- Apr 4, 2009
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We have been working to fix our old coop up for 6 or 7 weeks now. Pretty much every spare minute has been spent on it. It was used as a coop over 50 years ago. There are 5 or 6 US Poultry Assoc. certificates stapled to the inside, with the earliest dating back to 1942 (we left those there). It had how big the flock was and what kind of birds they were, very cool. Anyways, the coop had such potential but was in serious need of work. The raccoons had made the rafters a pooping ground at some point so probably 2/3rds of our time was used ripping out everything to the studs and sanitizing the whole coop. The coop is very large (according to the certificates they had over 120 hens in it before and they didn't even use it all) so we decided to section it off and only use a little less than half. We really tried to spend as little as possible and to re-use as much as the old stuff as we could. We even used old barn siding from one of our old barns we tore down when we could (on the roosts, for trim, on the nesting boxes).
Here is a picture of the exterior (it is getting painted barn red this week):
Here is what you see when you walk in......
The left side is just open storage. I plan to put obvious stuff like feed, bedding, etc in there. I also plan to set up a "chicken jail/quarantine" area with an extra dog crate.
This is the view from the left side looking at the chicken area:
Those are the original nesting boxes that we cleaned up. They are three boxes high and each section hinges open so we can collect eggs without actually disturbing the chickens. There's chicken wire above the nesting boxes and to the side of the screen door to keep the chickens in. The whole coop is secure, so the chicken wire is just there to keep the chicken in that area.
Here is what it looks like inside the coop (standing in the corner by the chicken door):
The windows are hinged at the middle and open about 18 inches for air flow. They have hardwire mesh over them when they open. I guess technically they would be predator proof even if left open all night.
Here are our roosts:
We just built these yesterday. They will hinge at some point for easy cleaning, but I forgot to pick up hinges at Lowes so they are temporarily just screwed to the walls.
This is the final view:
It takes you back to the side where the door is. I wanted to show those old feed boxes. They still had oyster shells in them from 50 years ago! We thoroughly cleaned them and right now they are empty. We might use them for oyster shells when the girls start laying.
Here is dd #3 holding one of our EE's
Here are our hens enjoying their new home (check out the kids in the window):
Well, that's it. I will post a pic of the exterior when we get it done! Thanks for letting me share and I am totally open to suggestions if you see something lacking!
edited to fix a picture error.......
Here is a picture of the exterior (it is getting painted barn red this week):
Here is what you see when you walk in......
The left side is just open storage. I plan to put obvious stuff like feed, bedding, etc in there. I also plan to set up a "chicken jail/quarantine" area with an extra dog crate.
This is the view from the left side looking at the chicken area:
Those are the original nesting boxes that we cleaned up. They are three boxes high and each section hinges open so we can collect eggs without actually disturbing the chickens. There's chicken wire above the nesting boxes and to the side of the screen door to keep the chickens in. The whole coop is secure, so the chicken wire is just there to keep the chicken in that area.
Here is what it looks like inside the coop (standing in the corner by the chicken door):
The windows are hinged at the middle and open about 18 inches for air flow. They have hardwire mesh over them when they open. I guess technically they would be predator proof even if left open all night.
Here are our roosts:
We just built these yesterday. They will hinge at some point for easy cleaning, but I forgot to pick up hinges at Lowes so they are temporarily just screwed to the walls.
This is the final view:
It takes you back to the side where the door is. I wanted to show those old feed boxes. They still had oyster shells in them from 50 years ago! We thoroughly cleaned them and right now they are empty. We might use them for oyster shells when the girls start laying.
Here is dd #3 holding one of our EE's
Here are our hens enjoying their new home (check out the kids in the window):
Well, that's it. I will post a pic of the exterior when we get it done! Thanks for letting me share and I am totally open to suggestions if you see something lacking!
edited to fix a picture error.......
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