So we have this old shop on our new property that I was meaning to tear down but realized it would make a perfect chicken coop. The building is solid, just needs a touch of work. I will be ripping out the roof on the covered portion and turning that in to their run. Where the work benches are I will probably be making in to the laying area. Although it doesn't look like it, the thing is actually pretty solid minus the falling down roof.

Couple of questions for yall with chicken coops though. Should I rip out the floor in the coop and make it a dirt floor or should I replace the flooring and keep an actual floor?

In the run, I assume I should bury the fencing about 6 inches to keep from digging critters from getting in. What is the best fencing, just chicken wire? Would you add a second door in to the coop or just the one that goes in to the coop from the run? I can obviously add another one where the large cutout is on the building now.

Any other lessons learned or input would be greatly appreciated.

No, and they will poop everywhere you don't want them pooping.

Need more understanding of the relative dimensions. Have your wife stand in the doorways and in each picture and post them again.

jwoodmd said:

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Need more understanding of the relative dimensions. Have your wife stand in the doorways and in each picture and post them again.

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I'll make sure she just got out of the heated pool for you too, how about that?

Sea Speed said:

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jwoodmd said:

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Need more understanding of the relative dimensions. Have your wife stand in the doorways and in each picture and post them again.

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I'll make sure she just got out of the heated pool for you too, how about that?

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Sea Speed said:

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jwoodmd said:

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Need more understanding of the relative dimensions. Have your wife stand in the doorways and in each picture and post them again.

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I'll make sure she just got out of the heated pool for you too, how about that?

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Does her's shrink in the cold water too?

I was kidding, our pool isn't heated.

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Couple of questions for yall with chicken coops though. Should I rip out the floor in the coop and make it a dirt floor or should I replace the flooring and keep an actual floor?

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I've always had a dirt floor in coops - because it's what was available. I don't think there is anything wrong with the existing floor as long as the chickens have somewhere to go and scratch and be chickens. If you are going to keep them cooped up for long periods of time and deny them the run - then I believe a dirt floor is optimal. If they are going to have daily access to the run - then the solid floor is fine and it will certainly be easier to seal up (imho).

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In the run, I assume I should bury the fencing about 6 inches to keep from digging critters from getting in.

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You're going to want to bury it some, absolutely. I buried a course of corrugated metal around the bottom of my run and then went up from that with wire. This keeps the chickens kind of 'out of view' of a passing critter - but it also obscures your view of them. So, not something I would have done if they were in plain view of my house and I wanted to monitor them.

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What is the best fencing, just chicken wire?

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Not my first choice - and based on the work this project is going to be - shouldn't be yours either. I don't think plain old chicken wire is as durable as you're going to want given the size of that run. Hardware cloth is much more substantial and will be a better finished product. Of course, the fewer courses you need the easier - so width is a consideration. I used 1x1" 16 ga galvanized from critter fence and I love it. It comes in different heights. I used 6'

https://www.critterfence.com/critterfence-galvanized-1x1-6x100

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Would you add a second door in to the coop or just the one that goes in to the coop from the run? I can obviously add another one where the large cutout is on the building now.

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For my money - this is all about 'how do you want to retrieve the eggs?' I say this because you want to simplify that process as much as you can. Jefe has already suggested making the egg boxes accessible from the outside. That is EXCELLENT advice! You'll be out there every day gathering eggs. Make that as easy as possible - you are likely going to quickly tire of going into the run - then into the coop, then doing it all in reverse. If you don't make the boxes accessible from outside - then I would suggest putting a walk door in coop, yes. That way you just have the one door to open.

If you don't like the idea of the laying boxes exposed or on the visible side of the coop - another idea (because you have a pretty YUGE coop) is to partition the building into two parts: coop and feed room. If you popped a wall in there you could have a room to store feed and other chicken goodies safe from critters - and you could make the laying boxes accessible from there. It would separate the building into their side and your side - it's a common layout in bigger coops.

I am guessing you are going to put a chicken door between the coop and run so they are sealed up at night? That would be a good idea.

Don't take any of this as anything more than random BS you read on a message board - I've only built one coop, but it does function pretty good. I hope yours brings you as much satisfaction as mine has.

Centerpole90 said:

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How many chickens do you plan to have? Mas o menos.. not exact count. 5, 10, 50?

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I have not got that far in to the process yet.

Honestly I don't know how many would be comfortable in this coop. We will most likely start off pretty small to get in to the swing of it. What I am hoping is to teach my girls some responsibility and have them sell some eggs at their school or other activities as well as have some for the house.


ETA, im not trying to make money, just hoping my kids can learn a little about running a 'business' along with caring for animals.

Centerpole90 said:

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I understand.

Your idea of making it as easy as possible for your wife and your kids is the kind of thinking that will make the project a success. You know what you were willing to do, but keeping it as easy as you can for them will mean it's sustainable while you're gone.

I will follow along with great interest. I enjoyed my build immensely.

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What CP90 here is saying is that he will watch your progress and judge you while comparing your coop to his Taj Mahal of chicken coops he made for Mrs. CP90.

Look at this expert level electrical work. I noticed little arcs in the cobwebs when I turned the light switch on to test the light so I turned them off and moved some cob wevs and found this. I cant believe this place didn't burn down.




And here is some more of the expert electrical work.

Ya, don't burn it down on Day 1.

My favorite part of having chickens is they hate spiders as much as I do. I used to fret about them sh*tting on the shop floor; then one day I bounced out one of those big black spiders from something and before I could find something to squash it, my feathered friends came out of nowhere and made it disappear. Kindred spirits, me and those chickens.

that's not a brown recluse spider

Just to reiterate what CP90 suggests on wire, you need to use something more substantial in the bottom few feet. A dog can chew/rip thru chicken wire. Avoid the trauma my kids had when we came home to find the chickens they raised from chicks all dead in their run (not eaten just played with). Btw, highly recommend getting chicks for your kiddos to raise at least once.

Sea Speed said:

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Did you look in the hole?

One hard lesson I learned when i lived in South Texas was the soil in the coop. I did a similar project for a while and turned a section of my shop to a coop. I figured it was just dirt and nothing would hurt them. Over time, my flock got sick and died slowly. There must have been something in the dirt. I would reccomend maybe taking off the top few inches of the soil in there and putting in some fresh soil. You may not know what is in there that could hurt them. Once I figured it was the soil, I built my new one below.

Here are pics of my coop I made, but one thing I tell everyone is this, build a tray under where they will roost at night with industrial hemp in the bottom. This will act like kitty litter for cats. About once a month, I would sieve out the poop and put that into the garden. The hemp keeps the smell down and also makes it super easy to clean out.

Lastly, I let mine free range in the day and then I would shut the door at night myself or use the wifi controller. A little on the boujee side, but it was a nice addition. It certainly kept the bugs down in the yard and the constant fertilizer from them was great too. This is a personal decision though, as you may have more hawks/yotes or other predators than I had.