Need ideas,UPDATED WITH VIDEO!!!! Honey gave me the WHOLE barn 4 chicken pen!!!!!!!!!

[the4heathernsmom]

ok so picture big rectangularish area whole dimension is approximately 17feet wide by 20 feet deep/long and maybe 22 feet tall

door opening is 10 feet wide by 12 or 14 feet tall

the platform built up area is in back right corner of barn and is about 2 feet off the floor has good plywood bottom and covered tin from floor to barn floor and is 9 3/4 feet long by 7 1/2 feet wide

 

[the4heathernsmom]

Subscribe and HELP!!!! I have tons of ideas/wishes but cannot seem to figure out how to do this. VERY limited budget ... have tools and some supplies, some various scraps lumber, some landscape timbers for posts, cannot use chicken wire here due to predators so I have some horse/welded wire like 1x2 inch rectangles shaped, have t posts, etc.

Have pvc and watering system stuff to do nipple waterers and the automatic bowl waterer from mcmurray.

Barn has ELECTRICITY and not just a light, it HAS PLUGS~I think there are 8 outlets!!!!!

There is a loft on the left side up high above outside stalls on the left side......there are a few rusted out spots where tin touched the ground and has rusted......a few golfball sized holes here and there in tin that need to be patched.....floor needs to have some dirt to level it a bit......definately has to be cleaned out.

Barn hasn't been used other than storage since we moved here other than the platform area is semi wired in and I had a bottle baby goat in there. When we moved here it was full of junk and old auto parts etc about 10 ft tall.....took 10 truck and trailer loads to get all the old rotten junk out of there and has been sitting empty other than out little bit of junk for 2 years awating honey to make it into a "man cave". Well honey finally realized with 4 kids his man cave dream isn't gonna happen anytime soon......so lucky lucky momma I get the barn (doing chicken dance as I type)!!!

I am ready....starting over from scratch only using my old feeders and bins......even will be needing to make new nest area/boxes EVERYTHING !!!!

 

[the4heathernsmom]

It will need more ventilation if I close in the front some to put in regular size door.......maybe making stall like pens on the right hand side? maybe nest boxes on left wall or back wall with roosts vice versa? back door area put regular door in with chicken door built into it to lead outside to run? if do stalls inside there won't be a way to ge tthem in runs? will have to have way to have a grower pen for two different ages growing chicks.......
plus I need a brooder area for new hatches, and if hubby has his way I will have the incubator outside too......he is NOT a fan of the incubator or squeeking baby chicks in the house!!!!

 

[the4heathernsmom]

come on chicken experts and oldies........there has got to be some carpenter inclined people on here?????

 

[WestfarthingHomestead]

Oh, a chicken-person's dream come true! My first concern would be to predator-proof it. Dirt floors, right? I see gaps all over the place. I think I'd lay down hardware cloth, fasten the heck out of it, pour down sand and/or gravel I salvaged for free somewhere, and maybe anchor it with concrete or big rocks around the edges.

 

[skunknchatter]

We have a gravel pit here that is "you shovel, you haul, it's free" so maybe you can see if there is something similar around you. I agree that you will need to keep predators from digging in so putting hardware cloth or chicken wire around the edges then gravel or road base like was already suggested. Check your local craigs list for free building materials. Even old pallets can be pulled apart for usable lumber. Chickens don't need fancy. Just functional.

Cheap nest boxes...I used 5 gal buckets. I screwed the bottoms to a board so I could mount them. I mounted them off the ground a little but low enough the hens could hop right in. I used one lid for every 2 buckets to hold the shavings in. I cut the lid into thirds so I had 2 U shaped pieces and a strip and put the U shaped piece on the bucket. (hope this makes sense).

A lot of things are going to be trail and error. I think not a lot of people have thrown out ideas because it's hard to get a sense of the space from just pictures. Also, you haven't really said what you want it to be. If you post what you want to do with it then ask for help with specific projects you will get a lot more response. Just a thought. Congrats on the barn! I am jealous.

