What would YOU do if this was your coop - UPDATED

[Yetti]

My first question is what was stored there before you got it? I would clean out the whole floor area to be sure there is nothing to harm your birds. if its soaked with engine oil or some other chemicals it would be bad for all involved. it might be worth rebuilding it over clean dirt at that point.

 

[ALRwild]

I would either scrap it and build a new coop (use the metal as exterior and the wood scraps as interior). You could also put another layer of plywood on the interior walls so that it would look nicer. For the roosts, I would just go ahead and put rounded branches or wooden poles three times across the coop. You could have one attached to each support beam. If I were you I would just go ahead and build a new one.

 

[startingover]

So I spent part of the day in the coop cleaning and thinking about layouts.

I learned quite a few things from the family who had the farm in the estate sale. This building was originally used as a chicken coop. They are not aware of anything ever being stored in there. The old owner only had low roosts for the birds and used both portions as coops.

Today we had 50+ mph winds. While it was horrible outside with the drastic wind and temperature change, I was nice and toasty inside the coop. Even with the door on the north side wide open. There was no wind coming in the coop. No drafts.

So for those who said tear it down. No way. It stays.

We will add windows to the east side in the spring.

50 feet of roosts were put up today. I'll start with that and I think it will be enough but there's room to add more.