help I am making a list...lol I would also like to see pics of others sheds turned into coops so I can get an ideal of what to do and where to start.

 

[morelcabin]

This was an old wood shed at one point. We boarded up the inside with new asponite and insulated somewhat. Mine faces east so I can open up the front (as long as it is deeper than it is wide it works great.


I put a roost on the very back wall, and the front wall is just wire mesh.



The shed is 14x12, and the pen is a little over half the shed lengthwise...it is 14x7. The other half I use as feed storage and chick brooding

 

[ellie32526]

Yes that does help I am making a list...lol I would also like to see pics of others sheds turned into coops so I can get an ideal of what to do and where to start.

My shed is not finished yet but I posted a pic of the roost bars with dropping boards underneath and a pic of my PVC Feeder. It is a work in progress but our fuzzy butts are still small so they're not ready for the house yet. My husband just finished the vents/windows and putting the posts in the ground for the chicken yard. I don't have pics of that yet.

 

[Teresaann24]

Nice! Thank you this gives me a ideal of where I need to start.

 

[ellie32526]

Nice! Thank you this gives me a ideal of where I need to start.

Here are pics of the vent/windows. The trim still has to be put on the outside. The top shows the window/vent open. The plexiglas slides down to open. The bottom pic shows the window closed, if you look closely you can see the edge of the plexiglas below the bottom of the window. If you can see the knob sticking out, that is the piece of wood that holds the window in the closed position. When I raise the window and remove the wood, I can lower the window and let out the heat, let in the fresh air. The plexiglas is held in place by offset overlapping strips of plywood. It requires no hinges or latches.

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

I would also suggest having a seperate feed/storage section of the coop. Its not a must but it comes in handy because chickens like to fly up on feed bags ect and poop in/on them

 

[ellie32526]

I use a metl trash can to store my chicken feed. We started using metal trash cans for our dog food when the rats started eating our plastic food bins. No trouble since we wnet to metal.

 

[Tomcoll67]

Do you have any designs on the PVC chicken feeder or is there a site to go to for the plans? How much feed does it hold?