[Bodger]

Does anyone fancy doing an article on how to:-

Buy an ordinary 6x4 garden shed and then how to convert into an adequate chicken coop. I'd do it but with my set up and the fact that we are due to move house, unfortunately I don't need one.
I'm sure that such an article would go down very well.
I'm prepared to do the pictures of how to make the run to go with it.

[mobyjones]

blooming fantastic idea. It would be great for people thinking about starting off. I hope someone can do it with lots of pictures.

[muntjac]

take a 6x4 ft shed of tongue and groove construction .iether pent roof or full pitch ^ . and then cut a hole in the base of the door 12 iches wide by 16 high . frame it with 2x 1 inch deal timber ( lay the door on trestles to do this .. ) now add a cross member to the bottom going across the door completly .allow space for shutting the door to on both sides ...... now take a piece of 1/2 inch marine ply and cut a panel to fit the door by 1 inch on both sides . now fit a batten of 1. 1/2 inch by 2 inch with a half inch  by 1 inch recess for the panel to slide down into / now drill a 1/2 inch hole in the top corner of the panel.. now sliding the panel up to the fully open position dril through the panel and into the door .. go through now drill and fit a small square of wood to the back of the door on this drill hole ... now drill completly through the batten using the first hole as the guide //// now you can make a peg to hold the pop hole door open .now drill a hole at the lowest point on the door that the panel drops to ./you can use this now to secure the door in place using the same peg ..........................
now make a series of boxes 14 inch wide by 16 inch high and place them on the wall supports using a cross batten to screw them to .place them about 6 inch off the floor ... now in the rear of the shed .build an A frame and drill and mount this to the rear and floor of the shed ..........for the birds to perch on , have cross battens 1. 1/2 thick for the birds feet to grip to ...........
now to make  a rectangular frame of 2x2 inch planed medium hard wood make the  frame the hieght of the eaves on the shed or the roof if a pent roof . approx 6ft high by 8ft long . 2 sides of this covered in wire . fit battens inbetween the width of the wire ( deduct a little for the wire to over lap on to the joists ) to strengthen it , now makea piece the width of te shed front and the same hieght as the sides . make a door hole in this and a door to fit ..........cover with wire .use bolts on all access points ,,,,,,,,,,,if you want a roof make it the same as the sides but with the different measurments
one shed and coop fit for chucks  any extras you can choose for ya self

[Bodger]

I was going to say that Munty       That should do the job

How much do you reckon it would cost ? I think you can get the sheds for around the £100 mark still.

[muntjac]

£160 them shiplap .overlapping plank ones are no good they got to many holes for draughts and hidey holes   .. wires about £50 -£60, timber another £30 -£50 .   may as well buy a ready made one

plan here for another model
http://www.i4at.org/surv/poultry.htm

also ready built models

http://www.henhouses.co.uk/

[Bodger]

It would still pay to do it this way because it would be better, bigger and cheaper than a bought in coop and remember , quite a few people inherit sheds when they move somwhere.

Second hand sheds are also quite often advertised at even more reasonable prices.

[muntjac]

oh yeh secondhand stuff wil bring the cost down by heaps . a shed built from old pallets wil do so even more  

[richyrich7]

Mine live in the back half of the shed, biggest cost I had was 1 roll of wire £6.99 nails, screws, feed, drinker  and hens. Had most of the wood laying around or I cut down from planks.
If you are free ranging 1 roll of wire would still do just for a wire door, everything else can be made from wood etc. if you kept just 6 birds on deep litter on wet days they would surely have enough room  to be in there all day and be reasonably happy ?

I have a cut through section of a converted shed, but can't post the pic's. I'm sure I'd be hammered for copyright.

[muntjac]

i dont worry about em getting wet .... they is birds not my washing on the line    

[richyrich7]

i dont worry about em getting wet .... they is birds not my washing on the line    

   my new ones go in when it rains  :shock:  last one just used to sit there looking thick.

[muntjac]

i dont worry about em getting wet .... they is birds not my washing on the line    

   my new ones go in when it rains  :shock:  last one just used to sit there looking thick.

#





maybe they was just taking a shower, birds can be image concious you know  :roll:

[chicksforkicks]

muntjac, cant belive you actually sat there and wrote that :shock:

[muntjac]

ermmmmmmmmmm why / is my grammer bad    

 only did it cos DD  said to his fault wasnt my fault he made me do it ............... antyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy i need blanky :cry:

[muntjac]

and he said he was gonna do pictures .. maybe ran out of crayons  

[chicksforkicks]