Chicken's housed in part of shed ?

[sarahkeast]

I want to get some chickens in the spring, probly 4, and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions regarding houses.

Instead of building a separate hen house, how feasible is it to make a perch and nesting boxes, kind of cut off and into a large storage shed ? I was thinking of at one end, kind of under a work bench, separated from the rest of the shed which will have bikes, garden stuff and a work bench in it. I would then fence off a run around the end of the shed as well as making a mobile run to move around the garden.

Anyone done this ? any design suggestions ? web links ? pictures ?

Thanks

Sarah

[Annpan]

Sounds perfect Sarah

I built our chicken house... which leaves much to be desired... I couldn't find any decent online plans and even borrowing a chicken house plans book didn't get me anywhere... Just looked at all the ideas, worked out materials I had and set about it. I'll be building them a new one in the spring, still they seem happy enough and are surviving the current sub-zero temperatures.

We have a movable run at the moment but (when we don't have a foot of snow) the girls just free range, they are much happier that way IMO.

[sarahkeast]

Thanks for the support Ann. I wont be able to do totally free range as I also have 2 border collies. already hoping that the dogs will leave the chickens alone when in a run, they arent too bad with my brother's chickens. will have to 'train' them with a super soaker as a deterent !

[shell]

we have a shed partioned in half,with a door inside to get to chicks,will post pics if i can,it is surrounded by a pen on on side,i`m not very good at discribing but it really is a great job,dh put a box inside to access eggs with a lid on our side,a sliding hatch to let chickens into pen without us opening the gate,and we have storage for the pellets etc in a large plastic bin in our part of the shed,and a large shelf to hold cleaning stuff etc,the door to the shed is on our side.sorry if this is too vague. :?only trouble we have is a couple of days ago found hole where rat must of got in but dh blocked it and we let the cats out at night, my jack russell brought a dead rat in the other day hope it was him that made the hole.

[Odsox]

Yes, I did this as well and it works really well.
I built a shed out of concrete blocks and left a block out at ground level for a pop hole.
Inside I built a wall across one end out of 3x2 and wire netting with a couple of nest boxes at the bottom and a perch across to the outside wall. They also have an electric light (9 watt CFL) on a time switch for the long winter nights to postpone their moult.
It works very well, their food and water is inside so no frozen water in the winter and the dirt floor with deep(ish) litter keeps them amused when the weather's nasty.
Outside there are 2 runs which I can alternate on a regular basis which gives the ground time to recover.

Maybe a little bit expensive but I built it 15 years ago knowing that I would be keeping chicken forever and since then I have not had to do anything to it (apart from collecting the eggs)

[sarahkeast]

Shell and Oddsox

That sounds exactly like I want to do. If you have any pictures I would love to see how it is all laid out. I am awaiting a book from the library on building smallholding and farm projects, hope this will have some more guidance too.

Thanks

Sarah

[Thomzo]

Hi
My 'shed' is actually a log cabin with three rooms downstairs (yes it has an upstairs too). The chickens have one room with a pop hole cut in the wall to the outside run. At the moment, the chickens stay in all day with deep litter for scratching/bathing in, nest boxes and a perch. It works really well for me. I also have a moveable run that the chickens can be transferred to in the daytime - but I only use that when I'm at home.

The only downside is that the inside of the shed gets REALLY dusty. Chickens produce a lot of dust so expect all the contents of the shed to be covered in it. It's quite greasy stuff as well so doesn't brush off easily.

Zoe

[Ben1971]

Hi. I have done this with a 6 x 3.5 shed. I built a wall in the middle of the shed but only went as high as 1ft, just to contain the bedding material etc. I then seperate the rest with an old shower curtain hung from the roof. The chicken always stay on their side of the curtain and I store their food, shovel and gardening tools in the other half. I cut a pop hole and made a sliding door for this. I put a roost pole going from the internal wall to the shed's outer wall then a higher one going across the rear corner. I also made a 1ft x 1ft nest box in another corner. I keep four hens in this. I then made a run outside the shed. I always keep some food in a hopper inside the shed so it doesn't get wet in the rain. I found using my shed was the best way to use space.

Good luck!

ps. I will try to post some pics

[JulieSherris]

Sarah, my stepdad did something similar years ago... but he kept things VERY simple.....

On one side of the shed, he built a run - then inside the shed, he built 4 boxes... one box had a perch big enough for 4 hens... the other 3 boxes were smaller & had open fronts - these were the nest boxes..
All 4 boxes had lift up tops so you went into the shed to collect the eggs... you went into the run if you wanted to check the chooks. The perch box had a small door on the outside to close them in at night & they kept hens that way for around 7 years - simple, but it worked!
Half of the run nearest to the shed was covered in perspex roofing to give them cover in bad weather.

A good thing to remember is that chooks don't need HUGE accommodation - they're happier being packed in cosily - and this helps keep them warm in the winter too - good luck!

[Ben1971]

This houses four hens quite easily.

I made the run to make use of the space around three sides of the shed. I am also in the process of penning off a small area of the garden to allow then access to grass but when I'm not around they stay in the run, safe from foxes (I hope).

I leave their pop hole open all the time as it means they can get out in the fresh air as soon as it's light (and it means I get a lie in )

You can add and change things as time goes on. You just have to make sure they get the basic requirements.

DSC01225 [1600x1200].JPG (106.64 KiB) Viewed 3681 times

This is the inside of my shed. I have devide it half so that I can store garden tools on the door side. I used wood planks part way up and the rest is seperated by an old shower curtain . You can just see a bit of the flymo, bottom left. I have got easy access to the nest box to collect eggs, without having to construct one of those exterior ones you often see.

DSC01318 [1600x1200].JPG (137.1 KiB) Viewed 3681 times

DSC01322 [1600x1200].JPG (150.8 KiB) Viewed 3681 times

This is the new extension round the back of the shed :). I have made a gate that will eventually lead to a penned area of the garden (when I get round to it and if it stops raining).


Good luck and enjoy!