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*~*~WARNING~*~*
This is a VERY long, PICTURE HEAVY coop build article. Brew a pot of coffee, get comfy and enjoy (I hope!)​
Less than one year into my life with chickens I became one of those people.

You know who I'm talking about. The people who swear up one wall and down another that they will never have more than 10 chickens. Ever. And just a few short months later they are stricken with a severe case of Chicken Addiction, a malady with no known cure. This is then compounded by a secondary infection of Chicken Mathitis Extremus. Oh my.

Yep. That's me. So what's a girl to do when her chicken accommodations can only comfortably house 11 birds? Why she commandeers the 8' x 16' cosmetically challenged shed stuffed to the rafters with a bunch of junk, that's what!

This lovely, albeit quite stinky, structure is destined for greater things.

This side faces the road (north) - that is some sexy paint job, no?!
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This side faces our backyard (west).
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This is the rear of the building (south facing but shaded by the woods approximately 18' away).
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And the east facing side.
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What a diamond in the rough!

A little work to clean this out.
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No problem with all these little elves to help.
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Now, what do I need to convert this shed into my new coop?
Next page: PLANNING
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About author
DobieLover
DobieLover
Animal lover and Doberman addict, health and fitness enthusiast, former runner now hiker, once equestrian and showed Western, Chemical Engineer by training and occupation, House Flipper at heart, unhappily retired from it :(. I eat a Paleo diet which led me to wanting chickens for fresh, healthy eggs. After acquiring my flock, I quickly realized that they play a huge roll in stress management.
I love taking neglected houses and renovating them into someone's home! It is the most rewarding work I've ever done and I loved every aspect of it. So, because I can no longer flip houses, I decided to flip a shed into a coop for me and the chickens!

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-Eridanus-
I was totally engrossed with the flock tales!!! I laughed at Fabio's adventures and am currently observing my coop with a bit of a harsh eye :) Very cool coop!
HorseGirlAbby
What a good article detailing every part of the coop build, as well as some humor added in there for fun. All in all a great read.
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DobieLover
DobieLover
Glad you enjoyed the read!
Racsan
Awesome! Mine is similar but built completely from the ground up, Wish Id of seen this before my build, I would have done a few things your way. May still change a few things with mine next spring when its nice enough to work outside again.
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Comments

Basia St Clair
This is truly amazing! Its really a "people house" for the chickens.

The details are so well thought out. I too will be stealing some of these ideas. I am only 10 weeks into chicken ownership and about 4 weeks past my first coop build. After completing my first coop, out of mostly scrap, kinda gave me the fever to go bigger some day.

I have time for the next project, as the coop and run are holding up for now. Taking all this great information and putting it into Future Plans for Coop 2.

Thanks for sharing!!!!!!
 
DobieLover
Basia St Clair said:
This is truly amazing! Its really a "people house" for the chickens.

The details are so well thought out. I too will be stealing some of these ideas. I am only 10 weeks into chicken ownership and about 4 weeks past my first coop build. After completing my first coop, out of mostly scrap, kinda gave me the fever to go bigger some day.

I have time for the next project, as the coop and run are holding up for now. Taking all this great information and putting it into Future Plans for Coop 2.

Thanks for sharing!!!!!!
Click to expand...
I'm glad the article helped you!
 
feather13
This is a beautiful, functional, incredible coop! Your article was a great read and you have fixed some of the issues I've been dealing with since I've only used prefab coops. Also, from your profile you sound like a really cool person and we have similar interests, so I'm looking forward to reading more of your posts!
 
Vickischics
I love it and good job.
It is aesthtically pleasing to your property.
I hope after all is said and done, Fabio can learn to have a liitle bit more respect for all your efforts in building him a palace for him and the girls. If he doesn't, he might be on the "outside looking in!" Lol.
He IS handsome.
Congratulations on your beautiful Coop. Thank you for sharing.
 
