Old wellhouse makes a good coop?

[Rob200]

I have an old well house on my property that is just used for storage, it is 12 X 8, it is on a concrete foundation, just needs some repair work on the inside. I thought about making this into a coop and just taking the door off so the chickens could go in and out, then build a large run attached to the building. Will the opening for the building be too large (it is a full size door). I thought it might let too much wind in? I am in West Texas so not really cold but very windy. How large of a run will be needed for 3-4 chickens to be happy? Free range is not the best, coyotes would like it, but not the chickens, but I want them to have enough space.

 

[JDN]

I'd extend it another 12 feet out but the coop is plenty big for 3-4 birds. What direction does the door face?

 

[Rob200]

South

 

[Ridgerunner]

How cool does it stay in that well house? When I think of a well house I think of a rock or block building that could stay pretty cool due to the insulation value of the rock or block. Where you are heat will be the enemy, not cold. Does it have ventilation? Even with that few chickens you will need some.

The advantage of a small "pop" door is that it keeps weather out, rain as well as wind, when compared to a human door. If you do go with the human door (or pop door) make sure it cannot slam shut on a chicken.

How big a run? With that large a coop you probably don't even need one for 3 or 4 chickens. As dry as West Texas is they will probably turn anything into a dust bowl unless it is really big. The door faces south, it will be pretty hot unless you provide some shade. Even if they don't have anything to forage on I would want some place outside for them. Chickens should see the sky.

If you can I'd cut a hole for a pop door on the north side so it would be shady. You need enough room to walk around in there so size it for your comfort walking in there instead of some magic number of square feet per chicken. With that big coop anything you do to make yourself comfortable will be sufficient. I don't know if that is the 8' or 12' side but make it about 4' wide and cover it well to make it coyote proof. That will be a lot of room for 3 to 4 chickens.

 

[ronott1]

You should be able to make a nice one out of the pump house

 

[aart]

I have an old well house on my property that is just used for storage, it is 12 X 8,

'Well house' makes me think tiny, 4x4x4 at most......8x12 is huge!
Got pics?

Oh, and, Welcome to BYC!

 

[Rob200]

I call it a wellhouse because the previous owners called it that, they used to have a well and I guess they had the machinery in there. It is not stone, as you can see it is wood and plywood inside with shingle siding and roof. it is pretty drafty though. I will have to have a door on the south side because the land slopes down on the north side. I guess I could put a small door in the human door and they could go in and out that way. I have plenty of room so I want them to have alot of room, they will be happier that way I think. It has a window in it that does not open, obviously that does not help for air flow, but I thought I could put a small window toward the top on the south side and north side. The window that does not open will provide light. My intention was to let them just be free chickens in a big coop and I can collect the eggs and let them run around in the backyard with my garden and they can eat bugs. I might have a far too optimistic idea of how this will turn out, but I have wanted chickens for awhile now and I have time to get around to making a coop now.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

That looks like it would be a great coop with more ventilation tho.

Welcome to our FUNomenal Flock!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think that could make a great coop but will need more ventilation. I don't know exactly how it is constructed up at the roof line but one way to improve ventilation greatly is to cut out under the overhang. The overhang keeps rain and snow out. Usually the way those are built is that the rafters (2x4 or 2x6) are on edge and you remove the top part of the wall which leaves you something solid to attach hardware cloth to so you can keep climbing egg eaters and predators out.

Another option is to put gable vents with louvers on the ends. High ventilation is good. Hot air rises so if you have openings up high and a way for cooler air to get in you can keep that thing relatively cool. If hot air is trapped at the top it is not nice. With the openings up high any breezes that go through in cold weather are over the chickens so it doesn't affect them.

I'd put a screened opening in the north side down pretty low. That's going to be the coolest side since it will be in the shade. That maximizes ventilation.

That area sure looks dry but I can't tell how steep that hill is behind it. My pop door is about a foot off the coop floor and is about 12" x 12". You will need a human door into the run anyway, not sure why in the back on the cooler side won't work. But you are looking at it, I'm not, if you want to put the pop door in the human door and have the run on the south side that can work too. You can use the human door too, just put the roosts and nests back away from the opening out of the weather. Just make sure it is locked open when you open it so the wind can't close it.

Don't give up on that building. I think it is great to reuse what you have and that has real possibilities.

 

[Hardknockshomestead]

I love the idea of using your well house as a coop!
Our coop is a converted milk house. It works great.