tl;dr I converted an old grain bin into the primary feature of a chicken coop. I did most of it singlehandedly, and it was an ass whipping but so worth it. What follows is a long narrative of how it came to be with chingos of construction pictures. The chickens are super happy with their new digs.
Converging Backstories:
After becoming empty nesters MrsCP and I started keeping laying hens in the coop where the kids raised their market broiler projects. Using an automatic chicken door the hens would roost in the coop and completely free range in the barnyard during the day. This WAS a good setup for a while. Oh, we'd occasionally lose a bird, but very seldom. The weekend of the Auburn football game we enjoyed an extended weekend in College Station, a big tailgate party with the kids and friends, leaving our place quiet for longer than normal. That coincided with weak cold front that brought the first cool days of fall… great hunting days for barnyard raiders. I was welcomed home to almost 20 piles of feathers. Over here where they would forage, over there where they would rest in the shade… it was a slaughter; pile of feathers, pile of feathers, and so on. Nary one a scrap of an actual bird was found, just feathers… and one totally traumatized Easter Egger in the coop on her roost. The lone survivor. What I needed was a fenced in yard where the birds could go outside yet be protected. I needed a chicken run, but it had to be in a new spot because the current one didn't lend itself to expansion. It was time for a reset.
Ten months earlier, in January of 2021, MrsCP and I saw something on our way to town for lunch. One of our local co-op grain elevators closed and a grain trader from Mexico bought the storage tanks. He had crews tearing down bins, hundreds of cars of storage, for export to his facilities in Tamaulipas. I spotted a smaller load-out bin that was rolled over to the side and decided that with some work it would be just right for a 'grain bin gazebo' in our backyard. While we enjoyed our Subway sandwiches we flipped through some google images of grain bin gazebos and on the way home I pulled in for some wheelin' & dealin'. It took me longer to type that than I did thinking through this move. Impulse Purchase Unlock: achieved.
I mulled over my gazebo plans almost a year - but came to the realization we have an amazing back porch that we don't use enough; constructing this gazebo was not adding any value to our life. If anything, this would be one more project I would let get complicated and out of hand then consume way too much of my time and effort for what should have been a simple deal (foreshadowing alert). January '22 I decided on a plan that would fulfill my coop requirement, justify my bin purchase, and hopefully be Outdoor Board post worthy.
Design
I never intended for the bin to make up the entirety of coop. My old coop had a laying box that could be accessed from the outside, one that would be hard to replicate on a round wall. It's a much more convenient way to gather eggs and MrsCP likes being able to gather eggs without entering the coop. Also, I wanted the finished coop to have different angles and shapes that give a farm building that timeless 'added-on-to' look. This could also be enhanced using different construction materials. Armed with an idea of what I wanted it to look like, I had the guys from the farm come help me move the bin into that 'just right' spot where it was close enough to enjoy and check on from my shop, looked like it 'belonged' on the property, yet didn't block important sightlines from the shop or home. The 'just right spot' didn't reveal itself until the last minute but I finally found it:
For materials, I set out to work from a stash of reclaimed wood/metal I had after a pole barn collapse in Hurricane Hanna (2020). I also had some leftover 16' 2x4s from the barn rebuild. My plan was to use every bit of material from that pile before resorting to purchase anything. Framing up a CHICKEN COOP from these salvaged utility poles is legitimately overkill, but it's so badass.
I learned during construction that 'square' is a relative term. When working with utility poles all by yourself close is good enough. These were set in holes I hand-dug with a some 'poseras' (post hole diggers) older than me (in fact they're right there in the picture above). I set the poles in the holes using the backhoe as a crane because, well, hell, I couldn't lift them by hand.
I built the rafters on the floor in the shop. If you have a keen eye for proportion you may note that eve height is a foot lower in this here. That's because I backed away and realized the ridge height of the laying house was going to be almost as high as the lip of the bin. I judged that the structure was losing that 'dollhouse' miniaturized look it needed to balance and be a 'coop' not a tiny barn. So, I disassembled what I had, cut a foot off the poles, re-shot the level (ANOTHER relative term), and re-assembled. I was much happier with the result.
Ventilation was a key factor I considered airflow in every decision. This is RGV, so we get hot and I wanted the girls to be able to get some relief with the sea breeze that generally blows in from the southeast. This is the east facing wall and it is vented the length of the structure with an allowance for the pop hole in the middle of the wall. There will be a vent on the north side of the coop to let the breeze pass through too, but one that can be covered for that weekend we call 'winter'.
