I already have a 10x10 pitched roof "shed" as a coop and I am building another one (maybe even bigger!). I know I want to put in full size windows this time. What do you wish you had added/done to your current coop? Does anyone have a regular house door as a front door? How is the circulation in the summer months? Is it hard to clean your coop with it being narrow? My current coop has two big door and I made a framed interior door like thing that is covered with chicken wire and foam insulation for the winter but its a bear to move right now, the hay is layered up high from all winter and the thing doesn't close tight. I have a big handle on it to slide it back and forth to open and close and then I close the outside doors to totally seal them in and night creatures out!
So I want to figure out the best front door for both houses! It did work great for when they weren't old enough to free range and for hot summer nights I even hung a fan to suck the hot air out its just a bear right now.
Any suggestions and pics too would be greatly appreciated!
Building another chicken palace
don't know how i missed this. we have a regular door and storm door on our chicken house. very convenient since i am so tall...
there are no windows. i like the idea of having something very tight to keep out predators, wild fowl, and any chance of AI. not to mention neighbors, LOL
circulation is comething we are working on. we are expanding the poultry part into the rest of the building, and adding wenting in the roof somehow. can't explain it, DH is in charge...
i love the storm door, faces south, and adds heat in the winter months, plus air circulation. just leave it open in the summer. the hollow core wooden door needs to be replaced with a solid so we can make a littl echicken door in it! so much easier to let them out, esp when they are crowded up and waiting for me. sometimes they kick all the bedding against the door, or someone pops an egg out right there. i have to keep a broom by the door to sweep everyithing back at night to close it. so a littl echicken door is a must in a big person door.
we have not been happy with the electrical lights having to run through a hole in the wall and then into a plug. so we are remedying that. and we are adding a light with a switch outside the building anytime i need to go out at night to check on noises, i will have a switch on the outside and an outside light...
the chicken wire roof sags when covered in ice, or when the guineas sit on it. so we will be changing that.
exicted to hear you are expanding. i hope you get lots of suggestions from DGers...
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We also have a 10x10 pitched roof shed as a henhouse. We cut a 1 1/2 w x 2h chicken door in one of the doors on the front. It is on hinges at the top with a hasp closure on the bottom. We use a clip like on a dog leash to lock it at night. We cut a small square out of the opposite wall at the top that is hinged also and covered the opening with hardware cloth so we can open it in the summer for ventilation. It also closes with a hasp lock. The double door in the front of the shed works fine for cleaning it out. just prop it open and start cleaning. One thing I had DH do was to put a handle on the inside of the door that we use to enter the house so it is easier to close if we need to in the winter when we gather eggs.
Hope this helps you.
BTW, we do have a regular window on one side of the house for extra light when we are not using a light. And, we are expanding on that side this year, so it will be moved or possibly that is where the door to the expansion will go. If so, we will put the window on the front so we can make sure the heat lamp is on when we need it.
oh, make the door big enough you can get the wheelbarrow in. that makes cleaning go faster!
Thanks all!
I am now going to use a regular human house front door (and windows if I can find them cheap) I will just have to make sure I add enough ventilation. We bought these cute double hung windows that are made for sheds when we bought the shed kit. Nothing can get in when they are shut and it doubt anything that could reach the screen could get into it when I leave them open during the warm months.
I have some yard saling to do to find some cheap stuff so Hubby doesn't have a heart attack when his Lowes bill comes in!
Well, I asked DH about where to put the cleanout door and he said "on the front". Said he wasn't gonna walk around to the side to clean it out. So, I guess the window will go on the side again.
Stupid little thought - but I am also a contractor so I need to think of these things - make sure you get a door that swings OUT, as an inswing cant go over the bedding easily, and takes up inside room to swing. It also can catch the unsuspecting bird off guard and injure them. I find CHEAP windows at the local lumber yard. They order them, either wrong size, color or just don't get picked up by customer - they need to get rid of them. and will take a hit - don't be scared to dicker on price - oh wait a minute you are from NH, you know how to dicker LOL - my wife hates going in a store with me, I'll haggle price at Wal-mart, the movie theatre, restaurants, if they accept cash, I dicker.Ha Ha HA . All right you don't live too close to me so that I have to keep my biggest secret from you - The lumber yards also have mini DEMO windows that salesmen or companies provide them with to show customers all the features of the full-size. You can get them for about $20 each and they are perfect for playhouses, ice shacks, camps, chicken coops, and bathrooms. Any one from coastal Maine that reads this, pay no attention to me I'm just kidding, they really don't sell them. My next coop will also have a shed roof, tall wall aimed SouthWest, with skinny windows along the top of the wall for winter sun, translucent fiberglass roof for additional light in winter, and electricity! Also an outside light that I can switch on from the house in case of midnight attack by the fox.
I have a flood light pointing at the front of the coop the only way in! Its on all night, the windows are on the side so it doesn't bother them. I wasn't thinking of coop windows a couple years ago and used to see vinyl replacement and those nice thomas?? crank out windows at yardsale cheap!
I was thinking since we are building a super cute new one and this one is up on cement blocks, its 10x10. Can it be moved? I was thinking by a tractor with those big forks, a man drives by with those big rounds of hay all the time. Do you think its possible? I just want to move it back about 12 feet or so.
If you had access to a couple of "skids" (long poles about 8-10" diameter) you could slide them under the building, set it down on the skids, and drag it wherever you want with a tractor or 4-wheeler, or a 4x4 pickup. I have a 12x12 post and beam building that is very heavy, and I can move it with ease this way.
skids...hmmmm I wonder if I can borrow them. They building is on about 12 to 14 blocks I thought it would more steady. I am going to call a friend and see if he has any or can help me. Thanks!
If you have two old dead trees (or live ones work better) they would work, the other thing is when they replace phone or electrical poles you can sometimes ask for the old ones. They work great because they are usually preserved with creosote or tar or something to prevent rot, therefore you can leave them under the building long term. Cedar trees are the best, because they resist rot and are lightweight. You will need a jack to get the building up into the air far enough to slide the skids under and to lower it down onto them again. The other thing is to make sure that you run a short brace, like a 2x4 or similar between the skids (you know, perpendicular to them) and attach it so they cant spread on you when you start to drag the building. Do that on both sides of the building for best results. It sounds complicated but it really isn't, and it makes the building so versatile for the future. Like when the town comes to assess your property for taxes, you can drag the building out into the woods away from your house so you don't have to pay taxes on it....Scott
LOL, you speak from experience. we don't have woods here, and they have satellite pictures...
Oh so I could jack it up and use trees I have acres of trees! Thanks now I know I can do it (with some help!!)