More newbie questions

[Freaya]

Instead of building a coop from scratch I am considering converting a garden storage container (from B&Q) into a coop....

Materials -Timber vs. steel.

My concerns here are mainly re. temperature control in both summer and winter with a steel storage box. The location will be in partial shade beneath a soon to be seriously pruned sycamore so it shouldn't give me roast chicken and poached eggs in summer but would it be possible to add some insulation during winter. Whilst we don't have too many hard winters here we all had a rough one 09-10 so it is fresh in the mind.

The steel would be very easy to clean with all nest boxes and perches being removable for cleaning leaving almost no good hiding spots for red mite. Timber is almost always tongue and groove so harder to clean and yards of nooks and crannies for the mites.

For all types add nest boxes, roosting bars, ventilation and pop hole. Then build run.


-Coop size.

I am reading all sorts of recommendations for square footage per hen inside and outside the coop. Inside from 1-4 sqft and outside from 4-10 sqft. Whilst I am trying to give the chickens a good home (far from battery conditions) I expect that they will want to spend most of their time outside in the run where I am going to concentrate my efforts but in very bad weather I guess they might choose to spend more time indoors so I have to find a balance.
We can't be truely free range as there is just not the fencing budget and there are foxes about so I want a generous but secure pen. When I am outside working on the veg then they will be encouraged out for a little exploration.

Also on coop size I would like to start with a medium size coop (6-10 hens) but may only start with 3-4 hens. Will an understocked coop get overly cold in the winter without the extra body mass to keep them warm? I will extend the run in sections as the population increases as it will have to be segmented/terraced (due to the grade of the land) but it isn't as easy to expand the coop so I want to get the larger coop from day 1.

Any advice gratefully recieved...

[Nicos]

Hi I've moved your thread so more chookaholics will get to see it!

Never made a coop myself- but I started with 6 bantam chooks in a pigsty 6ft x6ft x 6ft for their coop - and they were plenty warm enough in the winter- they just roost in one long line cuddled next to each other.

[Freaya]

Just adding a link to the shed-ette that I have my beady eyes on

Canberra Storage Box 5x4ft Cream, TRSC54P

[Freaya]

good call, it was supposed to go into the chicken section, my bad.

[RichmondHens]

My initial thoughts are about the metal - my instinct says unless you can insulate really well I don't know how cold/hot it would get in extremes of temperature. You really don't need much roosting space for 4 - 6 hens. However you DO need plenty of room outside so you should make the run as large as you possibly can. The word "coop" implies house and run combined, and most on the market are poorly designed and way too small for even a couple of hens. I would think of a house + run as separate items.

Your measurements of 4 - 10 square feet for a run is tiny. Do you mean metres? Even 10 sq metres is not huge but would support 4 hens as long as you moved them to fresh ground 2 -3 times a year.

[julesapple]

I know we don't often get really really hot weather, such as we're enjoying now, but that storage container just says 'baking tray' in this heat.

I know wood takes more time in maintenance, but I think it's better as it's natural.

Jules

[its hilly]

My friend has one similar she uses as a store, semi-shaded, would be way too hot in any sun at all, it simply soaks up heat like an oven. Sorry Freaya. Go for timber, get a coop made from marine or external ply, dont look as 'country' but they are easier to clean and can simply be sealed down the joins with mastic to stop the dreaded red mite lurking in the corners. Even if you dont want to make it yourself, you could see if a local joiner would stick you one together. There are plans on here by Bramble Poultry stickied which work very well.
Ok, my experience is that they prefer to be outside, except in really vile weather. 1sq ft inside isn't too bad, mine have around 1.5sq ft each and are perfectly happy with it. Outside, I agree with Richmond, you can never have too much room but you can have too little. My pens have roughly 1.5/2 sq yds/m per hen..but they are not in them all year round. They are penned in spring and early summer possibly for four to five months then free range again for the rest of the year. They do need lots of things to climb on, sratch in, work for (like greens hung where they can only reach by jumping a bit) to keep them occupied. If you cover part of your run with something it gives them a permenantly dry area outside to sit in in bad weather, and keeps food dry too. If you plan to keep adding sections though a smaller start run wouldn't be a problem for a while.
Good luck, they are such entertainment that you will certainly not regret making the space for them.

[Hilary B]

My concern would be ventilation. You can insulate (just as effective against heat as against cold) but you would have to do some drastic adjustment in ventilation terms, probably amounting to a square foot of each end being cut away and replaced by mesh of some sort. The ONLY insulation worth considering would be something similar to Celotex, which you should be able to find in a builder's merchant. Celotex would need a protective layer added, Formica MAY work, but then you would need to seal all the edges as well (inlcuding around the meshed 'windows'). All in all, while it might be possible to achieve something useable, I think it would be too expensive and too complicated to be worth it.

There are PLASTIC garden stores of similar shape, type etc, and with suitable ventilation added, one of those might do, alternatively (and preferably), build one from exterior grade (or better still Marine) ply or Sterling Board as already advised.
I like Sterling Board, it is usually quite a lot cheaper than Marine ply and can be varnished or gloss painted with much less risk of rot caused by the finish not being 'breathable'.