# Question about turning a shed into a chicken coop



## biobacon

So ive been looking at my old metal shed that is used only for storing a washer/dryer and some old paint. Do yall think its at all practicle to turn it into a chicken coop? Its got a concrete foundation and I will need to build some nesting boxes and attach a run to it but do yall think?


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## cowboyhermit

I think it can be worth it for sure, need ventilation but as long as it doesn't get too hot it should be fine. Not sure exactly what your climate is like but I have found the automatic vent openers to be useful, typically they are used on greenhouses but can be great on something like this.


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## swjohnsey

And some roosts.


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## *Andi

We used an outbuilding for a coop and it worked out fine. A lot of different things comes into play but if it is solid and you have ventilation all you need to add would be the roost, nest box and a run. (Yea, we use a run ... to many wild critters looking for a chicken dinner)

Best of luck!


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## Navajo

the house we are renting is currently set up that way....about a dozen cheaply built roost and they run free all over the place

The last renters converted it....seems to work


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## OldCootHillbilly

Do just fine. Few mods an yall got a cheap chicken house.


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## lilmissy0740

biobacon said:


> So ive been looking at my old metal shed that is used only for storing a washer/dryer and some old paint. Do yall think its at all practicle to turn it into a chicken coop? Its got a concrete foundation and I will need to build some nesting boxes and attach a run to it but do yall think?


 My first coop and still is a metal shed. Last year we put wood on the front, my coops are set up like an old western town, lol. I have had it for 6 yrs now. I bought it from my neighbor who was ,moving for $25. The guy ran into it with a lawn mower. Not bad though. We did pour a concrete floor for it. I put two windows on the one side and cut some ventilation holes in the back and put metal vents over it. I did line it with radiant barrier, helps to keep it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.


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## biobacon

You know I hadn't thought about ventilation, Yeah Im that stupid, so thanks for the heads up. I live in Ohio so it can be any where from about -5 to 105 depending on weather conditions and they change all the time.


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## goshengirl

bio, I highly recommend Buckeye chickens, 'cause, well, they were bred for Ohio.  I've never raised anything else, so I don't know how they compare. But my family is definitely a rookie chicken-raising family, and our Buckeyes have been a piece of cake. They take the heat and cold just fine. They're a beautiful color, too. We're down to just five girls now - in the winter we got about a dozen eggs a week from them, now we're getting 1.5 - 2 dozen eggs a week.


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## biobacon

Ty goshengirl. They are actually what I want. I was going to order the chicks from Meyer but it appears that tractor supply company is actually a little cheaper for water and food bowels. Mrs BioBacon is now 100% on board with the chickens and is even saying we might get some rabbits in fall of next year if the chickens work out. She loves the ceramic pans I got her and we never use the Teflon stuff anymore, heck shes cooking a lot more now then ever before. Funny how in less then a year we are where we are and I can see that we are getting there to being urban homesteaders. I let my subscriptions to Nascar Illustrated , Americas Civil War and some other publications go and now we are reading Urban Farm and Countryside. I read Grit and Mother Earth News for free from the Library. Assuming that there is a tax refund in 2014 we are going to use it to buy the birds and insulate our 130 year old house. Of course Ive joked with my wife that we should just gut the place of any modern crap and drop it back to 1880 when it was built. LOL


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## lilmissy0740

biobacon said:


> You know I hadn't thought about ventilation, Yeah Im that stupid, so thanks for the heads up. I live in Ohio so it can be any where from about -5 to 105 depending on weather conditions and they change all the time.


I live in PA, our weather is just as weird. I do keep a heat lamp inside for the winter. But I only turn it on for their water, don't want it to freeze. Only used it 3 or 4 nights this year.


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## Jimthewagontraveler

Realize if you can make the fencing mobile you can move it
to the back/left or right side of the barn in order to change their
Pecking area,,
I like cattle panels ($30?) covered in 1x2 welded wire($?)
They can be moved by 1 old guy!
Put a 1'x1' door on each wall when that door is not in use jam/screw
a square bucket in the hole and somebody will lay eggs in it.


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## Jimthewagontraveler

Oh almost forgot by using a tunnel (they like 2' wide)
you can move the pen far out from the barn( less mowing!!!)


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