Here is my assistant. CPjr is off at Aggieland, Centerpolette is busy starting her career, and MrsCP is great with encouragement and management but it is Blue who is my paws on helper. Just FYI, that innocent look is a PLOY. DO NOT BE FOOLED. That face is designed to disguise that he just stealthily hid a tape measure, plastic square, bubble level, ANYTHING that would fit in his mouth. Carpenters pencils, those he didn't hide, he just ground them into little piles of splinters so I would know where I left them.
One of the things I really wanted was a porch. I'm a sucker for a porch. Aside from the aesthetics though, it has functional value too. The laying boxes are on that west wall and the porch serves to keep the much of the hot afternoon sun off that surface. I did buy some proper proportioned and more presentable poles to support the porch. I used different directions of the metal corrugation too that was by design to give the 'I didn't have a plan' barn feel (accurate).
See, I DO have a level. At times, I wondered why I bothered to use it, but I did. I kept reminding myself that the 'crazy house' look with some out-of-square joints added to the timeless barnyard ambiance. My biggest challenge with OCD stemmed from the very first move I made. The laying house at the bin is about 4" wider than it is on the north end. That made a few things a little wonky but I spread the error over such a wide area it would be impossible to find without a tape measure in hand.
I was pleased with my effort of shaping the roofline to the bin wall. Oh, it will require a bit of sealing, but more because it's corrugated metal meeting in different planes and less because I just missed it. Cutting the curve in the metal cost me a few cutoff wheel blades.
BOB Ranchero - Official breakfast for a workday on the coop. I'm still a little miffed that Whataburger blew its cover and listed it on the menu. Now the unwashed masses can waltz into any Whataburger and order one like a pro unlike the old days where they only existed in the corporate memory of the South Texas Whataburger faithful…
For the west wall, I opted for T1-11 siding. I was going to use Hardie but I made a bet with myself that for this project I would: 1. Work with what I had on hand and buy as little material from town as I had to, 2. when I did have to buy something I would forgo the lure of the mighty Lowes and only shop at our hometown Alamo lumberyard. T1-11 is what Alamo had in stock so T1-11 is what I used. You'll also start to see a few pressure treated 2x4's I splurged on for those exposed areas.
Laying boxes going in.
Back on the bin. There has to be some airflow through the bin or it will obviously be a death chamber. I originally intended to cut wide vents low around the bottom of the bin but wasn't sure I liked the look of that when I sketched them out. They just never looked proportional. Instead, I settled on three of these 3'x4' openings. I figured this would let more heat out above chicken level and it let me keep from cutting out any of the vertical joints between bin sheets. I will eventually put operable shutters on these openings to close them up during cold fronts or hurricanes.
There is no substitute for having the right tools or equipment for the job. Working alone and handling utility poles over 10' long and trying to get them level & square... having the lifting power of a backhoe was in incredible convenience. I made almost all my hardware store runs in the truck CPjr and I built and documented in an Auto Board thread. In fact, except for the 10' posts for the porch and run, I think it packed the mail for the entirety of the project. I know, LoWeReD tRuCkS cAn'T dO wOrK, but it managed just fine. It gets me to the front of the line at the lumberyard because the guys appreciate the smoky burnouts I'd do for them on that slick concrete floor.
I put a window in the people door and it's a great vantage point to check on the girls.
I am a huge fan of the Omlet chicken door in the pop hole. I had it on our old coop and moved it over here. It has never let me down by getting stuck or failing to close. It can be set to open/close manually, on light trigger, or on time. It operates on AA batteries and it must have the best AA batteries ever made in it because I've yet to replace them and it's been around the sun a couple times already. Highly recommend.
Inside the bin, I installed stadium seating for the girls to roost on. These utility poles are what keeps the coop from becoming the neighbor's bin when a storm comes. Disregard the short post, the other poles are all 7'-8' out of the ground and secured to the bin with rows of 5/8" lag screws. There are 5 of these big poles plus the shorter corner post… I don't think the bin is going anywhere. The roof may leave, but the bin SHOULD be here a while.
At that point I had done enough to move the ladies into their new home so they could get settled in.
There is airflow through the entire structure at chicken level up to about 4' but there was a blanket of hot air hanging above that inside the bin. It needed a vent. A turbine vent made the most sense but I didn't want it at the peak of the bin because, well, I have other plans for that spot. I decided to take advantage of the inspection hatch after picking up a turbine vent at Alamo. I cut a hole in the inspection door, mounted the vent, and then secured the assembly to the roof. Although very functional, I think the turbines are ugly so I was fortunate that the vent is on the backside of the roof (not visible from the front of the coop) and even though it's not at the peak the turbine draws a LOT of heat out. I could tell an immediate difference once it was installed.
