[hutchys]

Hi,
     I am looking to convert an existing shed into a chicken coop. It is 8x6 foot and searching through the history this is more than large enough for 8 to 10 hens.
My question is boarding it out. I have some spare ply board that I am going to use but I have seen posts about this being a bad idea due to red mites.
If I did board it out and sealed all the joints including screw heads surely this would leave less nooks and crannies then a just leaving it as it is?
Also felt on the outside of the roof. This is 6 feet tall so do these mites walk up 6 feet through any nooks they can find go outside (in the cold) and then return for a feast at night? Sorry if that is a stupid question being new to this I would have thought the less they have to move and the closer they are to food so to speak would be the more obvious choice.
Any help would be appreciate and also any thought on converting a shed would be great too
Jim

[ANHBUC]

The problem would be that if you did get an infestation in between the panelling you would not be able to treat it.  The same with roofing felt as they can live up to 6 months without feeding.  You might think you have got rid of them but they can be still there hiding between the layers.  There is some information on them HERE.  A friend of mine had an infestation in a shed and ended up burning it down after failing to get rid of them. 

I have a shed with Onduline/Coroline roofing which I am going to use for some new birds that has an attached run (not quite finished).  I am not going to use the full shed but make removable coop box/s with nest boxes which will be inside the shed with a pop hole in to the run.  The rest of the shed I will use for storage and brooding, again in removable units.  That way if I get an infestation I can take them out and treat them away from the shed.  I will of course still have to treat the shed but the birds will still have somewhere to sleep.

With a shed the size you have you might be better converting in to a coop with covered run.  If you replace some of the sides and front panelling with welded mesh and make an internal coop at one end.   

 

[GrannieAnnie]

As ANHBUC says, don't board it out.  the mites are soooooo tiny, they can live in such tiny crevasses.  My OH sectioned our 16x8 shed into 4 pens for our breeding birds once.  the partitions were plywood, and the mites even got behind the layers of ply!!   

They don't retreat to the outside of the shed, once they get in they stay there, only coming out at night to feed on the chickens.

Our biggest shed is over 7ft tall at the front with a felt roof.  They weren't under the felt at OH put bitumen down all over the roof before he put the felt on, but they were in the joins of the joists, in between the T&G wood, everywhere!  Took me weeks to get rid of them.

[hutchys]

Thank you for the replies I am going to build a run approx 20x10 foot covered some of the way about 1m and then wire meshing  the rest. Approx 2.4m high with wood 1m high from the bottom and meshing the other metre or so. The meshing would be 1x1inch and 1.6mm wire.
This will be based on my allotment so I need to make sure it's fox proof I will have scaffold boards at the base of the run all around the edge two boards together laid flat so they cannot dig under.
Does this sound OK?
I was thinking of partitioning the coop off just for storage is there any need to have the nest boxes outside so to speak or are they as easily collected from inside the shed?
New to this and want to get it right so a lot of questions, sorry.
Jim

[ANHBUC]

A fox might still be able to get in if you don't have either a roof or mesh over the top.