Need advice. Shed to coop conversion

[Russ13]

Got the shelves out. So much more room now.

 

[Russ13]

Next step will be flooring

 

[linguini]

View attachment 2938620
Got the shelves out. So much more room now. View attachment 2938622

Your chickens will have a mansion here! so lucky!

 

[Russ13]

Your chickens will have a mansion here! so lucky!

I’m not sure how many I’m gonna have yet. Maybe 20-30

 

[aart]

I'd strongly suggest you remove all the blocking between rafters on both eaves.

 

[RooStar Chicken Gang]

Honestly OP your shed is awesome, my chooks live in a shed, the ground is dirt, they have a bird cage in there with one shelf... with two long nest boxes and there is also a chicken coop in the shed one of those small typical pine ones... they just all walk in there an sleep where ever they want. Now i shall go through and answer ur questions in my way...

So I have this shed I want to turn into my chicken coop. I’m guessing I will have 10-20 birds and they will be free range. The shed will have power to it soon so I can have lights and water heaters if needed.
Questions
1-
The shed has shelves in it, should I keep them and put straw on them for chickens to roost on or take them out and put in other things for them to roost on? I thought maybe they would get dirty to fast but I’m thinking if I keep straw on them I will be ok. Should the shelves stay or go???

2-
The floor is slotted wood the doesn’t have that big of gaps between them but should I look into possibly putting linoleum or some other flooring over the wood??

3-
Will I have enough ventilation in the coop?
It has gaps at the top of the roof that are about 1/2 on inch where the wall meets the roof. It also has windows on each side the have screens in them and that I am going to cover with wire to help keep predators out

4-
Should I make a small opening for them instead of using the big door? It has two doors that swing open. It will be great for cleaning but will it be to big to leave open all day. Most coops I have seen have had very small doors to get the chickens in and out.

I know this is a lot of questions but just pick a number and let me know what you think. I will have pictures up soon

1. those shelfs look a little small to sleep on... but they might like them I Do not see any reason to remove or restrict the birds from them they might not even use them I have similar ones in the shed but they never jumped up there I even put large sticks across the whole shed which they never jumped on too... chickens are odd like that they don't use things u set up for them always... but everyone likes to do there own thing right... only issue is if they DO use those shelfs they may poo on em... and you godda clean it.

2. As long as the chooks cannot get feet stuck in the floor it is not such a worry imo, they may poo down there tho again or food might get down there and attract rats which attract snakes ect... as I said my shed floor is dirt.

3. Seeing as chickens spend time in factory farms in unventilated horror houses, this shows they are pritty resilient however... that being said ventilation and fresh air that is non toxic is very important to there wellbeing and all things the more unclean and enclosed the area is the worse it will b for them common sense stuff really... my shed has huge ventilation the front doors are chicken wire... there was no shed door to start with until the wire doors were made.

4. yes I have seen the smaller doors on sheds for chickens and ducks ect... and Iv seen ones that open an close on there own too which is odd... I don't really see any benefit to the small door, what for? foxes will still get in if they see a small door.... I dunno why people have those.. the doors on ma chicken coop shed are huge and mostly open.

 

[Russ13]

Getting ventilation going. They will be set under the awnings of the food to prevent rain from coming in. Also may build wood on hinges on the outside to close them in colder weather

 

[3KillerBs]

Getting ventilation going. They will be set under the awnings of the food to prevent rain from coming in. Also may build wood on hinges on the outside to close them in colder weather

If those are 4" diameter circles each one only provides .09 square feet.

If they are 6" diameter circles each one only provides .19 square feet.

To provide the 1 square foot each adult, standard-size hen needs with a circle you need a circle 13.5" in diameter.

Better to just remove the siding from the entire gable triangle.

You'll want some kind of awning or roof extension to protect the openings from blowing rain/snow, but you'll NEVER want to close it up because that roof-level ventilation is critical for getting rid of the moisture.

 

[DickMidnight]

what a great shed! you’ve got an awesome starting point for an amazing coop.

depending on the overhang you have outside of your gables, id just punch this whole section out and cover it in hardware cloth.

 

[Russ13]

This is as far as I got today. Gonna add 4 more holes and I think that will be enough