To fix or start over.....that is the question?

[Crooked-Creek]

Hello, we converted 12x12 horse stalls into chicken coops. They were built with three walls and galvanized tin. Along the inside of the walls, we took a grubbing hoe and dug out a narrow trench about 4" wide and 12" deep along the base of the walls. In some areas we poured concrete, other areas we buried 2"x4" horse wire and other areas we buried rocks. Anything you can place in the ground to keep predators out will work. Along the open front we paced a 12' 2x6 along the floor and poured concrete about 4" thick and about 12" inches below the ground. From the new 2x6 with concrete, we built a new wall that included chicken wire and a walk through door.Since we converted the horse stalls more than three years ago, we haven't had any trouble with predators digging in. Good Luck!!!

 

[pysankigirl]

Also thinking of building a coop since the one we currently have is away from the house do you know where I can find a simple plan for a coop to hold at least 10 chickens

I love designing coops!!!! what kind of power tools do you have? how handy are you? do you want one that looks a certain way or has any non-standard features? do you want one with an attached run? walk-in or clean from the outside? I hardware cloth any opening biger than an inch and never have had any nighttime problems (daytime when they are free-ranging is another issue)

I suggest you check out the use of Sweet PDZ. It is a stall refresher that can be used like kitty litter for chickens and you can build trays beneath your roosts that will catch most of their...um...excrement. Makes it really easy to keep a relatively clean coop.

 

[Crooked-Creek]

Designing coops can be a lot of fun. We have most all the necessary power tools and presently we are working on a coop that looks like a little church with a 16'x24' run.