Using a barn as a coop, questions

[affacat]

Update - barn is clean, but in cleaning I discovered more issues...

1) siding, especially near ground, is rotted out. Like, it disintegrates on touch. I will probably clad the bottom in scrap wood.

2) one corner of barn (front left) has no support, literally floating in the air. Will need to brace that.

3) roof is...eh. not massively leaking, but pretty bad.

My wife is leaning towards building our chickens a new coop using my idea of a 'chicken moop', which is a combination of the cattle panel runs with 8x12 corner buildings that i posted about here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/2-hoop-coop-cattle-panel-questions.1449809/post-24130741

I had taken that idea off the table due to lumber costs and having a free barn... but, even after cleaning out the barn, my wife still hates it.

However, building an 8x12 coop plus hoop run sets her up for her garden, and extends my time to improve the barn. Once improved (supporter, etc) she is okay with the barn for alpaca and maybe turkeys in the back room (i would separate them with a door).

 

[affacat]

Update....

The back of the barn was buried about 1.5 foot deep. I dug that all out. The siding was rotted so I clad it in old plywood... not worth buying new material and the plywood was in no condition for a new project so perfect for this. I am building a retaining wall with cinder blocks to keep the dirt back.

Still haven't solved the front of the barn floating (why the barn was off the foundation in the front and buried in the back is a mystery for the ages).

I found some old wood shutters so I'm going to put windows in for ventilation and light... Basically, cut out siding and mount shutters directly to the holes.

This is the project that never ends and has no hope of ever looking good... but it will be a lot of usable space, at least.

 

[aart]

The siding was rotted

How was the framing?

 

[affacat]

How was the framing?

Half rotted and structurally questionable. I did my best to reinforce the studs with new wood, tying good wood together and bringing it down to the buried cement blocks (in addition to clearing out the dirt which was causing the moisture rot). This is honestly the project that keeps on giving... everytime I accomplish a goal I find 5 new major problem areas.

That said, where the building wasn't buried the framing is solid which is what kept me from giving in and tearing it down

 

[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