Old log shed as coop?

[broadlad]

that place sounds great! Some people may not agree but Chickens are alot hardier than you might think. You might want a chicken breed with small combs i have read somewhere in an old book about hanging cloth feed sacks down from the ceiling to help keep it warm. Here in Al. it has been very cold this year and my flock has done great even better than I hoped you should be fine.

 

[Organics North]

Hi,
Traditional log builder here.. NICE structure. Looks like hand hewn dovetail work.. 1800's time frame. Also looks like the two logs under the window were replaced at one point. (that is not a bad thing.)
Roof structure looks as if it has been replaced several times..

You have an authentic structure! Looks like some chinking may need replacing. Be sure to research how chinking was done 100+ years ago, and do not use modern techniques, you may rot the logs. Try to be respectful to the old structure, it will stand many more lifetimes with little maintenance! (Unlike modern structures)

Looks like a great coop!

How about a sod roof. That would look cool, and give you some insulation.

ON

 

[Gray Ghost]

Organics North, thanks for the information on the log building. Yes it's quite old but I don't know how old as I just purchased the property 3 1/2 years ago. You are right, it is hand hewn and dovetailed. The logs are extremely weathered (hard to see how much, from the picture) and I have had some expert opinions that the building is past the point of being worthwhile to renovate. I have been told it was used as a piggery in the past. As you can see the chinking is almost all gone and I will have to re-chink for chicken security as well as for insulation and aesthetics. Plan to use a mortar mixture for chinking and not the modern rubberized kinds. What you can't see from the pictures is that two bottom logs on the other side are almost completely rotted through and are going to need to be replaced sometime soon. Probably not in 2010. Thus the interim use as chicken coop is the highest and best use for the building. Anyway if you know any good sites for me to go to get info on chinking and replacing dovetailed logs, I would be grateful. Gray Ghost, Bailey's Harbor, WI

 

[Keene's coop]

my grandparents live up near hayward,wisconsin and they keep their chickens in an old semi drafty barn (which is starting to fall apart). no insulation except the floor that is news paper and poop. their roosts are not all in the same place. they are differ locations, but the nest boxes are all together. they use one heat lamp in the middle of the room and they only turn it on if the temp is going to be below 20 degrees. and it seems to do just fine. as the bedding, they just rip up their news paper that they have saved up. in the spring, they shovel it all out, scrub everything down and replace the newspaper only once a year. with the news paper, they will add it a few times through out the year so when winter does come, it acts as insulation. it does smell, but it's no big deal, not overwhelming at all. it doesn't even bother my kids who are NOT used to it at all.

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

I want one. I also want it to resemble a Jan Brett kid's storybook log/thatch house, like this one to color:

http://janbrett.com/mural_the_mitten/babas_house.htm

Ever read http://www.amazon.com/Whos-That-Knocking-Christmas-Eve/dp/0399238735#reader_0399238735 ? Scroll through the images from inside this book, this is my "dream coop".

I envy you. Wish I had a log house for a coop.

Good Luck! It looks beautiful!

 

[Organics North]

Quote:
From the picture it looks like it is cedar, most likely from the cedar swamp I think I see in the photo. Definitely use local Northern White Cedar as replacement logs if the structure is cedar which it look like.

What we do know days is run the log through a portable sawmill to make the flats and partial cuts on the dovetails. We cut the dove tails then hew the surface. (Built a high end 20x20 garden shed Dovetailed and hewn on the inside with a sod roof two summers ago.) No chinking though all scribe fit logs. $$$$

So I would not be to quick to agree your structure is too far gone for restoration. To build a new one of the same quality would be $$$.. Lots of hours go into dovetails and hewing. The above one took at least 500+hours to build.

I will look to see what I can find for web sites on chinking and log replacement. Might not be much as that style is a bit of a lost art. (Broad axe's draw knifes and so forth type work.)

ON
(Yep your picture sure looks like Door County!)
We are up in Minocqua area.

 

[Kansaseq]

If it were me , that cabin would be fixed up as a retreat for myself, not the chooks! Lucky birds!!!

 

[kezabel]

Woow!! I really love that log shed, and i agree Kansaseq, They will be lucky chooks. I could live in that lol

 

[Gray Ghost]

Organics North,

Here is a picture showing the other side and rear of the building.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37474630@N04/4366384115/

As you can see the two lower left logs are rotted out almost completely. Those are the ones I am going to replace but I doubt the replacement will be necessary for use as a coop. I think you are right that the lumber is white cedar. That's mostly what we have around here in Door County these days. I have lots of mature white cedar on my property or on my mom's property which I could use to make a couple of replacement logs. As you can see the rotted ones are only maybe 8' or 10' so I'm hoping they won't be too hard to handle when replacement time comes. I'm grateful for any information or links you are able to pass along. That's a beautiful building that you posted.

GG

 

[rancher hicks]

You'll definitly want to chink the sides real well and eliminate any drafts. As big as it is you could stack bales of straw aroung the walls for insulation. And you might want to shore it up from inside with some simple framing. Critter proof it and your good to go. There are many winter hardy breeds. I'm sure your the envy of alot of people on this post.