The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Buffy the eggs layer on November 21, 2010, 06:08:24 pm
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Hi All,
I have recently purchased a very tidy 4 x 6 "Billy Oh" shed from garden buildings direct which I plan to keep my birds in. I know that a number of you use sheds as coops and wondered how you set them out. Mine is 6ft wide by 4ft deep so it ha a good space on either side of the door for fitting 4 nest boxes on either side but I'm not sure yet what to do about perches.
I have cut a large pop hole door in the gable end without the access door in it so that I could potentially use it for ducks or turkeys in future. As a result I would like to make my nest boxes / perches free standing or removable so that I could adapt it for other birds in the future.
any ideas?
Buffy
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And photographs for illustration, too, please, if anyone's got them - am thinking of the same sized shed and adaptability is key!
Eve :wave:
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I think the general consensis of many people is buying a shed and converting it.
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php/topic,8951.0.html (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php/topic,8951.0.html) <<< this topic may be relvent it also has pictures
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Hi There,
thanks for that but its the inside that I am interested in as I already have the shed.
I have an idea of purchasing some plastic boxes with lids and cutting an opening in one end then placing a row of 4 in a simple frame raised up on legs with perches that lead down from them and also provide a ladder to the boxes. Then mirroring that arrangement on the opposite side of the shed.
But Im open to other ideas :-\
Buffy
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hi
tried to upload photos but it wouldn't let me
do you have a fb page i have them on there
Pm me if you want to see
Mx
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Try this link http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php/topic,8761.0.html (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php/topic,8761.0.html)
May bo of more use
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You might want to look at the Soil Association standards as guidance.
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Hi our 2 coops are converted sheds I will try and put pics on but if it doesn't work then maybe someone would like to give me instructions on how to post pics.
well I have no idea how to post pics sorry :wave:
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Hi I bought a second hand 4x6 shed and adapted it for 4 chickens.
1. Cut two pop holes and installed a drop-down hatch attached to a rope and pulley so that it can be opened and closed from outside by the door (a fox-prooof chicken wire run is attached to the outside so the outside of pop hole is not accessible without going into run hence the need for the pulley and rope)
2. attached roost across back end of shed
3. constructed nesting box module out of plywood and clad with over lapping feather edge board. Module is nearly the length of the shed and is divided into two large nests - has hinged lids for egg collecting
3. nesting box module is screwed onto side of shed and propped from below with two sawn off fence posts
4. holes cut through side of shed to create access from inside to nesting boxes
5. Fox-proof run is split down the middle so that one side can be rested whilst chickens use the other - hence need for two popholes.
The design works well and having two popholes means that we can add new chickens next spring by dividing the inside with a hinged partition so that they don't fight - the run is already divided into two.
Hope this helps
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ours are in a 6x4 shed, with an old kitchen wall unit for a nesting box, and branches screwed into the sides of the shed for them to perch on. bob hole is on the side, it exits into a run, but usually i leave the door to that open so they have access to the wide blue yonder.
i'll do a pic for you next time i am home in daylight, which will be thursday.
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Thanks All,
what a creative and resourceful bunch you all are. I have pmd those of you who had difficulty posting photos with my email address so you can send some through.
I will send some pics through as I progress my design.
Buffy
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We moved our chucks out of their stable into a 6 x 4 shed over the summer when red mite became a real issue with them in their makeshift coop. The shed has 3 perches which are raised utilising 22mm copper piping. These are vaselined all over and especially at the base and where the pipe meets the perch - stop the little buggers getting to the birds. I also sealed all of the wood-wood joins and in between the slats to make it even harder for them to set up home. The front door has a pop hole and mesh air vent at the top, although it also goes onto a hasp/lasp affair so they can get in and out that way if they desire!
They have three plastic toy boxes converted into laying boxes which are also raised, but the ladies choose not to lay in there, instead preferring the dark confines of one of the stables where we store our hay! The girls went through a period of non-laying/not laying where they were supposed to when we first moved them but not all prefer to go in the hay barn!
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Vaseline? - thanks for the tip!
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Thanks Captain,
it would appear that the red mite brings out the innovative side in all of us. I like the copper pipe idea though I have found that creosote has really got to grips with my red mites. I have also dusted the boxes and the birds with diatom as well as putting it under the tree where they dust bathe.
I have decided to screw horizontal batons on to the walls of my shed to support a removable board which the nest boxes ( also removable )will sit on and diaganal batons with cut outs in to support a serise of perches which will also act as steps up to the nest boxes. This arrangement will be on each side of my shed with a couple of perches going across from one side to the other above the pop hole.
I want to make it all removable so that I have got the flexability to use it for ducks or possibly turkeys but Im not sure how I would need to kit it out if I got some. Another thread I think.......
Many thanks !
Buffy
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pics now in my phone, i'll try post them later for you.
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I suppose my wife would call me a shedaholic and so my words might be biased.
I would never keep poultry in anything other than a shed - it has height and it is usually box-shaped, by far the best configuration for maintenance and general usefulness.
Depending on how many hens you are having might determine your best way forward.
Sheds ar great for giving space and airiness, both advantages for fowl.
Once you start cluttering the floor space too much those advantages can be lost.
Is it tongue and groove or overlap? If tongue and groove it is not at all dfficult to remove lengths of cladding carefully to make apertures to attach exterior nestboxes. These make for easier collection and leave interior space free. With roosts over droppings boards well off the floor, it leaves you (and the hens) with the full 24ft square of floor which can be a boon in bad weather and will give the birds space.
I'd go for sheds every time - they are better value for money and should do a grand job.
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Hi there,
here is a pick of my shed. I have fitted a pop hole as you can see. I have also creosoted it but all the snow and -15 temps have got in the way of building the run. Thanks to those of you who sent me photos they gave me some great ideas.
Buffy