Old Barn into Coop?

[CindyinSD]

Your illustration looks great! Your new chickens to be are gonna be lucky birds.

How long the chicks stay in the brooder is a movable target. It depends on how fast your breeds grow and how big a brooder you can supply them. Also, if they’re in your living space, on how long you can take it. DH had a bone marrow transplant so we’ve never brooded in the house. My first group of babies went to what ended up being the growout coop when we’d had them 4 days. They were fine, but I wasn’t so much. I checked on them several times for the first couple of nights. Despite having Christmas lights to see by and me shoving them into the “cave,” they chose to sleep around, not under it. And it was chilly, around 32* Fahrenheit, at night.

 

[bruceha2000]

Ignore the roof of the other design... this roof instead?

Yes, the bird netting will not hold up to snow and the birds wouldn't have much covered space in the first design. I think I would extend the run the width of the shed and have a people door to it on the side as you showed. I would also have a people door into the coop inside the shed so in inclement weather you don't have to go in through the run. If done this way you can open the existing door to let air into the coop without exposing the birds to possible predators.

Where are you saying to put the hardware cloth so the chicks can't escape through it? Around the blue wire fence?

Yes, but put it on first then the 2x4 wire after. You don't want the chicks to have even the slightest chance of getting stuck between the two types of fencing. And with regard to the "skirt", it can be fully buried or partially buried or not buried at all. It just needs to be tight against the frame all around so there are no "Achilles heel" areas. That means you need some fence on the ground at the corners since fencing coming down the wall and across the ground will not extend around the corner. You have triangles in your drawing so I think you've already figured that out. I would just use a rectangular piece tangent to the corner put down before the wire coming down from the wall.

 

[ChemicalchiCkns]

A vacuum breaker is a little devize to put on your Faucetts and hose Bibs to prevent dirty water being unknowingly suckt back into the line, to come out later to every one's disgust. Examples: https://www.mcmaster.com/hose-bibb-vacuum-breakers (no indorsement no affiliation)

 

[CindyinSD]

A vacuum breaker is a little devize to put on your Faucetts and hose Bibs to prevent dirty water being unknowingly suckt back into the line, to come out later to every one's disgust. Examples: https://www.mcmaster.com/hose-bibb-vacuum-breakers (no indorsement no affiliation)

Doesn’t it also protect the faucet from freezing up if you forget to remove the hose?

 

[ChemicalchiCkns]

That I am aware of, no. There are frost free hydrants that dreign when closed.

 

[bruceha2000]

I have a frost free spigot on the side of the house. It does close off the pipe well back in the crawlspace so the pipe and spigot don't freeze and break but it can't be used in the winter because there is still enough moisture in the mechanism to keep it from being opened once the temps get enough down past freezing.

There are frost free hydrants that shut off well below ground level that do drain the water in the pipe down to "waste" when the handle is closed.

 

[christatothemax]

Alright, I taught myself Sketchup since last we chatted and went about creating the design based off all your advice and the articles found here.

This is what the backyard currently looks like:

This is the plan for the coop (inside the barn) and run (outside the barn):

Here is a close-up without the roofs on:

Here is a close-up without the roofs, walls, or chicken wire on the run:

The run and coop are each 140 square feet, starting with 4-6 hens.

The run consists of 2x4 frames with 4x4 posts. Hardware cloth one foot out from the walls and underground, and three feet up the walls. Chicken wire is from top to bottom. has a wooden ladder, a swing made out of rope and a log, some wood slices stacked up, and for visual I put in some chickens and a haybale. The roof is slanted with an overhang to allow for rain/snow to come down safely.

The coop consists of barn walls and poles with hardware cloth. There is a poop board filled with sand or PZ, with a watering can under it. There are three nesting boxes 12x12x12 each. And a mirror. The floor of the coop will be pine shavings.

I am going to do a treadle for the food, and I am working on the water system.

Things I still haven't figured out:

• I don't know if I like the idea of PVC for the water system.
• I need to look at the wind/snow patterns this Winter and decide where I want the human-sized door for the run.
• Need to add a human-sized door for the coop, as well.
• Do I want to put a raised garden bed in the run, with chicken wire around it?
• How do I support the roof?
• How do I prevent the wood rotting around the run, that's touching the ground?

Let me know your thoughts of my plans so far and the things I haven't figured out!

 

[christatothemax]

Another view of the inside without roofs / walls:

 

[bruceha2000]

You are going to have some strong chickens! They may be the only ones in existence with their own weight room

Use pressure treated wood on the run, ground contact and the rest of the walls as well.
You'll likely need more studs in the run walls, especially the one that will be supporting the roof (the wall with the ladder). You'll need to figure out what size rafters you'll need and their spacing. With that shallow a pitch, you'll need a lot of support to keep the snow from taking it down. Metal roof I ASSUME.

 

[aart]

Excellent modeling and screen shots!
I'm an old 3D modeler(AC Inventor).

I didn't go over your post very carefully but....
Are those stairs existing?
You do realize that the other stuff in the barn(mowers, exercise eq) will get covered with dust?

I would not use PVC piping for water system, too hard to keep thawed.
This has worked for me:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-heated-waterer-with-horizontal-nipples.67256/