New Chicken Owner- help with coop

[Hlawhorn]

Well, we bought a house this past July. Soon after we got married, had our third baby, and now I am finally able to focus on having upgrades done to our house. Our house came with this chicken coop that needs a ton of love. I am cleaning it out, and took off rotten pieces to replace but my question is, where do I even start? Is this worth saving? Should I start from scratch? We also live in the woods, and I am anxious for critter attacks.

Let me know what you think or any advice you may have. I’d love to salvage this if I can.

 

[CalgaryFarmer]

The floor space is small for the size of the structure.

I would keep it.

It looks like it is pretty sturdy. The roof looks good. It looks like it has a concrete floor.

It needs some ventilation.

The plywood on the end of the nest boxes (and presumably the rest of the outer shell) looks a bit thin and might not be strong enough to keep out a motivated predator. I would wrap it in hardwire to 2 or 3 feet in height.

 

[CalgaryFarmer]

It does not look like that hardwire would hold if a predator started pulling on it with its teeth. It is held with staples. It should be held with screws and washers at least.

It does not even look like it is held at the bottom.

The wood skirt around the run looks flimsy as well. I would replace that with 2x6s or 2x8s.

to prevent a predator from digging under you should have a hardwire apron that extends out 18 inches or so and covered with a bit of soil.

Otherwise the structure of the run does not look bad. It is short so it will be difficult to get in their to retrieve anything.

 

[CalgaryFarmer]

Even if you decide to build a new coop and run, you should keep this structure for later use: supplies storage, bachelor pad for roosters, grow out pen, pen for your broodies, chicken jail for chickens not playing nice, etc.