Covered Coop

[deegee68]

Hello,

I am a California native that recently moved with the Wife to Iowa. We bought an acreage and it has a chicken coop that was covered with metal siding. From the inside, I can see windows on all walls and a board along the wall I think might have held nesting boxes. I was thinking about cutting out the metal siding around the windows, using hardware cloth to cover and making hinged doors to close if need be. Is there anything else I should cut in addition to the windows? I was thinking some circle holes across the top for ventilation.

Also, there are about 25 bales of shredded paper in there, I am trying to get rid of by recylcing. Many of them had petrified chicken poop on it. I will not get my chicks until Feb 24th, any suggestions on what to do to inside to get it clean of any potential bad stuff in there?

Thanks!

 

[arianna7]

Bleach but amonia free for the inside! just spray scrub, and wrince with a hose! as for the siding, the roof in the run should be hardwear cloth too except for a portion so they can still go out in the rain without getting wet if you want! and lastley the inside, just be sure everthings locked and secured no cracks for weazels, or sharp corners, make sure the chickens have roosts, and make sure the hardware cloth on the windows and run are secured well so no coons can get in!

 

[Ridgerunner]

It could help a lot to have some photos so we can see what you are working with. That's both from outside to get the general size and shape and inside to see what is going on there.

What ventilation does it have now? In your winters I'd want permanent ventilation up high, over their heads when they are on the roost. In summer those windows could help cool it off but you might want those doors closed in winter. Does it have roof overhangs where you can open up the soffit for protected ventilation.

How long has it been since that held chickens? If it has been a couple of years it is highly unlikely anything bad is left that is not naturally in the land around you. In any case, I'd probably clean out any old bedding in the nests and on the floor and shovel out any poop. Spray it with bleach to disinfect it and air it out, then add new bedding. Since you are going to air it out anyway I don't see where ammonia would be a problem. There are other disinfectants you could use but I'm happy with plain old bleach. It works.

Good luck!

 

[deegee68]

I have attached a few pics of the outside and also the inside.

 

[chicken1234]

You are really lucky what a great find! I would clean everything out and give it a good pressure wash. What is on the floor? If you are happy with the window size I would cut the tin but I would want windows that open for ventilation. So you might want to get different windows first? Are you keeping chickens year round or getting meat chickens?

 

[paintedChix]

You can hot compost the stuff inside the coop, if completely clean out. Looks like there is a compost area "behind" coop. Too bad you don't know how long it's been w/o chickens or if any were sick. Several studies done by mid-western Universities re: keeping chicks on at least partial previous litter to start their innoculation to what's in your area...

Keep the paper & go to this thread - the whole thread is GREAT - but I just posted this w/ all my pics of paper shreds.

'Using Shredded Paper for Coop Litter - As Good As Wood Chips?' https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...r-as-good-as-wood-chips.1503415/post-28208912

Your prospective coop is really cute and a great place to start. Sad that it doesn't have extended roof that will protect any new ventilation. There are ways to do it, but I'm not a builder. At least a couple folk here on BYC have & have details. Maybe some will show up here?

You could do an covered run on the back, leaving the compost set up to utilize in the run. I would put a man sized door into the run from back of coop along w/ a pop door for chickens.

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WELCOME TO BYC!!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'll be interested to see what kinds of suggestions you get. Looks like you're going to need to build nests and roosts, probably poop trays as well. How exciting! It's a beautiful building!

 

[AGeese]

That looks similar to mine, but in better shape. I'm using it for wood storage.

 

[deegee68]

You can hot compost the stuff inside the coop, if completely clean out. Looks like there is a compost area "behind" coop. Too bad you don't know how long it's been w/o chickens or if any were sick. Several studies done by mid-western Universities re: keeping chicks on at least partial previous litter to start their innoculation to what's in your area...

Keep the paper & go to this thread - the whole thread is GREAT - but I just posted this w/ all my pics of paper shreds.

'Using Shredded Paper for Coop Litter - As Good As Wood Chips?' https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...r-as-good-as-wood-chips.1503415/post-28208912

Your prospective coop is really cute and a great place to start. Sad that it doesn't have extended roof that will protect any new ventilation. There are ways to do it, but I'm not a builder. At least a couple folk here on BYC have & have details. Maybe some will show up here?

You could do an covered run on the back, leaving the compost set up to utilize in the run. I would put a man sized door into the run from back of coop along w/ a pop door for chickens.

**********

I have not come up w/ a fix. My icons are all grayed out still... BUT

WELCOME TO BYC!!

Thanks. I do not not exactly how long the coop has been without chickens but I am almost willing to guess it has been years. The previous owner did not utilize it and they lived here for 4 years. I have been slowly taking bales of paper out and using for compost bin and lining bottom of garden raised beds.

 

[deegee68]

I wanted to post an update. Slowly but surely, it is coming along. The paper seemed like it was never ending! I cut in the windows and covered with hardware cloth and probably will make a new door, one that has open air space. Please let me know any tips or suggestions.