 

[luvs2ride1979]

Since you have a limited budget, I would start with just one area. I like the raised platform spot, since it's already walled on three sides. That would be a good place for nesting boxes and roosts. You could make a pop-up door on one wall out to a run outside and frame out a window there too (cover with wire). Use your woven wire fence to make a pen outside with t-posts. You can buy cheap netting on eBay to make a hawk-proof roof over the pen/run. Just search for sports or hockey netting on eBay. For the open wall inside, you would need some lumber to make a wall and door framing, then cover everything with your wire. See if you can buy a cheap screen door from a home improvement store, or make one if you have enough lumber.

Once you get one area made into a nice chicken coop/run, you can start thinking of what to do for the rest of it

.

 

[trooper]

Welcome and good luck.You have an awesome set up to get started.I've been working on mine for about 2 years and still working on it.I get one thing done and then I see something else that I want.The main things to remember is chickens don't care what it looks like.Keep it draft proof as possible,keep it so they can stay in the dry,and keep them fed and watered, and keep them safe.Once you get it to where you can actually start renovating then ideas will come to you.Like where you want the nest boxes,where to feed,where to water.Then do what you want for bedding on floor,and in nest boxes.These are the things that I really liked figuring out and getting help from the BYC.What you have gives you the opportunity to have aa outstanding set up.I looked at other coops and asked questions and found out what Worked for me.I always dream at what I want to do next to improve my set up.Please keep us posted and ask questions.

:yiipchickWhen you put in your roosts you want it higher than the nest boxes and make it so that the board is a 2x4 with the 4" side up.I use rough pine shavings in my boxes and also on the floor.I do the deep liter method which makes it so that I don't have to clean it but about twice a year.You will get different ideas so do what works for your set up.

 

[the4heathernsmom]

last year I had a HUGE run.....welded horse wire fence about 4 ft high with t posts that surrounded a 6x8 storage shed that was the coop.....fenced area was about 1/4 acre. had smaller rabbit type pens for chicks till they got big enough and had a makeshift goat stall enclosed pen for teenage chicks. This is what happened.....

Hawks out the wazoo swooping down grabbing chicks and a couple hens too

neighbors dogs got some when I free ranged but that isn't a problem anymore ...... uhmmm sorry if it comes in my yard it doesn't leave after losing a doe and a 400lb sow to a dang dog

coyotes got some just scaled the fence

owls at night

possums got some

coons got ALOT of them

skunks got couple

lost a few chicks to snakes and yes the minnow traps WORK!!!!

something unknown got the ducks one night horrible massacre

Since then I have become quite handy with a gun and a trap and have scared away and run off most of our predator problems but they are still out there just not up near the house anymore.....

So predator proofing is a major major thing for me.....

I am going out there tomorrow and going to start a trench around the whole barn area where tin meets ground.....going to go 8 inches (very packed hard dirt) deep and bury wire around whole outer edge.......going to start filling in gaps and patching areas and start clean out......

ok so here is where I am at......have the incubator coming and ordered a few hatching eggs off ebay so first I need to make a brooding area or teenage chick area . The stall idea is great I could do one area at a time but the ceiling is sooo high. There will be wasted space above and if I don't close off the entrance area first the "stall area" will have to have a roof of sorts to be predator proof.

So what about cleaning out the platform area and finish fencing with wire the whole thing for the "teenage" pen?

Does anyone have pics of a "pen within a pen"? This area would be too large at first for little ones but they are going to grow and need the space eventually.......

 

[riverpilot69]

Sounds as if predators are your main problem. Texas has a lot of them too. That would be the main factor on how I would build my coop. Good thing is, most of the ones you mentioned are primarily nocturnal and can be kept out (For the most part.) from good predator proofing. I shot a opossum in my coop the other night. That was my fault for being to reliant on my auto door. The only bad thing about the whole deal was one of my Silver Laced has no tail feathers any longer.( she has a bad habit of roosting low.) A light in the coop and some high roosting will help a lot. I have high roost where my girls have to pitch up. there is nothing close for a predator to climb up to them. That being said. You have a nice place to make a coop and I am looking forward to seeing what you do with the extra space. You can make the best coop in the world but if you give predators free meals they will keep coming back over and over.