Shed Coop

[humblehens]

Hello there, I'm looking to build a chicken coop out of a shed to save money. How do I do this? What are the requirements? Are there any tutorials online? I have almost no skill in carpentry, so I'd prefer for it to not be really hard. I might be able to get some neighbors to help, though.

 

[chicklover 1998]

Welcome to BYC, if you can give us a picture of the shed and demotions that could help us give you suggestions, remember not all you have to do, but the more options to pick from the better you can make your coop, I don't know how many chickens you have/are getting but a good rule to go by is a min. of 4 square feet per bid in the coop, a great thing is a poop board you can scrape it off or use sand or PDZ but it will keep your floor a lot cleaner, use 2X4 for roosts that way they are wide enough so there aren't any frostbit toes this winter, for my set up I will have nests in two rows and they will be 1X1X1 and with two that puts your poop board at 2 feet your lowest roost at 3 feet and if you stagger 3 roosts you can get your highest roost to be about 5 foot.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Welcome.

A shed is a great idea for those challenged in the carpentry arena.
It's already done. Just add roost, nest boxes and big windows covered with hardware cloth for ventilation.

 

[humblehens]

Thanks, that's what I thought. I didn't know if there was anything specific that you would have to do for a shed. I'm actually moving soon, so I have yet to see what my options are. There's a good chance of using a shed, though, even if I have to buy one. I'll likely attempt to build a run as well. That or hire someone to. Thanks for your help!

 

[HennyPenny2]

I have a shed/coop combo myself. Is it a wood shed? If so I think it will be a lot easier to turn into a coop. There really isn't much you have to do. Ours has a plywood bottom. We used Rustoleum truck bed liner to protect the bottom but you could use cheap linoleum or nothing even. You can make roosts out of anything but I used cheap 2x4's (chickens are more comfortable too on wider roosts for their feet to rest on). There are many ways of making roosts that don't require any skill. I also put plywood on the inside walls but you don't have too. Nest boxes screw easily into the studs. Cut a hole for the chickens to get out. Add Windows for light and ventilation. That may be the hardest part if there are no windows but just look at others coops and you can get lots of ideas. Search shed coops on here you should come up with lots of pictures to look at and study. Good luck!

 

[humblehens]

Thank you! It sounds a lot less hard than I thought it was going to be. =)

 

[junebuggena]

Just a quick note, windows do not make for effective ventilation, especially if they must be closed due to weather. Venting the roofline is much more efficient, and will provide lots of ventilation year round.

 

[chicklover 1998]

Just a quick note, windows do not make for effective ventilation, especially if they must be closed due to weather. Venting the roofline is much more efficient, and will provide lots of ventilation year round.

X2 I knew I was missing something but couldn't remember, ventilation is very important.

 

[HennyPenny2]

Just a quick note, windows do not make for effective ventilation, especially if they must be closed due to weather. Venting the roofline is much more efficient, and will provide lots of ventilation year round.

This is true, I actually have vents on both ends of my shed near the roof for added ventilation and I do keep my windows (I have double hung vinyl Windows ) cracked or open all the way unless super cold and or blowing rain, and I made a "screen" door using 2x4's and 1/2" hardware cloth as the screen that I use most of the year that opens inside. I need a lot of ventilation as our summers are extremely hot and humid.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I turned horse stalls on my barn I had into a chicken coop, I built two separate roosting ladder type posts (very easy to build) and 16 nesting boxes, I started with 40 last year and plan to start another 25-30 hens this year. Each hen needs about 4 sq ft in the coop and usually 10 sq ft in the run, 1 nesting box per 4-5 hens, each hen needs about 8-10 inches of roost, other than that just plenty of feed and water and your all set. I would suggest going to rural King and buying the 8 gal double walled waterer and a hanging 30lb feeder or two depending on how many you have. You may think that's too big but it's nice to only fill feed and water once every 3-4 days while they still have fresh water and feed the whole time. In the winter I kept a 250w heat lamp pointed at my waterer and I never had a issue with freezing. Most importantly if you clean your coop bedding use a RESPERATOR, that poo dust is terrable to breath, it's up there with asbestos in my book. I already had plenty of Windows but if you don't have any the hens will need some light. They have mineral blocks that hens love at rural King and TSC, the purina block is much better but my hens eat the country time chick starter from rual King better. I'm just now gonna switch to layers feed, that I will buy from a mill for around $18 per 100lbs. I give my birds cracked corn and scratch grains as a treat on top of the mineral blocks. Dry meal worms is a great treat also, best price is rural King around here on that. My bedding is a mix of pine shavings, grass clippings/chopped up leaves from last fall and I sprinkled hay in there at some point also. I have never had a issue throwing grass clippings or chopped up leaves from the lawn mower as bedding. Most important thing is just to have fun and enjoy the eggs. My hens are EE's which do great, there laying well and Australorps which surprisingly arnt doing as well as the EE's. This year I will be starting 15 turkin hens and 10-15 ISA Browns. I will have either large brown or large blue eggs to sell. Well it's more of a hobby/ part time job lol. Next I will be applying for my state permit to sell eggs to a retailer which I hear is quite painless in Ohio. Good Luck!