who has done dry wall on their chicken coop ?

[MamaChic21]

planning on building 10x4 or 10x6 coop/shed for my ducks and chickens and wondered if any one has dry wall their own chicken coop or shed they use for their chickens?
Winter can be extremely cold in most areas in the country. Dry wall can keep out the cold, I think but is it a good idea ?

 

[spartacus_63]

It may do ok, but I would not use it in my coops. Coops get wet and nasty from time to time. You need a wall that can stand up to some punishment. My humble opinion.

 

[elmo]

I wonder if chickens could peck dry wall? Don't know.

 

[7L Farm]

I wouldn't use dry wall. It won't hold up if it gets wet. Plus, you will have a hard time cleaning. Personally, I wouldn't do anything. But if you want to insulate the coop. Put the insulation against the walls & panel over the insulation.

 

[HEChicken]

I've had this thought myself so I know where you're coming from. However I'm not sure drywall would stand up that well to the moisture in a chicken coop. The alternate idea I had was (assuming you are talking about an external wall with studs on the inside to which you would have attached the drywall) to stuff the spaces between the studs with straw, then cover the front with hardware cloth. The straw would be at least as good an insulator as the drywall but would absorb moisture better. The hardware cloth would keep it in place and serve as extra predator protection. It wouldn't be that expensive and you don't have the mess of mudding and taping drywall (been there, done that!) I haven't tried this myself yet mind you, since my coop is a small A-Frame that I got for free. But I'm constantly dreaming up the "perfect" larger coop and this was what I came up with.....

 

[patandchickens]

I certainly did not drywall my coop, nor would I ever do so nor advise doing so.... but, my chicken building is drywalled

cuz that's how it was when we moved in here (it was a dog breeding/boarding kennel).

Yes, they will peck drywall if given the opportunity, although they do not make major inroads on it. Where the chickens can reach it, therefore, my drywall is all covered by the very thick plastic panels that were dividers among dog runs... plywood would work as well and be way cheaper (I just used the plastic cuz I took out some run dividers to make bigger pens).

I have had zero problem with it getting wet and nasty but then my coop never DOES get wet and nasty anywhere and I am not a "hoser" so to speak

so the problem might still crop up in other peoples' management styles.

Drywall has no meaningfully better insulating value than plain plywood does, nor is it meaningfully easier to clean; thus I see absolutely no reason in the world to drywall a coop. (Although, as you can see, if you are converting an already-drywalled building, there is nothing *wrong* with leaving the drywall there, albeit covered at pecking height)

JME, good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[B'villechicken]

I used 3/8" plywood. Like Pat said, you could use drywall but I personally felt the plywood was more substantial and I wouldn't have to worry about getting a hole in it if I hit it with the shovel on my yearly "hoeing out". The R-value of drywall isn't much so I don't think it is much of an insulator.

 

[MamaChic21]

Thanks guys, I totally forgot about the drywall moisture and it could be a hassle to clean it plus the the chickens may peck on them. I rather go with plywood now.
I went to the homedepot today to check out some wheels, because I like the coop to be portable and the wheels they had was so small and I don't think it was meant to carry shed/coops!
Now my new task is to find me some wheels

Thanks again everybody

 

[MamaChic21]

Quote:
Couple of weeks ago, I came across your BYC page and feel in love with your homemade feeder and water bucket. I admired it very much. I've saved that to my "favorite page" so I could do that myself once I'm done with the new coop/run. I bought the water bucket from agway, it was $52.00 and forgot the price on the feeder but it was expensive alright. What a clever idea

 

[Ahab]

You could make a minor case for drywalling a coop in you're attempting to introduce thermal mass to moderate heat swings, but it would work ONLY if you use the water-resistant/mold-resistant version of dry wall. Ask for it a good lumberyard; you can also find it in the drywall piles in Big Box stores. It's usually purple or green, never white, and is meant for high-moisture locations like bathrooms and kitchens.

That being said, drywall just soft enough to make attractive pecking--as are compressed wood products like Aspenite or (slightly less so) Advantech, unless carefully painted.

The cheapest and most durable product you'll likely find would be 1/4-inch exterior Luan ply; 1/4-exterior fir ply would work as well, and wouldn't be a tropical wood if that bothers you. A prefinished product that would work nicely is MDO--medium-density fiberboard overlaid a resin-coated surface. Used in cabinet making and boat interiors, and quite durable, though dusty to cut.

BTW, drywall doesn't keep out cold. But insulation keeps in heat; drywall, I'm assuming, you were planning to use for covering your insulation.