What style coop?!

[JudesFlock]

I want in the near future to have a coop suitable for around 15+ chickens and was thinking of building one myself but was stopped by all the different styles I could build one and wondered which would be best all around. Also wondered if I could just buy a small shed with windows and ventilation and just modify it with some small square chicken wire. Please feel free to say whatever ideas you have!
PLEASE AND THANK YOU

 

[Debbie292d]

The "small square chicken wire" you're talking about is called 1/2" hardware cloth.

Yes, a lot of folks buy sheds and fix them up into coops. If you're in a cold climate, you can find not just sheds on Marketplace but ice fishing houses too. I'd check Marketplace for your area and see what's out there.

Here's our Coop Forum you can peruse to see what you like.

It's recommended at least 4 square feet per bird for coops, and always go bigger than you think you'll need.

 

[KyCoop]

I like my coop, but if I had it to do again I would convert a wooden shed 100%

 

[Sally PB]

@JudesFlock, where are you located? Just the state is fine, if you're in the US, or the country, if you're not. You can add it to your profile, and then it's always there and we don't have to ask.

That lets us know what your climate is likely to be. Knowing that is critical for giving advice. What is appropriate for me in Michigan might not be for someone in Florida or Alaska.

 

[JudesFlock]

I’m in middle Tennessee

 

[thistlewick]

we just converted a shed (you know those roadside shed selling places you see *everywhere*) and WOW WE LOVE IT. It's 160 square feet of space for 16 birds, we let them free range but we don't even have to if we need to go away, they are safe as safe can be in there.

There is a window for ventilation, currently covered in hardware cloth and left open 24/7 (I'm in central NC, its still warm here) and we put in a solar exhaust fan and cut a sliding door out the side (where we will build a run for them over the winter, when it isn't so dang hot)

The shed is out on our fenced pasture - so I just open the big door and the sliding door and they just go in and out as they please. Food hangs from the rafters, water sits on concrete blocks (nipple feeder for cleanliness -- though I CANNOT find one that doesn't leak)

If you can afford it, I would highly recommend a shed conversion. You can really make it how you like it.

I went through 3 tractors before realizing what I really needed and wanted. Don't make the same mistakes as me! haha

 

[JudesFlock]

we just converted a shed (you know those roadside shed selling places you see *everywhere*) and WOW WE LOVE IT. It's 160 square feet of space for 16 birds, we let them free range but we don't even have to if we need to go away, they are safe as safe can be in there.

There is a window for ventilation, currently covered in hardware cloth and left open 24/7 (I'm in central NC, its still warm here) and we put in a solar exhaust fan and cut a sliding door out the side (where we will build a run for them over the winter, when it isn't so dang hot)

The shed is out on our fenced pasture - so I just open the big door and the sliding door and they just go in and out as they please. Food hangs from the rafters, water sits on concrete blocks (nipple feeder for cleanliness -- though I CANNOT find one that doesn't leak)

If you can afford it, I would highly recommend a shed conversion. You can really make it how you like it.

I went through 3 tractors before realizing what I really needed and wanted. Don't make the same mistakes as me! haha

Thanks! I thought I was the first one to think of turning a shed into a coop and I thought: nah that would be dumb, they would just suffocate in there… and then I hear from so many people that it’s actually super smart and that there is vents in sheds! Which I forgot about lol. Thanks so much! This really helps!

 

[StinkyAcres]

Thanks! I thought I was the first one to think of turning a shed into a coop and I thought: nah that would be dumb, they would just suffocate in there… and then I hear from so many people that it’s actually super smart and that there is vents in sheds! Which I forgot about lol. Thanks so much! This really helps!

Most sheds with vents still don't provide enough ventilation to house chickens so be prepared to make significant modifications (adding soffit vents, covering all openings with hardware cloth, etc.).

 

[thistlewick]

Most sheds with vents still don't provide enough ventilation to house chickens so be prepared to make significant modifications (adding soffit vents, covering all openings with hardware cloth, etc.).

Yeah I'd agree with this if you're closing all the doors and keeping them INSIDE of it all day.

We have a hygrometer inside our shed (shows temp and humidity), during the daytime, its 3-4 degrees hotter than outside and the same humidity. This is with the door completely held open, window open, vent fan going (which sucks air out from the top of the shed) and side door open.

As dusk falls, this evens out and by bedtime, it is the same ambient temp as outside. It does *not* hold heat.

Since it isn't getting insanely hot here anymore, we're not rushing to do this, but the plan is to make a 'screen door' out of one of the doors lower quarters, for more air to circulate through at night or if we need to keep them in for some odd reason in the summer. We will have a run for them to go out in by then.

The shed also creates some glorious cool shade on the lee side that stays several degrees cooler than any outside temp and when it's warm and they are dozy, they hang out around there.

Depending on what you're going to do with it, just don't keep them closed up in just the shed all day long without adding extra ventilation. The windows already installed aren't that much of an extra expense and a solar vent fan - we got a 10" one, is about 80 bucks. It only works when the sun is out, but when the sun isn't out, its not hot enough to warrant it.

As far as 'bad air' is concerned because of chicken poop build up -- I use roosting tables - my husband built them from scratch to fit the shed and the height I wanted for me to easily reach. I clean them every day and pick up what poop I can see easily on the floor -- there is barely any on the floor as they just use the shed for roosting, mainly.

 

[saysfaa]

This is mine. The door on the south wall is open 24/7/365. The windows in the east wall are open 24/7 from early spring to late fall (I wedge single pane barn windows in the openings for the winter). I am a few hundred miles north of you, if I lived where you do then I would likely leave the windows open all year.

The inside is divided by wall made of garden wire (2"x4" woven wire) with a sliding door made from the screen door meant for sliding glass doors (aka doorwalls) so there is about 7' of entryway/storage in the front.

It is wooden (board and battan).

I've had chickens in it for three and a half years and still think this is THE best design for temporate regions. I would do something different if I lived in the tropics or arctic.

It is an adaptation of a Prince T Woods design but far easier to build.

Link to Woods' coop that convinced me to go with the concept.

If I had it to do again, I would change nothing except add a pop door. And make it bigger if I lived at a different house that would allow a bigger shed.

And build it myself so the build quality was better - if I had the time and money. I gave the design to a local Amish builder who builds as cheap as possible. So there are things like lots of big knots in the boards.

Hm, I would also make the eaves wider if I didn't care so much about it needing to convert back to a conventional shed someday.

I am sure it would scale up in size for people who have more chickens.