Home Depot & Lowes Coop Builds

[SandyRiverChick]

This works well, especially with the skyrocketing cost of lumber since the pandemic. I convert the resin sheds into coops. Lot of them already have a window and a vent or two, but you can add a chicken door and a quick run (those metal tube and canopy carports work great with wire on outside) and they work great, even kind of insulated for winter and summer.

Exactly! We got the 8x10 Resin with windows, ventilation (granted you'd add more,) skylights... Takes just a few hours to put together. So many benefits I can think of. WHY didn't I have this option 20years ago? It would have saved YEARS of building for me, lol! Very decently priced too.

 

[WendyPollo]

This works well, especially with the skyrocketing cost of lumber since the pandemic. I convert the resin sheds into coops. Lot of them already have a window and a vent or two, but you can add a chicken door and a quick run (those metal tube and canopy carports work great with wire on outside) and they work great, even kind of insulated for winter and summer.

Thanks for the ideas. Do you lay anything down on the floor of the resin shed?

 

[BGMatt]

Thanks for the ideas. Do you lay anything down on the floor of the resin shed?

Just the bedding. Usually a mix of pine and cedar shavings. Sometimes I use hemp by itself or mixed with cedar if I can find a good deal on it.

 

[KCGirl]

They are not good.

Too small, no ventilation and hard to work with.
Hard to work with meaning it's difficult to extract chickens from these types of setups and if you tend chickens for any length of time you know you will, sooner or later, need to take a chicken off the roost to work on her/him.

You'd be better off modifying a built from scrap or existing shed into a coop.

And I simply must add, you did notice the fake chickens in the Lowe's coop display, right?? But will also add that they offer no plans. Just a discussion on the build. Without any information about how much ventilation or how to position it. Just "add one or two windows for ventilation".

We are considering purchasing a TuffShed from HomeDepot and converting it to a coop. We aren't the builder types, though I'd love to take a few weeks off work and try it. We were going to have a window on either side and add vents on the back. Sound like a solid plan or totally crazy?

 

[Liz Birdlover]

We are considering purchasing a TuffShed from HomeDepot and converting it to a coop. We aren't the builder types, though I'd love to take a few weeks off work and try it. We were going to have a window on either side and add vents on the back. Sound like a solid plan or totally crazy?

My neighbor did something similar recently, so far so good, but plastic can heat up & condensate...I would think as long as there is plenty of ventilation, vents and/or several windows you can open & opportunity for some shade from a tree or shrubbery & if you can add some predator proof pens for safety from hawks, foxes, raccoons or rats, it can work. Air flow is going to be an important aspect, as anything plastic can become quite stifling. I told my neighbor that when I built wooden coop #2, I put in windows at each side, north, south, east & west, so while I could close the window where the wind may blow rain inside (which you never want, a wet coop can become a sick coop fast), I still have the other windows I can leave open. So for years it has worked well for me, I check wind directions forecast for the day, in the mornings before work & can slide the 1 group of windows partially or totally shut where rain may blow in (only if winds are 20mph or more) yet leave the other directions all open for air. There is also the humidity factor of the chickens themselves, they put off A Lot, surprisingly. You never want to get moisture building up inside the coop. If you ever see condensation on your windows, or smell a nasty odor, that is BAD!
If you can take 15 min to scoop the poop board under the perch every morning, into a poop bucket for your compost heap, that helps. My neighbor had hers delivered about 2 months ago, so when we experience the upcoming July heatwaves, we will see how well it works...as long as there is enough ventilation & humidity does not get stuck inside, it should be ok. She asked me about fans...well if you want to use a fan as an exhaust to suck the humid, hot air out, as long as it's a sealed motor that can't clog up with dust, that is fine, but to have a fan blowing air in, for such a small structure, it would not be good to be blowing directly onto the birds themselves. I actually had a roof fan on my pigeon loft in the past, as heat rises, it would come on at a certain temperature to suck the hot air out...a good idea but the downfall was that the motor in that particular roof fan was Not a sealed unit, so dust ruined the motor. You have to be careful with fans...you need a sealed motor in dusty environments...a motor can overheat & possibly start a fire that way. There are fans used in horse barns, etc. that are sealed, I got some for about $70 each from Amazon a few years ago. But they are set up to circulate air, & blow in the hallway of the larger coop. I can blow the air out of the coop or set on low to blow in the hallway, Not directly blowing air directly on any birds themselves. I know when I first got into coop building...it seemed contradictory & a bit confusing...we need plenty of ventilation, yet no drafts. The goal is no wind blown direct onto birds & no stale air building up heat, humidity or dust in the coop. A good guage is sitting in the coop yourself, hang out a bit, have a chicken on your lap to pet, fuss over, check over...there should be no extra humidity, no odor, no hot or stuffy air, if you feel comfortable, then it's comfortable for them, too. I learned so much information from this site, if anyone here has more useful or additional input, please chime in.

 

[Happy hen lover]

We are considering purchasing a TuffShed from HomeDepot and converting it to a coop. We aren't the builder types, though I'd love to take a few weeks off work and try it. We were going to have a window on either side and add vents on the back. Sound like a solid plan or totally crazy?

Tuff shed wood ? If so I'd find a remnant of lino from local floor guy. Glue down on clean new floor just in case.
I love that idea should work well. Please think about ventilation.

Remember to cover window screens with hardware cloth to keep girls in. I did lots of research before building my coop. But have a very handy hubby with lots of scrap wood and it's worked great. Things I've modified:
Added stock tank heater ( for plastic) to outside waterers.
Added poop boards to ease in cleaning.
Using deep bedding method (little to no smell)
Added perches and stump for entertainment- no free range here.
Avoid chicken toys
Only need 1 nest box for 3-4 hens ... really. (I assumed they would need one s piece but they all try and lay in one. ) trust me on this.
Those are the biggies. Oh and no water in coop.