Sheathing / Siding

[Kalobis]

Good day! Question for the brain trust. I’ve framed out my coop and run, got the hardware cloth sandwiched, etc.

I had originally planned to use plywood for sheathing, then Tyvek, then some sort of siding pending my wife’s approval for aesthetic reasons. I’m in Eastern Canada, and in the winter it routinely gets -10C feels like -15 or so. I hadn’t planned to insulate, based on what I’ve read on this site. But wanted the option too add it in case the first winter I find it’s too cold for the girls.

However, I stumbled across the LP Smartside panels that act as sheathing and siding in one and goes right on the studs. Is that a viable option? Or without sheathing/tyvek will it be too drafty inside? I have plans to ventilate through the soffits and a vent on the front and back walls, maybe a ridge vent as well. And increase as needed, I have a humidity/temperature sensor to put out there to measure. Has anyone used the LP Smartside product for a coop? Did it work well?

Options:
1) plywood, tyvek siding
2) plywood, tyvek, smartside
3) Smartside
4) something completely different

I’m open to an and all suggestions on the envelope for the coop itself. It’ll be 8x4 shed style with an attached 16x8 run, both with gable roofs and shingled.

Getting chicks in March, but they’ll be in the house until their feathers come in. Buff Orpingtons and Americaunas I think.

Thanks in advance!

- K

 

[DobieLover]

Putting the Smartside over plywood/Tyvek would be a complete waste of money. Don't do that option.

LP Smartside panels

This is fine. Or install vinyl over the Tyvek/plywood. Go with whatever is most cost effective or aesthetically pleasing.
I had T1-11 on my shed that I converted into a coop. It just needs to be painted to be weatherproofed.

it routinely gets -10C feels like -15

That really isn't that cold.
My coop is uninsulated and we are currently experiencing low single digits F.
My flock has done fine in temps down to -23F (-30.6C).

8x4

If it's not too late, I'd go 8x8. The 4' dimension is going to make things awfully tight and you are not going to have room to expand the flock.

If you have the coop finished by March, get a brooder plate and you can just brood them directly in the coop. Just toss a doubled up towel over it to make it like a cave with nice dry fluffy bedding underneath and they'll do so much better (as will you and your family) than being raised inside a house.

These chicks were brooded in the maternity ward of my coop and this picture was taken when it was about 24F. They are between 1-2 weeks old.

 

[Sefirothe]

My coop is a converted shed with smartside siding. No insulation. Metal roof over OSB sheathing. The girls seem to be doing well with temps down to 7F at night. No frost bite, not much change to how they are acting. Its usually 5-10 degrees warmer in the coop than out in the run during the day time.

 

[Kalobis]

Putting the Smartside over plywood/Tyvek would be a complete waste of money. Don't do that option.

This is fine. Or install vinyl over the Tyvek/plywood. Go with whatever is most cost effective or aesthetically pleasing.
I had T1-11 on my shed that I converted into a coop. It just needs to be painted to be weatherproofed.

That really isn't that cold.
My coop is uninsulated and we are currently experiencing low single digits F.
My flock has done fine in temps down to -23F (-30.6C).

If it's not too late, I'd go 8x8. The 4' dimension is going to make things awfully tight and you are not going to have room to expand the flock.

If you have the coop finished by March, get a brooder plate and you can just brood them directly in the coop. Just toss a doubled up towel over it to make it like a cave with nice dry fluffy bedding underneath and they'll do so much better (as will you and your family) than being raised inside a house.
View attachment 3729753

These chicks were brooded in the maternity ward of my coop and this picture was taken when it was about 24F. They are between 1-2 weeks old.
View attachment 3729752

Thanks for the reply! If the T1-11 works, then the LP Smartside should as well, looks like a similar product.

We had flirted with the idea of brooding in the coop, which is why I am aiming to have it completely finished by March when we get them. However, I have a 7 and 5 year old, and they want to be super hands on raising the chicks, so we prepared a brooder setup in our basement (with plate, similar to yours).

We may not keep them in there for the whole 6 weeks, or however long their feathers take, but its good to know we can move them out to the coop as needed.

 

[Kalobis]

My coop is a converted shed with smartside siding. No insulation. Metal roof over OSB sheathing. The girls seem to be doing well with temps down to 7F at night. No frost bite, not much change to how they are acting. Its usually 5-10 degrees warmer in the coop than out in the run during the day time.

View attachment 3729762

View attachment 3729770

Is the Smartside right on the studs, no wrap, sheathing, or insulation? That sounds awesome! Less money, and less work, which is the dream.

I was joking with my wife that our first egg is going to be a $1,200 egg based on how much everything is expected to cost haha. Granted, that includes putting in an 8x4 concrete pad for the coop and 6 sonotubes for the run, lumber, wire, running electricity out, brooder setup, etc.

It will be built to last!

 

[Sefirothe]

Is the Smartside right on the studs, no wrap, sheathing, or insulation? That sounds awesome! Less money, and less work, which is the dream.

