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DakotaAcres said:
Hello from South Dakota! My family moved to an old farm site last year. There is a large chicken coop that hasn't been used for years. I want to fix it and make it usable again! So looking for ideas on that. I have no experience with chickens. I want to start with egg layers.
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You have an excellent coop!

Look under the eaves and see if you can remove the soffits covering the spaces under the rafter tails, front and back. If you can get that open, that will help a lot with ventilation. You would then staple 1/2" hardware cloth to the areas to keep out predators and birds.
I would back every single window with 1/2" hardware cloth by bending it tightly to the inside framing and stapling it in place then covering over the edges with a piece of wood screwed down to the framing to sandwich the HC in place.

Do the windows open? If not, take what you have on the lower windows and frame each pane to top hinge and install some hooks and chains to suspend them open.

For the upper windows, I would build and install awnings over each one so they can be left open year round. Again, secure them from the inside with 1/2" HC.

Check the center support posts inside the building. You may need to jack them up a bit to relieve some of the sag I see in the middle of your roof lines. Go slow. You may need to dig a footer under the posts to support them as this may have been caused by frost heave.

I would just remove all the debris on the soil floor and skim off the surface then bed it down with pine shavings.

I am a huge proponent of poop boards so I would install them with the a roost running down the center. How many birds do you plan to keep?

With all that space, I would also build a brooder/maternity ward area and I would make wood framing under the poop boards that you can slide a wire dog crate(s) into to use as a broody breaker(s).

Oooo the fun I'd have fixing up that building!
 
DobieLover said:
You have an excellent coop!

Look under the eaves and see if you can remove the soffits covering the spaces under the rafter tails, front and back. If you can get that open, that will help a lot with ventilation. You would then staple 1/2" hardware cloth to the areas to keep out predators and birds.
I would back every single window with 1/2" hardware cloth by bending it tightly to the inside framing and stapling it in place then covering over the edges with a piece of wood screwed down to the framing to sandwich the HC in place.

Do the windows open? If not, take what you have on the lower windows and frame each pane to top hinge and install some hooks and chains to suspend them open.

For the upper windows, I would build and install awnings over each one so they can be left open year round. Again, secure them from the inside with 1/2" HC.

Check the center support posts inside the building. You may need to jack them up a bit to relieve some of the sag I see in the middle of your roof lines. Go slow. You may need to dig a footer under the posts to support them as this may have been caused by frost heave.

I would just remove all the debris on the soil floor and skim off the surface then bed it down with pine shavings.

I am a huge proponent of poop boards so I would install them with the a roost running down the center. How many birds do you plan to keep?

With all that space, I would also build a brooder/maternity ward area and I would make wood framing under the poop boards that you can slide a wire dog crate(s) into to use as a broody breaker(s).

Oooo the fun I'd have fixing up that building!
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Thank you for the ideas! That is what I was hoping to find here. The sagging roof and windows were my biggest concerns. The windows have all been broken.
 

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