Shed conversion help needed

[mgharris30]

The shed is 55 square feet. Idk how tall. Hubby is 6’2 and can reach the ceiling if he stretches. Run will be almost 20x20. Hog wire for all of it, added hardware wire for the bottom 3 ft and 1ft of skirt.
The shed is attached to another building on the south side. Human door to coop faces west. We are going to add a pop door (is that is the right name?) for chicken access from the coop to the run on the north side. The run will have a gate for humans. We are going to make a couple of ladders for roosts using limbs that have fallen in recent storms (there have been many)
Currently, we have 11 chicks- 10 pullets (gosh we hope) and 1 boy.

These are pics of the work so far. I’m looking for the cheapest possible ways to make sure our flock stays safe. Please be kind. This is our first adventure into fowl of any kind.
(oh. We have a prefab coop that we are going to use for quarantine. We do not plan on hatching our own. These are pets with the benefit of eggs.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Hey there! Nice what you have to work with!

That should be a good size for now until chicken math kicks in .

For 10-11 chickens: (Are you keeping the cockerel?)

I would add a lot of ventilation.

Depending where you are located, I would say about 10 square feet of ventilation should be used.

You can just cut some windows and cover with hardware cloth if you want (it may be hard to cut through metal but I'm sure it can be done) or do a strip on the top edge. The higher the better. @3KillerBs also likes monitor roofs, which she could probably explain better.

I would add two roosting bars so they have some choice, (though its not necessary if they have the right length)

You would want at least 10 feet of roost, preferably more so when they are flying down they don't hit each other.

Nesting boxes. I would add 3, that should be sufficient for that amount. Just a 1 by 1 box thats shady and has plenty of privacy.

And then of course the pop-door, which you mentioned for the chickens.

The big opening you might want to close off so they have protection from wind and predators, or you could opt for an open air coop style. You could also change that opening into a door for yourself. (you want human access to the coop so you can clean it much easier, or check in on one of the birds if it didnt come out, and to collect eggs if you don't have nesting boxes on the outside)

Trying to think of what else.

I'm sure others have better, more helpful input, but this is what I would do.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC and the adventure of chickens!

Here's some basic information to help you plan:

The Usual Guidelines,

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop,
• 10 square feet in the run,
• 1 linear foot of roost,
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

In re: that last, since you're in Texas you'll probably want well over the minimums for ventilation. As a general rule, if it's hotter inside than out on a warm, sunny day you need more ventilation.

You didn't say if you were going to cover the opening with anything other than wire. I would suggest not and also that you open up a good-sized vent at peak of the opposite wall to allow some cross-flow.

Here are some useful articles to help you out: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coop-stack-up-how-high-stuff-works-well.73427/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-much-room-do-chickens-need.66180/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-extreme-weather-spiel.75893/

 

[mgharris30]

Welcome to BYC and the adventure of chickens!

Here's some basic information to help you plan:

The Usual Guidelines,

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop,
• 10 square feet in the run,
• 1 linear foot of roost,
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

In re: that last, since you're in Texas you'll probably want well over the minimums for ventilation. As a general rule, if it's hotter inside than out on a warm, sunny day you need more ventilation.

You didn't say if you were going to cover the opening with anything other than wire. I would suggest not and also that you open up a good-sized vent at peak of the opposite wall to allow some cross-flow.

Here are some useful articles to help you out: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coop-stack-up-how-high-stuff-works-well.73427/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-much-room-do-chickens-need.66180/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-extreme-weather-spiel.75893/

That’s the door we made today. We want to leave it wire and add upper windowon two walls (the back and the north side)
It’s going to rain for the next 4 days. We are waiting to see how wet the inside of the coop gets with the wire door.
How high should the roosts be??

 

[3KillerBs]

That’s the door we made today. We want to leave it wire and add upper windowon two walls (the back and the north side)
It’s going to rain for the next 4 days. We are waiting to see how wet the inside of the coop gets with the wire door.
How high should the roosts be??

The one article I linked has some suggestions about that.

The roosts should be higher than the nestboxes but not higher than is convenient for you.

I'm going to put the roosts in my new coop at about my shoulder level since I put the nests at my elbow level. I'll have plenty of distance in that coop for them to fly up and down, but I'll also either use a ladder style roost or make ramps since I've got a Brahma who doesn't fly very well.