I have raised garden beds. I clean the beds out, putting the old plants in my compost pile. I could just leave the beds until spring, but I want to do more. I decided to buy some horse and chicken manure on eBay. They send it in large 5 kilo plastic buckets and it only cost 1 Euro, + 4 Euro for postage. I will spread the manure over my beds, add a thin layer of leaves, and maybe even some torn up news paper. Then I will place a black plastic tarp over the bed, with some holes in it for water to get in. I'll let this compost over winter. In the spring I'll mix the compost into my soil and hopefully be ready to plant. Horse manure is good because it has allot of straw in it. Chicken manure is pretty strong (I’ve read). I don’t want to over use it. Never put manure directly on plants because it will burn them. I’m hoping the combination of manure, leaves, and newspaper will attract worms to my raised beds. Worms break up soil, and worm castings make the best plant food. Anyway, this is the plan. I ordered the manure today. Sometime next week (God willing) I should be able to get my small garden ready for winter. The black plastic warms the soil, and I may even get to plant early next spring. It also keeps weed seeds from growing. I only know this from books...I'm trying this for the first time. I'll let you know if it works!
Why not start with an IBC and cut a hole for the door? You could build closed laying boxes into it, and something for the chickens to roost on. Put some straw or saw dust on the floor. You could add vents to the side for air. If it sat inside a chicken run that you can walk into, the chickens could be safe, dry and happy. I have an extra IBC. Maybe this could be my chicken house? I bet I could even plant the outside of it with mud and grass for extra insulation and good looks.
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I'm working on the same thing. Cleaning out the beds, Eric picked up the compost. We just have to haul it over to the beds and put them in.