Opinions on this as a Coop

[Starshollow]

Hey all,
So chicken math has taken over and we had the idea to turn the part of our barn that is a drive shed into a coop.

Plan is to cover all the spaces between the wood from the second beam down and hardware cloth the top.

There are 3 doors to the front of the house that 2 of them will be secured and covered.

On the other side one of the doors will be to let them out to a secure pen and the other is very junky. I was thinking cover with hardware cloth but that could be too drafty for winter. (Its our second winter in eastern ontario and lastly early was terrible for snow. )

The ground is gravel. I would put hay in for the winter( I do have one chick that will not manage in hay so trying to think of alternatives).

Collapsible roost bars for cleaning. With some sort if poop catch system. The roost bars will come down from the 2nd beam

It is 39x28. So 138 chickens with 8 sq ft each is the plan. (Only 60 or so going in this winter.)

The run won't he huge. When the 10 layers/1roo were free ranging we lost 3 in 5 weeks to what we think is a fox. The grass is too much for me to keep up with this year so they are in an unelectrified fenced area now. Ideally we get goats in the summer to cut back the grass and weeds. And maybe the sneaky fox won't get so close.

I would like ducks to go in here as well.

Food will go outside

Water will be in buckets with nipples on the centre beams.


So what I need is those with experience what am I not thinking of....


Thank you!!

 

[gtaus]

I think converting an existing building into a chicken coop might be a great idea. After 4+ years of having chickens, I think anything that saves money is a step in the right direction. So, I hope it works out for you.

Here are some things I quoted for comment. Hope something helps....

I was thinking cover with hardware cloth but that could be too drafty for winter. (Its our second winter in eastern ontario and lastly early was terrible for snow. )

You could probably staple clear heavy plastic over the hardware cloth for the winter months to cut down on drafts.

The ground is gravel. I would put hay in for the winter( I do have one chick that will not manage in hay so trying to think of alternatives).

I used free wood chips for a few years, but the last 2 years I used paper shreds for deep bedding in my coop. But my coop is only 7X13 feet, so I can easily shred enough paper for my needs. I prefer using the paper shreds in my setup, but I was able to get free wood chips at our local county landfill and that worked great too.

Collapsible roost bars for cleaning. With some sort if poop catch system.

If you go with a deep bedding or deep litter system, you probably will be fine without any poop boards. During the winter, I just toss some fresh paper shreds under the roosts every couple of weeks and that keeps everything clean for the duration of the winter. Of course, I only have 10 chickens. If you are planning on 60+ chickens, I think the method would work but on a much larger scale. I don't think I would want to be cleaning poop boards in the winter when everything freezes hard as concrete.

Having roost bars that can be moved helps with cleaning. So, I that is a good idea.

The run won't he huge. When the 10 layers/1roo were free ranging we lost 3 in 5 weeks to what we think is a fox.

I have my chickens fenced in a run with bird netting on top. That prevents any hawks or eagles from attacking my chickens, but also keeps the chickens in the run so that they don't get eaten by predators outside the fencing. Amazon sells bird netting of many sizes.
Although I don't let my chickens free range, I bring the range to them in terms of grass clippings and raked leaves which all get tossed into my run. I converted my entire chicken run into a chicken run composting system and just about everything organic on the homestead gets tossed into the chicken run. The compost litter is full of life with tasty bugs and juicy worms for the chickens to eat. They spend all day scratching and pecking in the compost litter, turning it over and over, and breaking it down into useable compost in a manner of only months. The chicken run compost feeds my gardens, and the garden food feeds the family. It's a very nice system.

Food will go outside

Water will be in buckets with nipples on the centre beams.

I live in northern Minnesota. Our winters can be long and cold. I have both my feed and water inside the coop. I have a 5-gallon PVC feeder hanging off the floor. I have an old fashioned 3-gallon metal water fount sitting on top of a metal base heater all winter long. Inside the coop, my waterer still has fresh water down to -40F. The base heaters only advertise ice free water down to about 15F, but I think because the waterer and the base heater are inside the coop, not exposed to any wind or cold breeze, that the water stays unfrozen even down to -40F.

Since you live in a snow area, I would highly recommend getting some kind of heaters for your water. I think nothing is more important than fresh water for the health of your chickens. If the water freezes, the chickens will not be able to digest their food and get stuffed up. That leads to them eating less and becoming even more vulnerable to the cold. My metal water fount and base heaters have worked great for me for 4+ years.

I suspect water buckets with nipples will freeze in the cold, but I have never used that kind of setup. What I do know is that most people where I live buy the metal water founts and metal base heaters. They are a little more expensive up front, but they last a long time. Also, the design is stupid simple and just has a proven track record for reliability. Also, the heaters have an automatic on/off feature so you don't waste electricity if the temperature is high enough.

Good luck on your conversion build.

 

[Penpal]

I would have straw on the floor, summer and winter. Easy to rake out and put in the compost