DobieLover
Vickichics said:
I love it and good job.
It is aesthtically pleasing to your property.
I hope after all is said and done, Fabio can learn to have a liitle bit more respect for all your efforts in building him a palace for him and the girls. If he doesn't, he might be on the "outside looking in!" Lol.
He IS handsome.
Congratulations on your beautiful Coop. Thank you for sharing.
Click to expand...
Fabio is doing fabulous. I don't remember the last time he flogged me. His leg feathers have never looked so good! That boy is an amazing rooster with the flock. He breaks up scuffles that get out of hand with the hens, helps protect his chicks, keeps the cockerels in line if they are abusing the pullets and is always on the look out for threats. He gently eats raisins from my hand after giving most of them to his hens.
 
BlueHorse17
Heavy on the photos, but that just makes it even better! I loved the descriptions and how thorough this was! It’s beautiful!
 
Fowldad
Nicely done! I have to be honest about it, what caught my eye were the dimensions 8X16. I built a coop on an old 5th wheel camper frame 7.5'X25' (BTW I left one axle under it so it is still mobile and will move it this spring and till the uncovered foot print). I was wanting to see your ideas for roosting boards. As I have a 3/4" expanded metal deck all the poop more or less falls through. but I've wanted to better use the space. My original plan was to have the area above the 5th wheel (literally the poop deck) be the roosting area. It has turned into more of a loft to store hay and one side a roost. I'm thinking now that rather than poop trays I could put up poop deflector boards say at a 45* angle? This will give me an excuse to do a Design Modification, as if I need an excuse! I'm probably up to DM 5,000 by now!!! Well not really but I have definitely made a few. All of us have to find out what will work for our situation. And as you suspected/mentioned the windows are the prime roosting spots, I had put in a pair of old sliding glass door mounted horizontally and that's the preferred spot. Very good job!! Ho, as an after thought, sorry you are overrun with butterfly's.:lau
 
ellend
Thewoolyworks said:
Wow I love it! We are working on our first coop/run. We’ve never built anything big before. Love all the detailed info and pics. We are still trying to decide what to use for the run area on the ground. Thinking about sand 🤔 but I see you are using wood chips. Why did you choose this material? Where did you get your chips from?
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If your run area gets wet, I would recommend NOT using sand--gets really gross. INSIDE, where it stays dry & is easily sifted, sand is wonderful; I won't use anything else. Note: I'm in northern Ohio and it gets bitter cold, so with the sand floors for keeping cleaning easy (no mites since I went to sand, either) I have SweeterHeaters plugged into Thermocubes. The sand in the house means no humidity problems; poops dry quickly and are easy to sift out. You don't need a lot of sand; too much is just more to sift. I have less than 1/4 inch, and sift very frequently--it takes minutes.
 
RoyalChick
Wow what a wonderful coop and a wonderful article. I loved the details and the design is wonderful. I just wish I had found it before I started on the Chicken Palace, it would have saved me a lot of agonizing!
In the end I made a number of similar design choices you made and I love my Chicken Palace. But I had to get professional help, I am completely in awe of your abilities!
I didn't totally understand what you did with the chicken shrub - it looks like it is outside the run but in a fenced in area outside the run. Is that right? I assume the fenced in area isn't predator proofed so do you supervise them when they are out?
Sorry for the detailed questions, but we really do have a similar set up and that is what I am wrestling with at the moment (well not literally at the moment as it is cold, windy and raining and the Princesses have no interest in leaving the covered run today!).
Once again, just wonderful and thank you for sharing. I had in mind to do something similar on my Chicken Palace build but I won't ever be able to match this so I might abandon that idea!
 

Table of contents

Overview PLANNING DESIGN DEMO AND CONSTRUCTION RUN CONSTRUCTION MOVE IN AND MODIFICATIONS POP DOOR DETAILS WINDOW DETAILS The Cameras!! RECOVERY View full article

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DobieLover
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