need to pick your brains...

[janeyo]

Our homemade henhouse hasn't weathered well despite being preserved etc...

I am having a debate with OH as to the best way to get the next one. We can't afford an eglu (don't really want one anyway) and second hand sheds are like gold dust round here. I have thought about converting a plastic shed but that could still prove problematic in terms of ventilation etc.

It's just the coop that we need to re-do as they free range in an enclosed run of about 25m squared.

Can I ask what you've got if you've only got a few hens like us?

If you made it, from what? How much total cost?
If you bought it how much was it? Are you happy with it?
Are there any changes you would make to a bought one or if you re-made one?

Thanks in advance!

[Two_Sheds]

Tell us what specifically is wrong with yours. Too draughty? Leaks?
Got any pix?

[lynda66]

i did think about getting one of those plastic garden storage chests, they look ideal for a few chooks, but figured i'd want more

[Glutton4...]

My ex-neighbour uses Rabbit/Guinea Pig hutches, small dog kennels, anything really. Old tea chests, if you can get them.

I just did an eBay search based on location, and I had to wait several months, in the end that's where I found my £5 shed. It was 20 miles away, but I figured it was worth the fuel!

[kirsty b]

I got a second hand shed from a timber merchant just up the road from me. It was £60, but to buy the same size (7x7) brand new would have been hundreds. He often has dismantled kids playhouses etc. He also sells chook houses that he has built, think the one I looked at was £100 or thereabouts.

[Hilary B]

How big do you want it? The plastic storage bin idea might be quite good, if you can sort out ventilation, perch and nestbox. It would at least avoid the problems wood can cause. If you do go for a wooden 'box' (I had a couple of tea-chests for quite a while, up on bricks, and a plastic sheet nailed over the top to shed rain) you can EITHER paint inside OR outside, but NOT BOTH. A rabbit hutch could well be the answer for just a few chooks (got a nestbox built in, with its own door).

[janeyo]

Ours is made from marine ply and it had 2 coats of wood preserver on. It still went mouldy inside and outside in a year! And there is adequate ventillation. It may ne that it is a bit too big for 3 hens as it could easily accommodate 6.
We switched thee roof to onduline but it made no difference, the dame just seeps in from somewhere!

We simply can't afford to get an old shed, the ones on ebay etc and all over 50 miles away, we have nothing to transport it in and are over £60. With the mods we'd have to make, nest boxes, perches etc, this isn't cost effective.
I could get a plastic storage shed thing for about £40 so that with mods would be much cheaper.

I can't really wait 6 months for one to pop up nearer as the coop isn't getting any better and I have nowhere to put the chickens to try and dry the coop out or paint with creosote.

But our childminder is getting rid of her shed in a few weeks and so we have first dibs on it. Ths would become my tool shed as it is far too big for 3 hens and OH would then remake a new coop from the old shed which is falling apart at the mo, and needs a new roof. I guess th girls will be ok for a few more weeks in theor original coop, am looking for signs of illness but they seem fine.

[Hilary B]

Ours is made from marine ply and it had 2 coats of wood preserver on. It still went mouldy inside and outside in a year! And there is adequate ventillation. It may ne that it is a bit too big for 3 hens as it could easily accommodate 6.
We switched thee roof to onduline but it made no difference, the dame just seeps in from somewhere!

We simply can't afford to get an old shed, the ones on ebay etc and all over 50 miles away, we have nothing to transport it in and are over £60. With the mods we'd have to make, nest boxes, perches etc, this isn't cost effective.
I could get a plastic storage shed thing for about £40 so that with mods would be much cheaper.

I can't really wait 6 months for one to pop up nearer as the coop isn't getting any better and I have nowhere to put the chickens to try and dry the coop out or paint with creosote.

But our childminder is getting rid of her shed in a few weeks and so we have first dibs on it. Ths would become my tool shed as it is far too big for 3 hens and OH would then remake a new coop from the old shed which is falling apart at the mo, and needs a new roof. I guess th girls will be ok for a few more weeks in theor original coop, am looking for signs of illness but they seem fine.

The old shed, of marine ply, are we talking about surface mould, or actual rot? We had PIG ARKS made from marine ply for a couple of years, and even the lowest parts (in the mud) were not rotting. The essential ventilation (from the POV of durability) is to the actual wood. If the surface is sealed, the slightest gap in seal (and there is always some gap) will let moisture IN, but not OUT. THAT is what causes rot!

[janeyo]

The coop is made of marine ply and is just surface mould. But covered inside and out. No idea how to clean it off etc while not having anywheer to put the girls in the meantime. it won't be dry enough in a day to put them back in at night.

If we convert the old shed (nothing wrong with this just needs work) then I can get the coop cleaned up as a 'spare'

[Two_Sheds]

I can't get my head round why it's mouldy and not rotten.

My guinea hutches are outside all year and never go mouldy.

I do however get a lot of mould on the inside of my double-glazed windowsills, where there's no ventilation (esp. behind curtains)

[janeyo]

It's not rotten presumably as is on legs.
I don't understand either! Followed loads of advice on my chicken forum in terms of ventilation etc, and there is adequate.

It must be cos of the fact we are ony half stocked with birds in it, apparantly if you understock your coop you can get mould probs as they don't warm it up enough.

So we have to make a new one!

Only prob is that all the stuff had to come out of the damp loft is in the garage so no room in there to make it!

I wanted to make sure we are not going to just re-make the same mistakes I spose.

[lynda66]

It must be cos of the fact we are ony half stocked with birds in it, apparantly if you understock your coop you can get mould probs as they don't warm it up enough.

you could always get more chooks if that's the case

[Hilary B]

Is this just the dark staining that you get on windows when they have too much condensation, or white 'fluffy' or what? I would apply undiluted bleach (by paintbrush) and see what happens next. Not sure it is actually a problem. If there is lots of ventilation, then you don't have concerns about mould spores. In cold damp conditions there WILL be some condensation. More birds won't reduce it, because while there may be more heat, there will also be more moisture to condense out. If it isn't condensation linked, it will probably disappear before long and not reappear.

[janeyo]

No white fluffy, just black patches that spread. And scrape off with your fingernail.

[Hilary B]

No white fluffy, just black patches that spread. And scrape off with your fingernail.

OH (chartered surveyor) says 'How odd, try bleach' (well he actually named a well known brand that 'kills all known germs'). Sounds definitely like condensation mould, and I can't see that disappearing other than for dryer, warmer weather (it won't actually 'vanish' anyway, but should stop reappearing). The other option for cleaning it off is the stuff they sell for cleaning shower-curtains..... If it scrapes off, it isn't affecting the shed.