Shed to Coop - any suggestions?

[hebertchick12]

We emptied this 10x12 shed to make into a coop. They have about 450 sq. ft. run attached. Everything you see, we did in one day. We still have lots we want to do in the coop, but we wanted to let them at least sleep in it last night. They basically just had a run-in shelter before.

I wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions for "must-have" ideas in a coop... see if there is anything we aren't thinking of. We want to do it right this time, so it lasts... through my husband's obsession with buying chickens. Lol

We plan to put roosts along the entire top shelves. There are 2 nesting boxes on the middle shelf on the left, and we plan to put at least two more on the right. We put a few bags of sand on the floor, just to get them through for a while. I want to cover the bottom with sand, but do I also put sand on the shelves? Kind of difficult to think straight with my one year old running around, but I just wanted to show our progress and see if anyone has any suggestions on things we should do, or things you wish you would have done on your coop.

 

[Judy]

That looks like it will be confortable for everyone and work out great! You might decide to hang the food and water, or set the water on a concrete block, to minimize litter kicked into them. My setup is somewhat similar to yours (with a lot more holes in the walls and soffits) and that's what I do. I keep a couple of large metal garbage cans in there, which is where feed, oyster shell, etc. are stored. Very convenient, and chicken and rat proof. Oh, I also keep a lawn chair in there

One thing we did because we had the space is create a sort of room in one corner which can be used for a broody while setting on egg, an injured chicken, new chicks from the feed store, etc. And the one thing we never did but I would like is add a small cabinet, up high, screwed to the wall, for small supplies such as BluKote, a pair of scissors, a Sharpie, etc.

Probably the trickiest thing to deal with when you do something like this is ventilation That little vent up near the roof point is nowhere near enough. If you are going to leave the chicken wire :door: oen at all times, it will help a lot, though somemeans for cross breeze, especially in the summer amd most especially since it's not shaded, will also probably be needed. Can you add your location to your postbit? Just go in your profile to do this.

I'll add a link below to an excellent article about ventilation, written by a Canadian. If you are way down South as I am, the best coops are essentially 3 sided because they give maximum breeze in hot weather. I
ll also give you a link to a thread about coops in the South. IMO, these "southern" coops are ideal anywhere the summers are hot, a lot farther north than I am. One thing, it will help a lot to clear the ammonia and humidity if you are only going to have a dozen or so chickens in there -- and they will love the space, any time of year!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/163417/please-show-me-your-hot-weather-coops/0_20

 

[hebertchick12]

Thanks for your reply! We are way down south... Louisiana... about an hour south of New Orleans. We left original shed door intact for the winter or for a bad rainstorm, but we plan on keeping it open majority of the time because it stays hot here. There is a vent on the back of the coop, and the same kind on the front above the door. We have been debating adding two windows on the back. My daughter and I stayed in there a while earlier, and it actually felt nice and breezy. I love your idea about a separate area in one corner! We have some smaller chicks in a separate pen outside, but I would love to have them in so they can get used to the coop as well as the other chickens.

 

[Folly's place]

Nice coop! The one huge problem is the chicken wire; any predator will go through it!!! Must use hardware cloth, well attached, maybe reinforced with woven wire horse fencing. Also, more and larger windows/vents, covered in hardware cloth. Do you have a concrete floor and foundation? If not, buried hardware cloth or a concrete foundation to deter predators digging into the coop. What kind of door latch/ Racoons can open simple latches too. Mary

 

[ailurophile23]

Love the coop! And I love the sand. I had a large coop built into a stall in a barn and used sand for the floor - it was so wonderful. For the shelves under the roost, I would go with sand or, even better, SweetPDZ - it is a sand-like drying agent used in horse stalls and it dries out the chicken poop very quickly and makes for easy clean up (just scoop like you would cat litter) so there is very little wasted litter. You can put a short board on the front of the shelves to keep the sand or SweetPDZ in.

I like the idea of adding more ventilation - the front door open is a good start but windows at the back would help a lot too.

As for the chicken wire versus hardware cloth, hardware cloth is preferable but it looks like your coop is in a fenced yard. If it is, that may help minimize predator access. Hardware cloth, while better, is also expensive. If you decide to add some, even adding it at the bottom two feet of the door or around the run would help. I use it as it gives me peace of mind but I am out in the country and there are numerous predators and no fenced yard.

 

[hebertchick12]

Here are some updated pics:





My husband installed the roosts, and we made a screen closure for their small door. We can lock them in, but still have ventilation. I removed all the hay (except the nesting boxes) and added a mixture of sand, Sweet PDZ, and DE to the shelves and floor. I will be adding more over the next few months... did this last minute yesterday because I was tired of the smelly hay everywhere!

Today I will work on adding a lip to the shelves to keep the mixture in, and I will cut some windows on the back of the coop. I would also like to add four more nesting boxes (to have 3 on each side).

It is HOT here. Been in the upper 90's with heat indexes near 105 degrees. Luckily we have a cool front moving through so it will be in the 80's the rest of the week. I can already tell the sand is a much better choice, especially in the heat. The coop feels so much cooler without the hay.