Remember what started all this, that I wanted a fenced in yard I could let the chickens in during the day. It was finally happening. I set some 6" posts and the next day trenched around the perimeter for a run. Okay, I said "I trenched", but I did recruit a little help from the farm to do this. Luckily it was a day after a rain so the sandy soil didn't put up a fight.
The run is completely hidden behind the coop. Viewed from the house or highway you don't see the moonscape that this yard will be in a couple weeks. Also, it's on the downwind side of the coop so it enjoys the prevailing wind. The tin around the bottom discourages tunneling in and doesn't give a smaller critter the chance to just sit and stare eye to eye at the hens. The wire is 1"x1" welded galvanized wire I ordered from critterfence. I forgot to document construction of the water buffalo. The wooden clad box has a 100 gallon galvanized water trough contained within that gravity feeds 2 poultry fount waterers.
One of the last things I built was the walk door for the run. I obviously didn't budget for the gap under the door when I was laying it out and the tin skirt doesn't line up. That just bugs the sh*t out of me so I'll fix it soon.
That is what I have now. I am beyond pleased with the result. What's more it performs as well or better than expected. The airflow in a slight breeze is beyond satisfactory. In fact, I've already covered portions of the bin windows with shade cloth to regulate the breeze through the structure. I achieved the look I was going for, so not only does it function good, it LOOKS good and adds appeal to my place. MrsCP is a YUGE fan, and that is a good thing. Even better I can tell from the 'happy cackle' frequency that my tenants are happy. That's what matters.
There are lots of things left to do: stain the T1-11, build shutters, maybe build awnings for the bin windows, seal the gap between the bin and laying house, a special treatment for the top of the bin, and start collecting old poultry signs to go on the front. I mean, a guy should stay busy, right? I'll get to those later though; there are some other projects begging for attention.
One last thing. This was a lot of work and more than just a few hours of late evenings and early mornings - just Blue and I playing hide-and-seek with hand tools and a little amateur carpentry in between. Each time I'd back the Ranger out of the shop, lay out my tools, and pair up a Bluetooth speaker… Treaty Oak Revival, Shane Smith & the Saints, Cameron Sacky, Whiskey Myers, Koe, Kenny Feidler, Skynyrd and many others joined me. Here's a link to the soundtrack for the show
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3H6lwnex3YZpCsdN3KBzh4?si=12f4c7681a9548ec
I'll post up improvements as they happen, for now I'm just enjoying watching the girls live it up their new home.
Converging Backstories:
After becoming empty nesters MrsCP and I started keeping laying hens in the coop where the kids raised their market broiler projects. Using an automatic chicken door the hens would roost in the coop and completely free range in the barnyard during the day. This WAS a good setup for a while. Oh, we'd occasionally lose a bird, but very seldom. The weekend of the Auburn football game we enjoyed an extended weekend in College Station, a big tailgate party with the kids and friends, leaving our place quiet for longer than normal. That coincided with weak cold front that brought the first cool days of fall… great hunting days for barnyard raiders. I was welcomed home to almost 20 piles of feathers. Over here where they would forage, over there where they would rest in the shade… it was a slaughter; pile of feathers, pile of feathers, and so on. Nary one a scrap of an actual bird was found, just feathers… and one totally traumatized Easter Egger in the coop on her roost. The lone survivor. What I needed was a fenced in yard where the birds could go outside yet be protected. I needed a chicken run, but it had to be in a new spot because the current one didn't lend itself to expansion. It was time for a reset.
Ten months earlier, in January of 2021, MrsCP and I saw something on our way to town for lunch. One of our local co-op grain elevators closed and a grain trader from Mexico bought the storage tanks. He had crews tearing down bins, hundreds of cars of storage, for export to his facilities in Tamaulipas. I spotted a smaller load-out bin that was rolled over to the side and decided that with some work it would be just right for a 'grain bin gazebo' in our backyard. While we enjoyed our Subway sandwiches we flipped through some google images of grain bin gazebos and on the way home I pulled in for some wheelin' & dealin'. It took me longer to type that than I did thinking through this move. Impulse Purchase Unlock: achieved.
I mulled over my gazebo plans almost a year - but came to the realization we have an amazing back porch that we don't use enough; constructing this gazebo was not adding any value to our life. If anything, this would be one more project I would let get complicated and out of hand then consume way too much of my time and effort for what should have been a simple deal (foreshadowing alert). January '22 I decided on a plan that would fulfill my coop requirement, justify my bin purchase, and hopefully be Outdoor Board post worthy.
