post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Sylvester017]

Just a quick question. Can I make a coop out of a 8 times 12 wooden storage shed? I am looking to make one and wanted to know if I can save a little money buying a shed insted of alot of materials to make it.

Thank you,
Bridie

There are several people on this thread that have converted storage sheds into coops. If you have time to go back over previous posts there are many conversion photos. What you need to be aware of is that the OSB particle board shed interiors used in some sheds will need to be completely sealed/painted. Some BYCers bought the all Rubbermaid sheds to eliminate having to deal with crumbly OSB particle board walls. Your choice of shed - as long as you're aware of the modifications needed to use them as coops (i.e. - ventilation, a chicken pop-door, windows, secure locks, secure foundation, sealer/paint on OSB, etc).

 

[Sylvester017]

It gets dark early this time of year up north, so this will be less of a hassle if it's still winter where you live ...

You have at least these three choices.

1) Go out after bedtime each night and carry the chickens to bed. Just pick them out of the nests and put them on their roosts. Lullabies optional. After a few days of doing this, most of the chickens will just go to bed on the roosts. Or you'll end up with super spoiled pet chickens. (less effective method, but fun).

2) If your nesting boxes have exterior access lid like the very nice box shown above, then go out shortly before bed and open the boxes. I guarantee the chickens will not go to bed in an open box. After everyone is up on the roosts and purring, close the boxes. I do this while my dog and I play sunset frisbee. This is a very effective method.
I chuckled on this solution, no offense! Keeping the nestbox access door open to discourage sleeping hens never worked for us! During the summer heatwaves we kept the box door open for ventilation and the sleepy hens didn't mind the open door one bit - haha! They walked into the open boxes to bed down without a problem.

3) Close the chicken-entry side of the nest boxes in the afternoon, then go out after dark and open the boxes so the chickens on early shift can go to work and you can sleep in. This is best if you happen to think of it before you build your nest boxes. Our chickens tend to lay late in the day so this doesn't work so well for us.

In our particular case where we had less than 5 hens there's no problem for us letting them sleep in the nestboxes. We just clean out the straw every morning. But hens sleeping in nestboxes could be a problem for folks with very big flocks.

 

[Madddawg]

It's nice to use the siding over the OSB/particle board but as one BYCer said OSB is basically cardboard and will need sealer/paint before putting up siding over it.

It should be fine because once the siding is over it is weather proof but I may do one better, left this part out, Covering the OSB with Tyvek (tm) paper. Interior, not yet decided. Money is a big issue. trying to keep thing as cheep as possible. ( I have most of the siding, I can pickup the rest off of job sites)

 

[Watermelon123]

Thank you Sylvester!

 

[Sylvester017]

It should be fine because once the siding is over it is weather proof but I may do one better, left this part out, Covering the OSB with Tyvek (tm) paper. Interior, not yet decided. Money is a big issue. trying to keep thing as cheep as possible. ( I have most of the siding, I can pickup the rest off of job sites)

It's good to plan to cover the OSB but it WILL crumble/buckle and all the tm paper or siding in the world won't save your initial investment in this project. A can of sealer/paint is better than losing the whole project in future. Believe me we all on this thread know about trying to be economical but it's impossible with chickens. That's why it's called a "hobby" and not a "profit" venture. My Silkie went to the vet 4x in one year and not factoring in housing, feed, and maintenance products -- just in vet bills alone her little Cadbury-sized eggs cost us about $5 EACH this past year!

 

[gilcamp4]

In our particular case where we had less than 5 hens there's no problem for us letting them sleep in the nestboxes. We just clean out the straw every morning. But hens sleeping in nestboxes could be a problem for folks with very big flocks.

yes we have 43 hens and 1 roos till sat then we get my delaware blues which i have been looking for since i have had chickens, i found them but not where i would think it be safe, they are with a nice clean farmer who raise them. but only 30 are in this coop the other coop has 13 and this is were my new once will go, the coop with 30 will not get any more,

 

[remadl76239]

I made this from scratch and the angle for the nest box was a major PITA! but I may have had something to do with that. My daughter finally got the bright idea of testing with a real egg to see how it works .......wow what a concept, testing! she is 5 and was helping me in every way she could. I say this because she actually was a huge help to me and really did come up with the testing and tested all my mock ups to find the perfect angle for the eggs to roll out!
This is came out better than expected and can be pulled easily by me but is designed to be towed by the 4 wheeler or mowing tractor.

 

[FargreenHens]

Exterior with Snow (melts with in hours when the sun pops out)

Interior view with the watering system.

[/IMG]

Fargreenhens.com

 

[Madddawg]

It's good to plan to cover the OSB but it WILL crumble/buckle and all the tm paper or siding in the world won't save your initial investment in this project. A can of sealer/paint is better than losing the whole project in future. Believe me we all on this thread know about trying to be economical but it's impossible with chickens. That's why it's called a "hobby" and not a "profit" venture. My Silkie went to the vet 4x in one year and not factoring in housing, feed, and maintenance products -- just in vet bills alone her little Cadbury-sized eggs cost us about $5 EACH this past year!

I am sorry but I am going to disagree with you on this. When they build houses they don't put sealer or paint on the house before siding. they just wrap it Tyvek (One of the most popular around here) or another brand similar. It is a air/moister barrier. When I work I am around new house construction. So I have a pretty good idea of whats going on.

 

[vehve]

Quote: Ever see a unprotected OSB surface on an outside wall or on the inside of a shower? Because that's pretty similar to what it needs to stand up to in a chicken coop. In a house, as you say, they put up Tyvek and siding, which protects the OSB.