Turning a Shed Into a Coop

[Hawkeye95]

Quote:
I bet you don't even really need actual windows! If your winters are mild, chickens can handle a lot colder than what you get. You could just cut the holes out and cover with the hardware cloth. You could cut some boards to lay over the wire ends if you really wanted to. But unless their roost is right next to it- they shouldn't get cut on it. If you did want to put in windows, check out your Habitat ReStore- I bought my windows for $5 a piece! You can find some great deals there. Good luck and I think it will work out fine for you.

 

[MamiPollo]

Sorry you couldn't find the link. It is on a big picture that says, "The Inspiration for my Chicken Shed" or something like that. You can find the article here: http://www.motherearthnews.com/modern-homesteading/backyard-chicken-coop-zm0z11zhun.aspx

Hope this helps!

 

[kfacres]

this is rediculous.. people saying you have to insulate, install windows, rebuild-- or whatever???

For nearly 15 years, our chickens lived in a wood sided barn, with cracks in the walls and holes all over patched over with twisted wire for windows. Plenty of ventilation through the cracks.. cracks just almost big enough for critters to get through... It was a cold devil in the wintertime... The whole thing leaned, and it was crazy... but to this day, it's still the best coop I've had...

Right now, we converted an old tin shed, about 8x 14 over to a chicken house. It's got the south side completely open, and encolsed completely on three sides. works good, not as good as the one i mentioned above, but good enough.

I have never insulated a chicken house, and don't think it needs it... Our weather is cold in the winter - 2 foot snow, negitive temps... and hot in the summer... july won't see a day less than 100 degrees...

 

[oldchickenlady]

Check out the pages on coops on this website, you can get all kinds of tips and ideas just looking at what other people have done. Good luck with your project and welcome!

 

[1hotmoma]

KFacres, thanks for making me feel better about my building for the winter for my chickens. I have been really stressed about will it be good enough, warm enough, etc. I tend to worry about newer things that I haven't done before. This is my first winter with them.

 

[jenlynn4]

I tried the metal shed coop and I HATED it. It was wet all the time because here where I live in pa we get warm days and cold nights which made for massive condensation. It worked in a pinch but it made much more work cleaning pens every week and sometimes twice a week. You have to constantly run fans for air curculation and even then it didnt help much. If you live in the NW wood is sooo much better. But that was just my personal experience and maybe you will have better luck.

 

[jenlynn4]

OHHH I just saw it said you live in the south so you shouldnt have the problems I did! OOPSEEE!

 

[mandelyn]

Chickens won't freeze, but they will overheat easy enough. We have one of the metal sheds too. We used a saws-all or whatever it's called to cut rough holes for windows (you need to let light in as well as air) and then used tin snips for small pieces. We used a drill to get a starter hole for the saw to go through. We then went over the walls with foam board, glued on. Then a cheap wood paneling to keep the birds from eating the foam board. Metal gets hot in the sun. We insulated against heat, not the cold. The roof too, more importantly. This avoided the condensation in the winter too, keeping it dryer, and better for the birds. Humid cold causes frost bite, not the cold itself. Arizona winter will be fine for them. You need to get some serious airflow going for them in the summer though, maybe some misters set up in the run.

We made 2 wooden window frames for each window, one side got hardware cloth. Drilled holes through and bolted the whole mess of it together. That gave a finished and safe edge since it covered the jagged metal. Also added predator security with the hardware cloth being stapled onto one frame and then sandwhiched between the other.

Next we rebuilt the doors, the slider doors it comes with would get bedding into the tracks and it was just a pain. We pulled them off, did a simple frame, and added two new doors. Much better! A window in the top half of each door, for some southern light on that side.

Same thing for the pop doors as the windows, rough cut and then trimmed out on both sides.

It was cheaper to alter it than to buy lumber for a whole new building the same size. The roost is 2x4's secured to the floor, with closet rod as the roost itself. I did it in an x shape in one corner. Plastic stackable totes are the nest boxes, screwed down for stability on the bottom one.

We then built a divider wall and added another pop door, so now we have the chickens on the left and the ducks on the right. You could also split it for a storage area as well. We kept the same two-door theme on the front, so that made it easy to separate it into two sections. It's plenty of room for our 6 hens and 6 ducks though.