Load Bearing Wisdom

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A community for homeowners, and anyone handy or curious, to discuss all the mysteries and pitfalls of owning your own home, from DIY repairs, to navigating utility options, to refinancing wisdom. No hostility or condescension, and show each other respect. #homeowner #homeownership

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Reverendender@sh.itjust.works

I'm planning to,convert at least half my shed here into a chicken coop. It has power and is built on a concrete slab. What do y'all suggest? This will be my first time. (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 5 months ago by Reverendender@sh.itjust.works to c/loadbearingwisdom@sh.itjust.works

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It’s 12’ square and I think 12’ high at the peak.

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[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Oddly there is, so far, very little wildlife in the area. I definitely expected a far different scenario. I have seen ONE deer in the back yard. And that’s it. Also, my neighbor across the street has chickens running around free all day. They don’t get eaten and they know to avoid traffic somehow! The shed has power, so I can just put some smart lights in there. I was thinking like a mini split to keep it above Hoth levels of cold.

[–] batmaniam@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

Traffic I'm not surprised about, but carnivorous varmints I would have expected. The best thing you could do for your piece of mind is to show up with a few brews/muffins or whatever and peep your neighbors setup and pick his brain. I suspect they've lost a few birds to something like hawks at the least (it's just part of free ranging at a certain point), but certainly they could give you input on breed selection. Looking at what their setup is will make you sleep better without worrying when it's wicked cold.

I think a minisplit would be crazy overkill (and would also struggle at the exact point you need it not to!), and would go for some IR bulbs + the pad water heater I mentioned before. You probably need something but they really are crazy hardy. You don't get to be that close to dinosaurs if you weren't doing something right!