Design
I never intended for the bin to make up the entirety of coop. My old coop had a laying box that could be accessed from the outside, one that would be hard to replicate on a round wall. It's a much more convenient way to gather eggs and MrsCP likes being able to gather eggs without entering the coop. Also, I wanted the finished coop to have different angles and shapes that give a farm building that timeless 'added-on-to' look. This could also be enhanced using different construction materials. Armed with an idea of what I wanted it to look like, I had the guys from the farm come help me move the bin into that 'just right' spot where it was close enough to enjoy and check on from my shop, looked like it 'belonged' on the property, yet didn't block important sightlines from the shop or home. The 'just right spot' didn't reveal itself until the last minute but I finally found it:
For materials, I set out to work from a stash of reclaimed wood/metal I had after a pole barn collapse in Hurricane Hanna (2020). I also had some leftover 16' 2x4s from the barn rebuild. My plan was to use every bit of material from that pile before resorting to purchase anything. Framing up a CHICKEN COOP from these salvaged utility poles is legitimately overkill, but it's so badass.
I learned during construction that 'square' is a relative term. When working with utility poles all by yourself close is good enough. These were set in holes I hand-dug with a some 'poseras' (post hole diggers) older than me (in fact they're right there in the picture above). I set the poles in the holes using the backhoe as a crane because, well, hell, I couldn't lift them by hand.
I built the rafters on the floor in the shop. If you have a keen eye for proportion you may note that eve height is a foot lower in this here. That's because I backed away and realized the ridge height of the laying house was going to be almost as high as the lip of the bin. I judged that the structure was losing that 'dollhouse' miniaturized look it needed to balance and be a 'coop' not a tiny barn. So, I disassembled what I had, cut a foot off the poles, re-shot the level (ANOTHER relative term), and re-assembled. I was much happier with the result.
Ventilation was a key factor I considered airflow in every decision. This is RGV, so we get hot and I wanted the girls to be able to get some relief with the sea breeze that generally blows in from the southeast. This is the east facing wall and it is vented the length of the structure with an allowance for the pop hole in the middle of the wall. There will be a vent on the north side of the coop to let the breeze pass through too, but one that can be covered for that weekend we call 'winter'.
Here is my assistant. CPjr is off at Aggieland, Centerpolette is busy starting her career, and MrsCP is great with encouragement and management but it is Blue who is my paws on helper. Just FYI, that innocent look is a PLOY. DO NOT BE FOOLED. That face is designed to disguise that he just stealthily hid a tape measure, plastic square, bubble level, ANYTHING that would fit in his mouth. Carpenters pencils, those he didn't hide, he just ground them into little piles of splinters so I would know where I left them.
One of the things I really wanted was a porch. I'm a sucker for a porch. Aside from the aesthetics though, it has functional value too. The laying boxes are on that west wall and the porch serves to keep the much of the hot afternoon sun off that surface. I did buy some proper proportioned and more presentable poles to support the porch. I used different directions of the metal corrugation too that was by design to give the 'I didn't have a plan' barn feel (accurate).
See, I DO have a level. At times, I wondered why I bothered to use it, but I did. I kept reminding myself that the 'crazy house' look with some out-of-square joints added to the timeless barnyard ambiance. My biggest challenge with OCD stemmed from the very first move I made. The laying house at the bin is about 4" wider than it is on the north end. That made a few things a little wonky but I spread the error over such a wide area it would be impossible to find without a tape measure in hand.
I was pleased with my effort of shaping the roofline to the bin wall. Oh, it will require a bit of sealing, but more because it's corrugated metal meeting in different planes and less because I just missed it. Cutting the curve in the metal cost me a few cutoff wheel blades.
BOB Ranchero - Official breakfast for a workday on the coop. I'm still a little miffed that Whataburger blew its cover and listed it on the menu. Now the unwashed masses can waltz into any Whataburger and order one like a pro unlike the old days where they only existed in the corporate memory of the South Texas Whataburger faithful…
For the west wall, I opted for T1-11 siding. I was going to use Hardie but I made a bet with myself that for this project I would: 1. Work with what I had on hand and buy as little material from town as I had to, 2. when I did have to buy something I would forgo the lure of the mighty Lowes and only shop at our hometown Alamo lumberyard. T1-11 is what Alamo had in stock so T1-11 is what I used. You'll also start to see a few pressure treated 2x4's I splurged on for those exposed areas.
Laying boxes going in.
Back on the bin. There has to be some airflow through the bin or it will obviously be a death chamber. I originally intended to cut wide vents low around the bottom of the bin but wasn't sure I liked the look of that when I sketched them out. They just never looked proportional. Instead, I settled on three of these 3'x4' openings. I figured this would let more heat out above chicken level and it let me keep from cutting out any of the vertical joints between bin sheets. I will eventually put operable shutters on these openings to close them up during cold fronts or hurricanes.
