Metal Shed as a coop?

[nikkik0720]

My chickens have half of my 6m x 6m metal shed.

how many chickens do you have? do you have a picture of how you have it set up for them?

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

My fiance and I are buying a house and it's in an area that we can have chickens. I had 3 chickens years ago, and my dad and I built a coop out of free wood pallets, scrap plastic siding, and an old window. It worked well (it was super heavy, despite not being huge) but it was never properly 'winterized' so the years of PA winters took it toll on it.
My fiance and I want to get 5-8 chickens, and to buy a pre-fab coop that will actually be big enough just isn't feasible for our budget. He did read somewhere that a metal shed can be made into a chicken coop, and we can get a big 10 x 10 metal shed for less than half the cost of a pre-fab coop. I was wondering if anyone's done this and how it worked/how you did it. I know we'll have to add some sort of insulation to the roof/sides, and add in a window or two. We would also add a little door for them that would lead right into a 6 x 10 fenced area (and then they'd also be allowed out in our fenced backyard when we would be outside (there's a lot of hawks in the area, so they wouldn't be allowed out of their specific fenced area without us. Their run would be covered).
I guess long story short, I was just wondering if anyone's made a metal shed into a coop/how it was done/if you recommend it.

We filled in the front of ours with wood/insulation and added a door and chicken door. Works fine for us, we just open the windows in the summer.

 

[nikkik0720]

We filled in the front of ours with wood/insulation and added a door and chicken door. Works fine for us, we just open the windows in the summer.

Was it a metal shed? and where do you live? Where we're at the winters can get quite bitter cold, so I'm worried about insulation. And we'd have to add windows that open to the metal shed and I'm worried that that will be difficult to do.

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

It was a metal shed, yes. We are in Coeur d' Alene, North Idaho. The windows weren't too difficult, definitely a little tricky though. The insulation seemed to work pretty well, we do have a heat lamp in there just in case though.

 

[ChookaPete]

how many chickens do you have? do you have a picture of how you have it set up for them?

I have twelve - but two are baby chicks with their mother, in a separate tent as a maternity ward.

 

[nikkik0720]

**Picture heavy replies coming up!

So unfortunately the plastic shed we wanted is now discontinued. But everyone here's given us hope that a metal shed can work. As far as adding windows, we think we may have figured out a (somewhat easy) solution. Instead of trying to buy/fit regular windows, we will make a cut out and cover it with hardware cloth.
To be able to 'close the window', we will get plexiglass and screw two wooden "channels" on the outside of the wall so the plexi can slide to cover the hardware cloth. This will also let us control how much air can come in through the window (we can have it fully open or partially open)
We'll frame the cut out with wood (inside and out) so the screws can attach fully and securely.
I've been messing around with a free CAD designer online for the past few days and I think I've finally have the coop's full design laid out. I'll post all the pictures below. Let me know opinions and if we should change anything.
We will have a total of 6 - 4.7" solar exhaust fans as well as quite a few ventilation holes. All the holes and exhaust fans will be covered with hardware cloth.
The shed we are going to get does have a roof overhang that should keep the rain/snow from blowing into the vents/fans, but if we see the overhang doesn't prevent it, then we'll add something to help block that from happening.
We will also be looking into how to insulate the coop, even if it's just the roof. Any insulation we put in, will be covered so the girls cannot peck at it/eat it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

To be able to 'close the window', we will get plexiglass and screw two wooden "channels" on the outside of the wall so the plexi can slide to cover the hardware cloth.

I've used that general design to make pop doors. It worked well.

 

[nikkik0720]

We found this shed on Temu. It has decent reviews and seems to be pretty sturdy against heavy wind hold up decent again the snow (which is definitely important in Pennsylvania!)

 

[nikkik0720]

 

[nikkik0720]

I know once we get the shed set up and what not, and after the girls are in there, we may very well change the way everything's laid out.
I know I do want to add more/different roost spots throughout the coop down the line, but this will at least be our starting point.
Should we also add a dust bath area inside the coop?
They will have a 10 ft x 20 ft run attached to the coop as well, and when we're outside, they'll be allowed out in the rest of the fenced in yard to roam around. (The run will be covered so we don't have to worry about hawks or anything getting in from above, whereas the yard isn't so they wont be in the yard unsupervised)