Rebuilding an Old Coop for New Birds, Need Pointers

[DemeterAD9]

This will be a coop build but I'm also looking for some pointers from anyone who has more experience!

When my family moved to our current home there was an old chicken coop that had perches and nest boxes but no run to speak of. We built a fence and created a lean-to on the ground at the side of the coop and raised pigs a couple times so there is a skeleton to work with. It has been used as a wood shed and has all sorts of scrap wood odds and ends, plus some bow targets. Now that we are set to keep chickens it is high time to build a suitable home for the 7 two week old chicks plus the next batch of 20ish chicks I'll be receiving in May.

Current plan is to add chicken wire (5 or 6ft?) to the current fence, re-do the roof with left over steel from the new pull barn, re-do the floor with the scrap wood from cotton wood trees we cut and had rough sawn into planks, build a new door, add perches and new nest boxes, and attempt to predator proof the run with hardware cloth.

Measurements for the coop are ~10ft long and 7ft wide+tall. It sits about 2ft off the ground if that matters. The lean-to connected to the coop is about 6ft by 5ft. The run is ~18ft wide and 32ft long.

Here are my current concerns.

1. I think the main critters to keep out will be racoons but we live in MI so there are also skunks, opossum, coyotes, foxes, hawks, owls, bob cats (not many), weasels, mink, and the occasional stray cat. We are not afraid to trap/kill problems animals so no worries there. I plan to lock the birds up securely at night but I also want to be sure coons and whatnot will stay out of the run. We have slanted metal grates about 1ft wide all around the fence that were meant to keep the pigs from rooting under it. I'm thinking 2ft tall hardware cloth as a skirt around the chicken wire would suffice?

2. Keeping the birds inside the run when needed, breeds will be a mix of this and that but I hope to thin them down to the heavier ones like Jersey giants and brahmas but also have some EEs (apparently 2 of my chicks are fathered by a frizzled EE rooster and are frizzles themselves). I'll be clipping wings if needed but I'm thinking 5ft should be alright?

3. Birds of pray, we mostly have red tailed hawks, itty bitty kestrels, and sometimes bald eagles that fly by in the winter. Owls are often heard at night, not sure which species though. There's always a flock of crows around as they nest in the woods behind the house, pick gravel off the dirt road, and forage for bugs in the yard. They often chase off any hawks so I'm not terribly worried about hawk attacks. That being said, I plan to keep the top of the run open but am willing to add mesh if hawk attacks occur inside the run.

4. I want to know how many adult birds I can comfortably house in the coop (not concerned about the run size as they will be free ranged for a few hours every day). The lean-to that served as the pigs' bed can be modified to be part of the coop if needed. I hope to keep at least a dozen hens and 1 or 2 roosters depending on how they behave.

 

[rosemarythyme]

1. Sounds like raccoons are mainly what you want to exclude with the HWC so strictly to prevent reach throughs a 2' high addition of HWC on top of the existing fencing + chicken wire should suffice.

2. 5' fence should be enough to keep heavy breeds and frizzles inside at adulthood. Teens could possibly go over the top but since the fence as shown has no top rail for them to fly to and then leap over, I think that's a little less likely?

3. I also have crows that chase raptors around but still had a loss to a small hawk. But if you're willing to take your chances then you can take a wait and see approach. Of course ground based predators can also go over the top but if birds are locked in securely at night that might help mitigate risk a little bit (I only have netting on top as the hawk attack has so far been my only predator loss).

4. If the coop is 10x7 then that's around 17-18 adult birds. If the lean-to can be modified as part of that then you can bump it to around 25 adults.

I will note that as it stands the existing coop structure has no real ventilation except for the door opening, so depending on where you're located that's something you'll want to look into adding, as the more birds that are housed in there the more ammonia and moisture will build up if it doesn't have anywhere to vent to.

 

[DemeterAD9]

1. Sounds like raccoons are mainly what you want to exclude with the HWC so strictly to prevent reach throughs a 2' high addition of HWC on top of the existing fencing + chicken wire should suffice.

2. 5' fence should be enough to keep heavy breeds and frizzles inside at adulthood. Teens could possibly go over the top but since the fence as shown has no top rail for them to fly to and then leap over, I think that's a little less likely?

3. I also have crows that chase raptors around but still had a loss to a small hawk. But if you're willing to take your chances then you can take a wait and see approach. Of course ground based predators can also go over the top but if birds are locked in securely at night that might help mitigate risk a little bit (I only have netting on top as the hawk attack has so far been my only predator loss).

4. If the coop is 10x7 then that's around 17-18 adult birds. If the lean-to can be modified as part of that then you can bump it to around 25 adults.

I will note that as it stands the existing coop structure has no real ventilation except for the door opening, so depending on where you're located that's something you'll want to look into adding, as the more birds that are housed in there the more ammonia and moisture will build up if it doesn't have anywhere to vent to.

Thank you for the input, I didn't think of ventilation at all. I'll have a chat with my dad but I think we can cut some slots at the top of the coop just under the roof and cover it with hardware cloth pretty easily. Adding in some windows that can be open/closed and covered in HWC should do the trick for the warmer months too.

As for number of birds, I'm glad to hear I can keep so many. There will probably be around 30 by the time I am done brooding chicks but numbers will drop as the birds mature and extra roosters are culled. If all goes well and butchering my own birds doesn't cause me too much mental trauma, I will probably let them brood their own chicks to have a steady supply of replacement layers and meat birds.

 

[DemeterAD9]

I've settled on 5ft fencing, figured 150ft for 110$ was pretty good and it should be here in a few more days. The door into the coop will have a screen window (hardware cloth).

So far the roof and flooring has been replaced, I just added a coating of water sealant to the floor as the wood is rough sawn and had not been treated.

I've jotted down some measurements
1. Nest boxes-14X14X14 there will be 5 or 6 boxes.
2.Roost bars will be 2X4s or thick branches cut to size. Haven't decided the internal layout though
3. Chicken door will be 14in high by 12in wide and have a door flap that can be let down and secured with a latch/lock.

I'm trying to optimize space inside so if anyone wants to edit these photos with ideas for root bars and nest box placement that would be great. Currently I'm thinking to have the nest boxes at the back along the 8ft wide wall and the roost bars on the left side 10ft wall, possibly with a litter box below for easy scooping of poops.

As for ventilation, there is some but not much just under the roof. There's also some at the corners where the sides are not flush together. I think we may patch that to prevent critters from entering. I'm working on convincing my dad to cut a 4in gap below the roof that stretches about 8-9ft along the 10ft wall and covering it with HWC. Not sure how hard it will be to tack the mesh to the steel though...