Using a barn as a coop, questions

[affacat]

I had grand plans for building coop(s) this year to expand our flock (from 7-10 to 25-35) but lumber prices have really put a crunch on those.

My property has a 12×20 barn on it. It's old, but not 'antique'... more like a 20 year old tuff shed that has seen better days. We were originally going to demolish it because the previous owner had left seed and other food sources unprotected so the floor is covered (you have no idea how bad) in rat droppings. The roof is old, the siding should (but won't, not worth it) be replaced, the floor is warped, rat holes...

But! Necessity breeds invention, and I need a larger coop. So I've been working on cleaning it out (bleach, masks, googles... no Hanta virus for me!).

Some questions:

1) windows! Can i get away with just cutting out some siding and putting chicken wire over the hole to be 'windows'? Maybe put the wire on the inside and put the cutout on a hinge so I can 'close' it if we get extreme weather? (Pacific Northwest so weather is never too bad, though lots of rain).


2) I am thinking of rat proofing with a combo of wire mesh and the 'anti-rodent' Great Stuff (expanding foam, they make a special kind with bitter taste to deter rodents). It would only be in seams and holes and cracks... I don't think the chickens would bother with it, but does anyone know for sure?

3) the barn is currently divided into 3 rooms.... built in such a way they are hard to remove. If I put roosts in different rooms will the subflocks (roosters n ladies) self divide on their own? The main room is large, the two other rooms are medium (large walkin closet) and tiny (deep closet).


Anyone have other tips for conversion? I may invest in vinyl flooring because thats so much easier to clean and may seal in some of the old rat stink the bleach didnt kill off.

 

[3KillerBs]

It's great to have an option in this day of high lumber costs and materials shortages.

1) windows! Can i get away with just cutting out some siding and putting chicken wire over the hole to be 'windows'? Maybe put the wire on the inside and put the cutout on a hinge so I can 'close' it if we get extreme weather? (Pacific Northwest so weather is never too bad, though lots of rain).

Not chicken wire, hardware cloth. Chicken wire holds chickens in but won't keep anything else out.

Yes, you can use the cutouts as top-hinged covers. There's a clever option for propping them open in this article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/window-support-for-top-hinged-windows.74810/

2) I am thinking of rat proofing with a combo of wire mesh and the 'anti-rodent' Great Stuff (expanding foam, they make a special kind with bitter taste to deter rodents). It would only be in seams and holes and cracks... I don't think the chickens would bother with it, but does anyone know for sure?

Half-inch hardware cloth to the rescue again. Can you bury it 12" deep along the entire foundation to prevent more rodent intrusion? I'd normally recommend an apron instead of trenching, but you'll need to block all the existing tunnels.

Chickens are notorious for picking at foam and insulation so I'd be concerned about them picking at the Great Stuff. I'd say that anything you can cover with wire should be covered with wire. Or even metal -- roof flashing isn't too terribly hard to terribly hard to work with or too terribly expensive.

3) the barn is currently divided into 3 rooms.... built in such a way they are hard to remove. If I put roosts in different rooms will the subflocks (roosters n ladies) self divide on their own? The main room is large, the two other rooms are medium (large walkin closet) and tiny (deep closet).

My thought based on that description would be to use the big room as the main coop, to use the medium one as a brooder/isolation/integration/breeding pen, and the small one as your storage area (with everything in metal cans).

I can't say whether the flock would self-divide or not.

I think that your idea of using vinyl flooring is probably a good one. You might also consider old-fashioned whitewash, which is a disinfectant as well as a covering. Or, if the floor is tight enough, Blackjack 57. Most people use it as waterproofing, but I'd think it would be a great sealant for this purpose too.

Good luck.

 

[affacat]

So many options available with the space you have! You could use the back room as the nesting and roosting area, the small room for brooding, and then replace the top half of an exterior wall in the big room with hardware cloth for more ventilation. Of course you'd want ventilation and light in the other rooms also, but the roosting area would be protected from wind, and they would have a place to spread out in the big room on days you can't let them outside. Then, on the top of the wall that divides the back room and big room, you could add additional ventilation with cut outs.

Sorry, I'm rambling and day dreaming. I would love the space you have.

