What's your favorite structure to convert-to-coop?

[Daniellebell1]

Hello chickenfriends,
My little family is moving in the not-too-distant future from New Orleans to Durham, NC. Ultimately we decided that our four hens are going to stay here with friends for a well-deserved retirement in the Big Easy. Once we're settled in our new digs, one of the first orders of business will be for us to re-start our chickening adventures. We built our current coop from scratch with help from my Dad (OK ok, if I'm honest, Dad did almost all of the building and I paid for things and used the power tools ineffectually. Seriously, I'm the worst lesbian. I should have my card revoked.) As wonderful as Dad is, he's not a chicken guy, and I had a hard time explaining what the coop really needed. So the current coop is adorable, but a disaster. The ventilation is weird, the chickens hate the nesting boxes, and it's SO difficult to clean.

So next time around, I want to do things differently. I can put together IKEA furniture, and I'm not completely hopeless with a drill and circular saw. But in the absence of help from Dad, I will do much better taking an existing structure and modifying it than building one from scratch. But rumor has it, most prefab coops are poor quality, too small, and will fall apart quickly. Browsing around this site, I've seen a lot of different structures converted to coops/runs--sheds, playhouses, dog runs, trailers, rabbit hutches. So, dear chicken buddies, I come to you with this question. What are your favorite structures to convert into a coop? What has surprised you with how well it's worked out (or dismayed you with the opposite!)

 

[Shevraeth]

Here's an article from someone in your new neck of the woods, but ultimately I think your easiest/best bet is to throw together 3 walls with a sloped roof and a hardware cloth enclosure, and call it a day. I bet you can do that with a powerdrill!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

Other ideas:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/managing-heat.1477290/#post-24613413

 

[mowin]

A shed is definitely going to be the easiest to convert, but in the area your moving to, I think a hoop coop/run would be easier to build then converting a shed.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to North Carolina!

As you see in my article linked above, I highly recommend an Open Air coop in a hot climate. That's just a roofed wire box with a 3-sided shelter at the windward end.

Here's my article on coop ventilation: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/

You'll be half a climate zone north of me and *maybe* get just a touch more snow, but as long as your chickens are dry and out of the wind they don't care one bit about any cold that the North Carolina Piedmont or Coastal Plain can throw at them.

Depending on how many chickens you want and what your budget is, the best structures to convert might be a one-car carport, a horse run-in/loafing shed, or a garden pavilion. The problem with sheds is that they almost NEVER have any roof overhang and while you *can* add that it's a major project for the experienced handyman.

I actually turned the frame from a cheap picnic canopy that lost it's cover to a hailstorm into a medium-security holding facility for cull cockerels (it will need half a wall more tarp for winter use). https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/camp-cockerel.77789/

Some inspiration for you.

Open Air Coops

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/jens-hens-a-southern-texas-coop.75707/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-positive-local-action-coop.72804/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/california-living.68130/

Shed Conversions

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-mulligan.74743/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-coop-page.65912/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-scoop-on-a-rubbermaid-big-max-coop.76444/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/toy-shed-conversion.64879/

Hoop Coops

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hoop-tractor.69336/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hoop-coop-brooder-with-roll-up-sides.75720/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-biddie-bordello-a-hoop-coop-run-combo.72189/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/permanent-hoop-coop-guide.47818/

 

[Daniellebell1]

Thank you both!!!

Wait, I can't count.
Thank y'all three!!

 

[Daniellebell1]

@3KillerBs , this link roundup is especially helpful. I was getting a bit lost in the weeds. @mowin and @Shevraeth , I appreciate your faith in my construction skills.
When the time comes, I'll post pictures and progress reports. No doubt it will be full of absurdity and mistakes. But hopefully less absurd than my current coop.

 

[Shevraeth]

@3KillerBs , this link roundup is especially helpful. I was getting a bit lost in the weeds. @mowin and @Shevraeth , I appreciate your faith in my construction skills.
When the time comes, I'll post pictures and progress reports. No doubt it will be full of absurdity and mistakes. But hopefully less absurd than my current coop.

Friend, I'm right there with you on the construction skills, so I know you can do it if I can. This time last month I didn't even own a saw, but I converted a Rubbermaid shed into a coop a week ago

I believe!

 

[3KillerBs]

@3KillerBs , this link roundup is especially helpful. I was getting a bit lost in the weeds. @mowin and @Shevraeth , I appreciate your faith in my construction skills.
When the time comes, I'll post pictures and progress reports. No doubt it will be full of absurdity and mistakes. But hopefully less absurd than my current coop.

I'm so glad that it was helpful to you.

The amount of information available here can be fairly overwhelming.

 

[mowin]

@3KillerBs , this link roundup is especially helpful. I was getting a bit lost in the weeds. @mowin and @Shevraeth , I appreciate your faith in my construction skills.
When the time comes, I'll post pictures and progress reports. No doubt it will be full of absurdity and mistakes. But hopefully less absurd than my current coop.

YouTube is your friend.
Plus you're in good hands over here on BYC. I'm sure we can walk you through it.
Trust me, building a hoop coop, if that's what you decide, is fairly easy.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How many chickens so we can get a rough size? What do you plan to do for a run? A dog kennel is probably the easiest for a run. Depending on size you can probably buy a top and use an apron (easy to install) to stop digging predators. And you can buy a human door, really easy to install.

Either set the coop in the run, set it next to the run and have a pop door that opens into the run, or frame in a coop in the corner of the run using the kennel fencing to support a couple of coop walls. We can help you with any of that.

Main question is how many chickens.