There is no substitute for having the right tools or equipment for the job. Working alone and handling utility poles over 10' long and trying to get them level & square... having the lifting power of a backhoe was in incredible convenience. I made almost all my hardware store runs in the truck CPjr and I built and documented in an Auto Board thread. In fact, except for the 10' posts for the porch and run, I think it packed the mail for the entirety of the project. I know, LoWeReD tRuCkS cAn'T dO wOrK, but it managed just fine. It gets me to the front of the line at the lumberyard because the guys appreciate the smoky burnouts I'd do for them on that slick concrete floor.
I put a window in the people door and it's a great vantage point to check on the girls.
I am a huge fan of the Omlet chicken door in the pop hole. I had it on our old coop and moved it over here. It has never let me down by getting stuck or failing to close. It can be set to open/close manually, on light trigger, or on time. It operates on AA batteries and it must have the best AA batteries ever made in it because I've yet to replace them and it's been around the sun a couple times already. Highly recommend.
Inside the bin, I installed stadium seating for the girls to roost on. These utility poles are what keeps the coop from becoming the neighbor's bin when a storm comes. Disregard the short post, the other poles are all 7'-8' out of the ground and secured to the bin with rows of 5/8" lag screws. There are 5 of these big poles plus the shorter corner post… I don't think the bin is going anywhere. The roof may leave, but the bin SHOULD be here a while.
At that point I had done enough to move the ladies into their new home so they could get settled in.
There is airflow through the entire structure at chicken level up to about 4' but there was a blanket of hot air hanging above that inside the bin. It needed a vent. A turbine vent made the most sense but I didn't want it at the peak of the bin because, well, I have other plans for that spot. I decided to take advantage of the inspection hatch after picking up a turbine vent at Alamo. I cut a hole in the inspection door, mounted the vent, and then secured the assembly to the roof. Although very functional, I think the turbines are ugly so I was fortunate that the vent is on the backside of the roof (not visible from the front of the coop) and even though it's not at the peak the turbine draws a LOT of heat out. I could tell an immediate difference once it was installed.
Remember what started all this, that I wanted a fenced in yard I could let the chickens in during the day. It was finally happening. I set some 6" posts and the next day trenched around the perimeter for a run. Okay, I said "I trenched", but I did recruit a little help from the farm to do this. Luckily it was a day after a rain so the sandy soil didn't put up a fight.
The run is completely hidden behind the coop. Viewed from the house or highway you don't see the moonscape that this yard will be in a couple weeks. Also, it's on the downwind side of the coop so it enjoys the prevailing wind. The tin around the bottom discourages tunneling in and doesn't give a smaller critter the chance to just sit and stare eye to eye at the hens. The wire is 1"x1" welded galvanized wire I ordered from critterfence. I forgot to document construction of the water buffalo. The wooden clad box has a 100 gallon galvanized water trough contained within that gravity feeds 2 poultry fount waterers.
One of the last things I built was the walk door for the run. I obviously didn't budget for the gap under the door when I was laying it out and the tin skirt doesn't line up. That just bugs the sh*t out of me so I'll fix it soon.
That is what I have now. I am beyond pleased with the result. What's more it performs as well or better than expected. The airflow in a slight breeze is beyond satisfactory. In fact, I've already covered portions of the bin windows with shade cloth to regulate the breeze through the structure. I achieved the look I was going for, so not only does it function good, it LOOKS good and adds appeal to my place. MrsCP is a YUGE fan, and that is a good thing. Even better I can tell from the 'happy cackle' frequency that my tenants are happy. That's what matters.
There are lots of things left to do: stain the T1-11, build shutters, maybe build awnings for the bin windows, seal the gap between the bin and laying house, a special treatment for the top of the bin, and start collecting old poultry signs to go on the front. I mean, a guy should stay busy, right? I'll get to those later though; there are some other projects begging for attention.
One last thing. This was a lot of work and more than just a few hours of late evenings and early mornings - just Blue and I playing hide-and-seek with hand tools and a little amateur carpentry in between. Each time I'd back the Ranger out of the shop, lay out my tools, and pair up a Bluetooth speaker… Treaty Oak Revival, Shane Smith & the Saints, Cameron Sacky, Whiskey Myers, Koe, Kenny Feidler, Skynyrd and many others joined me. Here's a link to the soundtrack for the show
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3H6lwnex3YZpCsdN3KBzh4?si=12f4c7681a9548ec
I'll post up improvements as they happen, for now I'm just enjoying watching the girls live it up their new home.
