Shed conversion part 1

[moniquem]

Thanks for all your suggestions/help. After much thought and consideration we have decided to tear down the old shed and build a coop/run ourselves. The cons of the shed were:

1. Apparently in Spokane a coop has to be at least 5 feet away from neighboring property lines, shed is right next to my backyard neighbor who most likely would call the chicken police on me . 2. Rotten wood and leaking roof. 3. The estimate we received to fixer up was way out of our budget. 4. I personally have always hated that shed and will not be sad to see it go bye-bye .

So this is what I'm onto now:
http://myoutdoorplans.com/animals/easy-chicken-coop-plans/
This little coop with a run is totally doable for us to make ourselves, which i kind of wanted to do! My plan is to raise the bottom legs so chickens can use that space as part of the run and make the walls higher. Question though....it doesn't seem to have much ventilation at the top???

 

[Sunshine Flock]

That's something I don't see mentioned on here often. When you're within city limits the codes are stricter. We're outside the city, but we still have a distance requirement for the coop from the road, property lines and also from our house.

And any structure over 120 square feet must be permitted.

Your shed looks quite old. Do you know what kind of wood was used to build it? Save some for rustic, wood burned signs for your new chicken coop!

ETA: Regarding ventilation, I don't see any in those plans. I would modify the roof construction so that you can add ventilation all the way around the eaves.

 

[moniquem]

ETA: Regarding ventilation, I don't see any in those plans. I would modify the roof construction so that you can add ventilation all the way around the eaves.

Thats a good idea! I was also planning to put in some vents on front and back top of coop, theres a little round circle cut out on the plans....

I'm also only allowed 1 domestic pet per 1000 sqf of lot. My lot if 6000 sqf and I already have 2 kitties so 4 hens it is. I think the coop with run will be plenty of space.

 

[blackdog043]

I was also planning to put in some vents on front and back top of coop, theres a little round circle cut out on the plans

Putting vents along the top front and back will be good. I would make them as long as you can and make them 8 - 10 high. A top hinged door style vent would be good. It will keep rain out and if needed you could close them. I would also make gable vents on both ends. How are you going to clean this out? I would make a big door on the back side.

 

[moniquem]

Yes to the gable vents on both sides. I would probably put up some screen venting under the eaves on both long sides of the coop, at top?

I like the back door idea, that could be where the roosts are as well, would make cleaning easy. I also could put the nesting boxes where the screened windows are on the side, or instead of the screened windows.

Lots to think about....

 

[Hamiam]

We recently finished our winter coop. These pics show how we added ventilation.

 

[aart]

Good decision.

That plan looks OK, I like that it has at least some roof overhang.
But they don't show roost(s).
Nest attachment is a bit weird.
Putting nests where windows are is a good idea,
you only need 1, maybe 2 nests, for 4 birds.
Then back opening could be for clean out,
might need a bit more framing around a door.
Eave venting would be good, hinge top 4-5" of walls as closable vent....
...or change rafter config to have real soffits.

 

[moniquem]

If I raise all the walls it would give me height to just add some roosts, could totally do that along that back wall. I could also put in some kind of poop tray. Once the door is in it would make for super ease of cleaning.

I found one of these when I cleaned out the old shed, was still in the box! Maybe I could somehow add this to the roof, would be super cute!

 

[blackdog043]

I would probably put up some screen venting under the eaves on both long sides of the coop, at top?

If I raise all the walls it would give me height to just add some roosts, could totally do that along that back wall. I could also put in some kind of poop tray.

Yes to both of these.

 

[aart]

If I raise all the walls it would give me height to just add some roosts, could totally do that along that back wall. I could also put in some kind of poop tray. Once the door is in it would make for super ease of cleaning.

I found one of these when I cleaned out the old shed, was still in the box! Maybe I could somehow add this to the roof, would be super cute!
View attachment 1211356

I would make the entire back, maybe including gable, a double door for cleaning poop board across back. You could hang/place feed and water under poop board. Poop boards need to be 2' deep with roost centered. Sketch this stuff out on graph paper, both plan view and elevations(side views), think about heights.

How big(diameters and height) is that whirly vent?
Might look like a basketball on top of a milk crate....
...or something equally out of proportion.
I assume those things shed all rain water, that could be a problem.