Turning shed into coop

[Quack House]

Here's what I did today. Nothing much but I didn't spend a penny! I recycled some old shelves and used up some boards we had, as well a some broken shovel handle for roosts. Mind you the girls prefer the 2x4 roost. (go figure) Our coup (which is my Avatar) came with the property but I finally fixed the interior. It helps knowing the hens and what they like.

They had chosen to share a laying spot on the high shelf, but it was just a board with some hay on it for insulation. Today I made two, three-seater nest boxes, and I boxed in the top shelf, giving it a 5 inch lip, then filled it with hay.

I made to perpendicular roost spots, and a ramp to go out the back door. I also put a door on the chicken side. I don;t have a picture of it, but it was an old door (very vintage) and it had the hinges so I just stuck it on.

Now the hens don't have to share space with the messy ducks. They can be all neat and particular, and have their own separate access.

Inside the coup it is 12 x 12 and two thirds is for the chickens. It's divided by a partition with a human sized (storm) door, and wood frame with chicken wire.





I'll have to get a picture of the door ... its the same wood as the white trim on that Rooster frame.

I bathed my hen today to give her butt some TLC and took a selfie. This is Lindsay <3 We're trying to dry her bum feathers buy the fireplace.

 

[Lewjay]

One of the things I did for the chicken side of my shed was to floor it with old newspaper printing plates. These are thin aluminum roughly 3x3. I buy them 3 for $1. at the newspaper office and just nailed them down using roofing nails. Makes it really easy to clean up the wheat straw. I'm using baled wood chips in my chicken area now. Will probably get some more wheat straw this summer.

 

[Parkerscoop]

 

[Parkerscoop]

Love all the responses! Thanks all ! It's neat to see what others have done and use ideas from everyone !
My plan was to put some linoleum on the chicken side for easier cleanup.

 

[aart]

Nice plan! Lots of different ways to do things.

Lots of ventilation up high for sure, cover all openings with 1/2" hardware cloth for maximum predator exclusion.

Bottom of pop door as high as you want to pile bedding.(I like pine shavings and went 8 inches for bottom of pop door).

Nests at height easiest to collect eggs(waist high for me).

Roosts at least a foot above nests(I like roosts all at the same height, 2x4 wide side up).

Roost/poop board 8 inches below roost(board is 2 feet deep with 2x2 around edge and vinyl lined to hold a mix of sand and PDZ/zeolite to reduce odor and make poops easy to sift out for compost.

You can see my 'inside a shed' coop build on My Coop page.

 

[Quack House]

Nice plan! Lots of different ways to do things.

Lots of ventilation up high for sure, cover all openings with 1/2" hardware cloth for maximum predator exclusion.

Bottom of pop door as high as you want to pile bedding.(I like pine shavings and went 8 inches for bottom of pop door).

Nests at height easiest to collect eggs(waist high for me).

Roosts at least a foot above nests(I like roosts all at the same height, 2x4 wide side up).

Roost/poop board 8 inches below roost(board is 2 feet deep with 2x2 around edge and vinyl lined to hold a mix of sand and PDZ/zeolite to reduce odor and make poops easy to sift out for compost.

You can see my 'inside a shed' coop build on My Coop page.

My girls don't roost high ~ they like to lay high :/ They roost lower. Is that odd?

 

[Quack House]

If you put roost bars over each other at different heights won't they poop on each other ?

 

[aart]

My girls don't roost high ~ they like to lay high :/ They roost lower. Is that odd?

Yes, I think it is not the norm...but everyone does things differently.

 

[Chick Charm]

If you put roost bars over each other at different heights won't they poop on each other ?

Roosts need to be staggered and not directly one above the other or the chickens will poo on one another.

 

[Quack House]

Well, they were laying in the same high spot this morning, so I'm going to have to keep that. But I did notice that the rafters that I cleaned up (removed some planks of wood that were laying across) are in a perfect, even higher spot. Higher than that high nesting area, and in front. So maybe they will roost there. They were checking it out this morning.

I'm not really concerned too much about cleaning. After doing my horse barn daily, what the chickens produce even in a week is nothing.