How to turn an old shed into a chicken coop

Please note this blog is no longer updated. (Click here to find my new blog address).


We tried to buy as little as possible and use things we already had to build most of it. Our landlord told us he wanted to tear down the shed, and we asked him not to so we could turn it into a chicken coop. We found old tree branches and screwed them together to make the roost for them to sleep on, and every morning before they depart you can find them all on our make-shift roost.

Here is the outside caged area for them to run around in during the day, we will need to put them in at night to protect them from raccoons and sort. We kept it simple using old scrap 2X2s and posts to build somewhat of a cage. Then we covered the bottom half with poultry netting and the rest with deer netting, using staples and zip ties to keep it together. The girls did manage to get out of this part when they were still pretty small, so we placed old chunks of concrete and old pipes around the base to keep them from finding their way out.

This last part is the ramp/door combo we made for them. We just cut a large rectangle out of the side of the shed and attached it with a hinge and lock. This way we can pull them in at night and they have a ramp to get in and out.

We used these tubs for our garden last year and we had to drill holes in them to let water escape so they will be perfect as nesting boxes for the girls. Our neighbor grew nest egg gourds this year and kindly gave us a few as decoys for the girls to get the idea of where to lay their eggs.

We also cut holes up near the top of the shed and placed netting over them for plenty of ventilation. Chickens make a lot of moisture...I cannot stress enough how much moisture they make. So we attached a large fan near the top to create even more ventilation for them. The next project will be keeping them warm; something we'll worry about come fall.