I was joking with my wife that our first egg is going to be a $1,200 egg based on how much everything is expected to cost haha. Granted, that includes putting in an 8x4 concrete pad for the coop and 6 sonotubes for the run, lumber, wire, running electricity out, brooder setup, etc.

It will be built to last!

Yep the Smartside is directly attached to the studs. I painted the entire interior of the shed (if you are like me and HATE painting....I recommend a paint gun). We attached OSB to the studs on the chicken side of the shed to make cleaning easier. Or at least according to my Dad's way of thinking it would make cleaning easier. I'd have been fine with it either way. There's no insulation between the OSB and Smartside, nor have all gaps been blocked to create sealed air pockets.

And yea, the three that are laying are still laying eggs that are worth a couple hundred at this point.

We didn't bury posts for the run....trying to dig something like that would be a nightmare thru the random fill from my Dad's days as a general contractor and using the area for a dumping ground plus the modified that we used to level and expand the flat area. Just digging the trench for the conduit to run the electric to the shed involved a bulldozer unearthing a boulder the size of a toddler.

Side note, I do not recommend putting the nest boxes this high. They won't use them. All the eggs have been laid on the floor. I'm about to try putting some curtains on there and shavings/hay in the bottom rather than the green turf stuff. If that doesn't work I'll just give in and put some milk crates on the floor.

 

[Kalobis]

Yep the Smartside is directly attached to the studs. I painted the entire interior of the shed (if you are like me and HATE painting....I recommend a paint gun). We attached OSB to the studs on the chicken side of the shed to make cleaning easier. Or at least according to my Dad's way of thinking it would make cleaning easier. I'd have been fine with it either way. There's no insulation between the OSB and Smartside, nor have all gaps been blocked to create sealed air pockets.

And yea, the three that are laying are still laying eggs that are worth a couple hundred at this point.

We didn't bury posts for the run....trying to dig something like that would be a nightmare thru the random fill from my Dad's days as a general contractor and using the area for a dumping ground plus the modified that we used to level and expand the flat area. Just digging the trench for the conduit to run the electric to the shed involved a bulldozer unearthing a boulder the size of a toddler.

View attachment 3729839

View attachment 3729843

View attachment 3729842


Side note, I do not recommend putting the nest boxes this high. They won't use them. All the eggs have been laid on the floor. I'm about to try putting some curtains on there and shavings/hay in the bottom rather than the green turf stuff. If that doesn't work I'll just give in and put some milk crates on the floor.

Looks great! I am planning to paint inside just to protect the wood and make it easier to clean. I also have leftover vinyl to put on the floor to help as well.

Do you find the inside paneling helps with cleaning? I thought about doing something similar with puckboard inside, but at first I am just going to paint and leave it all open.

The plan is for two large nesting boxes (3.5 feet wide) at floor level that stick out the side. One will be blocked off from the inside and I will use for storage, the other will be subdivided into three regular sized nesting boxes.

 

[Sefirothe]

Looks great! I am planning to paint inside just to protect the wood and make it easier to clean. I also have leftover vinyl to put on the floor to help as well.

Do you find the inside paneling helps with cleaning? I thought about doing something similar with puckboard inside, but at first I am just going to paint and leave it all open.

The plan is for two large nesting boxes (3.5 feet wide) at floor level that stick out the side. One will be blocked off from the inside and I will use for storage, the other will be subdivided into three regular sized nesting boxes.

Ask me again in a year and I'll let you know about the OSB sheets on the inside. We've only had the chickens moved in for a week or two. The extent of cleaning I've done is to sift poop out of the PDZ/sand mix on the poop board every day or two.

I have dropped a screw down behind one of the half high boards as I was mounting the wifi coop camera, so there's that....

 

[StinkyAcres]

Do you find the inside paneling helps with cleaning? I thought about doing something similar with puckboard inside, but at first I am just going to paint and leave it all open.

There are pros and cons to having inside walls. Walls can help keep the bedding out of the areas between the studs which are hard to clean. But if there is a gap at the bottom, soiled bedding can slide underneath, never to be seen again. It also could invite rats and mice to live in your coop walls.

Something like puckboard is a good material for walls, especially behind the roosts where the most poop accumulates. I used similar PVC sheets in my duck coop (ducks are WAY messier than chicken though). I would advise against having anything made of OSB around chickens. If it gets wet/rots the chickens will peck at it and eat it and rats easily chew holes in it.

 

[Sefirothe]

There are pros and cons to having inside walls. Walls can help keep the bedding out of the areas between the studs which are hard to clean. But if there is a gap at the bottom, soiled bedding can slide underneath, never to be seen again. It also could invite rats and mice to live in your coop walls.

We put a thin bead of silicone caulk down where the linoleum edge meets the bottom plate and floor. Then squished the OSB sheet down on top of it. That sealed the OSB sheet to the edge of the linoleum and the edge of the linoleum to the wood sub floor.