Thanks to a fox taking off two of our hens and then the would-be-butcher never getting back to us, we ended up keeping the six last chickens from what was to be a broiler flock. We now have eight hens and a very loving rooster. Needless to say, that left us needing to either add on to the old coop or gain a new one. We decided to go with a “new” one, or more specifically, to revamp the old wooden shed and build a new metal shed. We were able to scrounge a lot of the wood needed to alter the old shed. Only four 2X4s were purchased, and technically only two full ones were used.
Front of the shed showing the new chicken door.
The girls don’t seem to mind their new home. The surprising thing: NO fights!
Interior of the shed/mini-barn. The bottom half of the wall is a pallet that we had lying around, the chip board was extra from building the floor to the new shed, and the screen door was the old one from off the back of the house. The only “new” pieces here are the 2×4 bracing for the door and some of the hardware.
Inside shot of the nesting area. There are eight small nesting boxes made of four larger ones. The dividers are removable for easier cleaning. The roosting bar is from the chicken tractor and the plant hangers are extras we had from another project.
Water and feed area. I’ll have to do something different with this as they keep using the bar as a roost. For now I’ve been moving the containers at night.
We ended up having to close everyone in the new coop for a full day before they would go in on their own at night. (They had been circling the old coop and tractor like vultures. It made for a hassle carrying them to the new coop every night.) We haven’t lost any egg production with the change and, even better, we haven’t had to deal with frozen water at all as their new set up stays warmer at night.
