Turning a single car garage into a chicken coop Suggestions? PIC HEAVY

[Sassah001]

I bought a house and turned a little shed into the coop because the building I wanted to use is still full of wood(luckily mostly building supplies). It just happens to be an old single car garage in the back yard of my property that my husband is so happily tolerating me turning into a chicken coop in exchange for me finishing and selling the smaller coop I already made. I need some suggestions on what needs to be done to this building in order to make it a superb coop! It will be a couple year long project so I am looking for lots of things to add in because money won't be much of an object

. Thanks!



Here is their current home in the middle of a paintjob(livestock safe paint of course ).

This is what I want to ultimately be their home

 

[ibradly]

That looks like it will make a great coop. If it were mine, I would build the run off the side with the garage door. That would leave you with a nice fresh-air hen house . If the night time temps drop too low you can always close the garage door at night. The roof seems to be in good shape from what I can see in your pics. I'd also put a "people" door on the opposite side of the garage door and have nest boxes on one side and the perches on the other. Hang food and water in the middle and you're good to go. Nice!

 

[Sassah001]

Never thought of leaving it open, there currently isn't a garage door but it wouldn't take much to add one... maybe with a doggie door lol. Any other ideas?

 

[Mahonri]

Just be grateful that you have all of that space.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Maybe put some wire down on the inside of the at the floor to keep out critters. Sure up any gaps in the walls. Close up the eaves with wire. will leave you some good ventilation but coons and possums could shimmy up those outside walls and in. A bit of paint. Wire on the window. close in the front except for a people door and nestboxes along that wall (that way you wouldn't have to mess with the integrity of the rest of the structure by cutting holes in the wall if you want to access from the outside. Pop/dog door in the opposite wall into a new run.

Could do pop/dog door on 3 sides so that you could rotate the run.

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
Looks like an ideal future coop and site.

I agree with everything that CoyoteMagic said. Re: the pop doors mentioned at the bottom of the post. I'd set the fence over enough where I had to in order to be sure that I could open/close the pop doors without having to walk into the run with my shoes twice a day.

BTW, you might want to insulate the walls and put up new interior walls over it.

 

[Sassah001]

Hmmm, these are excellent ideas! I really like the idea or putting the nesting boxes on the open wall so that I can collect from outside. I'm not sure if I want to rotate the run because I have fruit trees on one side and my garden on another, I think I am going to take the run and put it on the backside(the side with the barrels) so that it is hidden from the street. I have lots of room(10 acres) but too many predators to free range. I was also considering making a "person room" at the entrance where I could keep food and such as well as building feeders right into the wall between the person room and the coop so that I could fill them from the outside. What do you think?

 

[kathyinmo]

I noticed where you said you want to put the run, where the barrels are .... is where the roof run off would be. I think it would get pretty muddy there, unless you have another way to prevent the rain run-off.

Love the big (soon to be) coop!

 

[Sassah001]

well, I was planning on covering the run so i guess it would run off the end of the run but it does cause the issue of it coming back into the run from there, I guess I better think about a gutter system. Thanks for noticing that!