Oh, wow. I never thought of adding cutouts to the wall between the main area and back room! That's a perfect way to add ventilation without adding windows to the roost room (which was what I was going to do). I might still add some vents to the roosting area...

I'm not sure about using the back room for nesting though... think I might do that in the main room, left outer wall (under cutout windows).

I'm so glad this site exists, such a great way to brain storm!

 

[affacat]

Note about rat poop! Do not shop vac rat poop unless you know what you're getting into (Hanta virus). I have bleached that rat poop 3 times, am wearing protective gear, and have a 50 foot hose so the shop vac is actually outside, round the corner, and not kicking up dust. All i have inside is the suction, all exhaust outside and far away.

It's gross work but honestly cleaning up a 10x10 raccoon latrine on a flat roof was worse.

 

[affacat]

Progress report:

Well, it's clean enough to actually measure properly without stepping in or on anything. Barn is bigger than I thought!

Main room is 11.5x15.5

Big back room is 7.5x15

Closet is about 3.5x15.5, but is best thought of as a 3.5x5 and a 3.5x7... door on entire area, plus another door on the 7 footer.

Diagram:

And that closet area? 2.5 shop vacs worth of seed, poop, and some animal bones. Plus that pile of pink insulation which stunk of urine....

Now looks like:

Closet/storage to right

3.5x7, with its own door.... maybe for chicks

From inside 7 foot room, looking towards storage...

From main room looking into entire smaller area.


Entire area has also been doused in diluted bleach (round 1 of 2 or 3) and smells a million times better. The rest of the barn still is only half clean but this room was by far the worst and it's all over but the shouting.


Now it's just debates about how to use the space!

Definitely adding windows next (or, openings, really, as i'm not using glass).

 

[NatJ]

Hmmm... my wife wants to plant some sunflowees next to the barn to gussy it up.... anyone know if they can root through hardware cloth?

They probably can.

Almost anything can grow roots through hardware cloth, although I suppose carrots or large tree roots might get skinny spots where they go through it. But I don't think sunflowers grow big storage roots like carrots, or giant woody roots like trees.

 

[Huntmaster]

Yes can understand didn't realize there was still so much rat activity. Not sure how deep a rat will tunnel dawn not sure if trenching will keep them out either. Sounds like your going to have to do some heavy eradication also. And keep all your feed and supplies rat proof, like storing feed in steel garbage cans. The less they have to eat the less desirable for them to want to get in. But you have a great building to make very functionable for your chickens and yourself. Love to see what your finished project looks like. With all the knowledgeable folks on BYC willing to give you all the advice you could need I'm sure it will be very nice and functionable. Good luck and have fun.

 

[3KillerBs]

I'm starting to wonder if I'm crazy for using the 11.5x15.5 room as indoor run area... my original plan was back when the place was so gross I couldn't think of using it for much. Now that its getting cleaner it feels like i have options.

Another alternative would be to still use the large backroom (7.5x15) as the coop, but just that room. Smaller side room would still be for brooding. But main room could either be for storage or if we get something larger like alpaca.

I'd probably need to build a small run outside with this, for when we are away, as well as add a door to finish blocking off that room. So it would cost more.

I don't absolutely need the space, I can store stuff elsewhere.

Any thoughts? Should i go big and just let the chickens have the whole building or does that seem excessive? (They free range outside every day).

Where did you say you were located (if you put your general location in your profile we can always reference it when climate is relevant to the question)?

If you get significant snow a huge indoor space in addition to the outdoor run can be very useful.

I wouldn't put alpaca in with chickens. As a handspinner, I would not want a fleece full of feather dander and chicken poop dust.

 

[affacat]

Dug out, repaired on the cheap (unfinished), building retaining wall

I realize now this perspective makes depth hard to judge...those cinders are actually pretty deep... I will need a 3 cinder high wall to be above the dirt grade

Front of building literally hanging in the air, off both ground and foundation. How? No idea

But the inside is cleaned out! No more rats, no more inch of rat poop.
If it looks like the floor is warped,you'd be correct.... I eventually need to jack up the left side and shove some cinder blocks under it or something

 

[Percheron chick]

Pictures please. My old setup was a converted stall and it really was the best setup out there.