Need help with a metal shed to coop idea

[wowmanacat]

I have a 12 x 10 metal shed that I would like to use as a coop. I know I am going to have to insulate it and then cover that up with something so the hens do not cook in there. I would like to know if anyone else has ever done this, and if so how. I am planing on having an AC some vents and windows. I will be using it for my rabbits too. Right now it has a wood floor that it sits on and I am not sure how to deal with that either. Money is a concern for there is very little that I can use to make this happen. I do have sometime to get this done for the chickens are in a coop for now. Just would like to give my husband back his two car garage to use. Thank you fro your help and ideas!!!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have a plastic shed coop and a metal shed coop.

Here are a few pointers that I have discovered.

Make a lot of ventilation. Cut holes in there and put some hardware cloth (1/2 inch) over the holes. Do it so that- the way the wind usually blows - it won't blow the rain in there. What I did was to put in plexiglass windows on the side where the rain would blow in, and cut holes on both sides of the coop where the rain won't blow in. (I used simple ventilation covers from Home Depot but they aren't predator-proof like hardware cloth is.)

The roof vents are not very effective and my DH had a hard time keeping them from leaking. We wouldn't go that route again. Holes in the side of the walls are better...I added those later.

I did not want to go with insulation since I was very concerned about mold. Here we are wet all winter and the condensation literally rains down in there- I didn't want something preventing that from breathing- didn't want mold behind the insulation. I have to bleach my coop walls and floor about once a year now to kill mold for the winter.

I use sand in the floor, and scrape it with a plastic rake and kitty litter scoop to get the poop out every other day (thin layer of sand). I keep the sand scraped away from the walls and door tracks, so it doesn't become wet and tossed in one day. I use play sand in bags, about one per month.

During the summer I have to open one of the doors (the tracks must be scraped out every other day with a stick as mud and feathers get in the track) during the day for ventilation. During the winter in order to get the doors open I carry a pan of hot water as with our freezing rain the doors freeze shut. This works very well.

I have an auto coop door opener and LOVE it for the pop door.

You might consider hanging some shade cloth over the whole coop (over it so it doesn't touch the coop). I think I bought mine from amazon.com and it was $30 for a HUGE section of it (I have it over in the other chicken pen for shade).

Inside for roosts, I have concrete blocks stacked carefully and have 2 x 3 lumber for roosts, resting inside the concrete block holes. I have used sawhorses too (have those over in the other coop now)- you can buy just the brackets and make them yourself with 2 x 4s. I use covered kitty litter pans for nestboxes. I use a rolling plant stand to keep the waterer off the floor. I have the feeder resting inside a black rubber feed pan to catch spills.

I have a fan hanging near the wall to pull in fresh air, on a timer to rest the motor so it doesn't overheat. Make sure you use GFCIs!! They have saved my bacon at least twice (from getting electrocuted by metal wires touching the prongs and I didn't know it- I touched the metal but they had already tripped. They sell an extension cord with a GFCI (or maybe it was a three way adaptor I am thinking of) in case you are interested.

 

[mtngrl812]

You could look for some old linoleum scraps on craig's list for the floor or maybe even use a good heavy coat of some outdoor paint to make cleaning easier. I don't have anything over my wood floor but keep a good layer of wood shavings and DE on the floor year round. I prefer the deep litter method in which case I fluff the old and add new every month or so. I have seen people use 5 gallon buckets propped on the floor for nest boxes. Could you cut some windows out and install a fan? If they have a run they will spend most of their time out of the coop and AC may not be necassary, although I hear rabbits are sensitive to heat. Maybe some homemade sawhorse type roosts.Finally, plant a BIG tree to shade the coop, it may have to start out small, but one that would get big enough.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Here are some things you might enjoy seeing:
http://www.myspace.com/robben23/photos/27602265#{"ImageId":27602265}
Now that is really the way I wish I could go. I am not handy - maybe I'll get this done one day. They really do need this much ventilation in the summer. The fan I use is a necessity since I am not set up like this.

http://www.squidoo.com/chicken-shed
this one with a bit too much ventilation for my tastes as we get high winds with very cold conditions in the winter (cold because of the wind)

http://thecitychicken.com/pictorialhistory.html
this one is neat (look for it in the list)

Make sure your roosts are HIGHER than your nest boxes!!

 

[wowmanacat]

The shed is right next to the garage and there is a tree out there. I am going to changing the doors to hinge and making a lot of vent area at the top. being that there is a very small walk way between the shed and garage I can do a vent more or less all the way along the top. This is the side we are going to be putting the rabbits on. I am now thinking of just putting the insulation on the ceiling. I do not remember if there was any problems with it this last winter with us using it as a wood shed. This is a project that I plan on working on over the summer since I am not going to be able to get my garden going this year.

 

[ll]

We converted a metal shed - photos & details on my Hen House page!
Good luck!

 

[wowmanacat]

That is about what I would like to do and I just hope that we are going to have the money to do it. I am going to have to buy a little at a time since I only have a little money at a time. I am going to be using the whole shed for the coop. I have the garage right next to the shed for storage. I only need to use a small area of it so it is ok. I will be putting the 4 unit rabbit cage on one side and the roost for the chicken on the other side. We are still having to figure out all that we are going to do. I was thinking of using the stuff for the bathroom for easy clean up. We will see what happens thur out the summer as we work on this.

 

[Hokum Coco]

This is my converted metal shed. It has a 4x8 foot print and houses as many as 15 birds with no issues (3 levels with a run).

I insulated with 2 inch Styrofoam and covered the inside with discarded interior door veneer.

I took the original metal doors off and put hinged 1/2inch plywood doors with ventilation windows and a guillotine style pop door (more winter friendly you will find).

The shed was a discarded relatives shed that I fixed up I actually used the metal doors to reinforce the structure.

 

[mtngrl812]

Some cool ideas on here for transforming a metal shed... II your shed turned into a luxury chicken suite!
On the coop I have that my DH built, I added about 10 holes along two sides of the coop close to the floor and on one side at the very top close to the roof. I used a 2" hole saw bit. Then there are windows I can open and close that are almost at the top of the coop. This way I get air flow coming in from the bottom through the holes I cut and out through the top windows. In the winter the holes stay open to allow enough airflow to prevent condensation build up. With my coop raised off the ground I only cover the large windows with hardwire cloth, but if my coop had been on the ground I would have covered the holes with hardwire also to prevent snakes and hopefully mice from entering.
My DH also thought it would be cute to have one of those whirly things on the roof for ventilation. (the kind you see on roof tops that will spin when the attic gets hot.) Anyway, it doesn't spin until it is REALLY hot in the coop, so this last summer I place a small fan blowing upward to get the whirly thing to spin and that work, was kinda cute too.

 

[wowmanacat]

we thank you for all the ideas. Now I just have to get started on getting all the supplies for the thing so I can get started. Again only going tot be be able to buy a little at a time.