The first decision is location. I had thought about putting them here.
Pros: Great drainage, lots of forage, nearby water source.
Cons: No nearby electrical outlet. The temptation to roost in the trees above/behind the coop instead of in the coop. In the winter, they'd have to walk around in snow or I'd have to shovel a path.
Cons: No nearby electrical outlet. The temptation to roost in the trees above/behind the coop instead of in the coop. In the winter, they'd have to walk around in snow or I'd have to shovel a path.
My second location is actually inside what we call the "upper barn".
Pros: Right near the water source, easy access to electricity, cement floor for the permanent run (that will be covered with either sand or sawdust). You can access all the barn mows from inside, so in the winter they could free range around in those without walking in snow. Because it'll be under a roof, the entire run would be fairly dry all year long.
Cons: The only main one, that I can think of, would be air flow during the hottest part of the summer. The upper barn is only partially sided, and we just used huge barn fans for the bunnies. And they'd also have easy access to the bottom barn, where the horses and other animals live. I don't really want them down there for several reasons. The main one is I don't want them roosting on the stalls or stall doors, pooping all over everything. Plus it's close to the highway (which is fenced with no-climb horse fences and electric wire). But mainly the poop over everything. haha
The final decision is putting it inside the upper barn. The ease of water and electric, plus having somewhere that is always dry for them to free range outweighs the other worries. Now on to the coop planning. :-)
I've decided on an 8'x8' coop. It'll have exterior nestboxes, a poop tray w/door to slide it out, a few windows, and venting along where the roof meets the sides.
We, thankfully, have a few 2x4s, so that helped. We'll be building it on these deck cement things:
We, thankfully, have a few 2x4s, so that helped. We'll be building it on these deck cement things:
With the coop being built under the roof of the existing upper barn, I can save a little bit there. Although there are a few small leaks, so hopefully I remember where those are and can adjust the coop placement accordingly. lol
This is the start of my coop supplies. We still need more plywood, but 5 sheets were all we could fit into the cart at Lowe's so we'll go back for more when we need them. Not pictured are the five 2x4x17 boards we already have from our fencing project a few years ago.
I've spent WAY too many hours designing my "ideal coop" in my head. Transferring that into something that will actually be able to built might be another story. haha
I started by buying the plans for this coop:
Unfortunately, this plan is for a 6'x6' coop. I need an 8'x8' coop. That will be bigger than what I currently need but gives me room to add more chickens later. You know, that whole "chicken math" thing. lol The coop will have a 12'x18' run attached somewhere, depending on my final decision on where the chicken door is going to be. I'll open the run door and let them free range in the morning and close it back up again at night.
The plan is to make it pretty much like this one, except put the roosts all on the left side, with a poop tray and door. And it calls for 4 nest boxes and then a small storage area for the remaining part in the back wall. I'm going to make 7 nest boxes and skip the storage part. After all, it's already in a barn so I have lots of storage. The right side will just be open floor, where I can put a feeder. I won't have water in the coop because of the humidity and fear of frostbite.
Here's what I have planned so far. I threw out the poop tray/door because that's a lot of extra framing and a lot more chances to mess something up.
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| The shaded areas are going to be windows. I'm just going to cut the holes out, screw hardware cloth on the inside and put small hinges on the part I cut out so I can drop it down for the winter. |
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| The human door will be 30" and the chicken door will be around 11". |
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| The wall where the external nestboxes will go. 7 boxes, I think, with the 7th being a tad bigger. |
Day 1:
I finally had a chance to start construction! So far I just have the floor framing done and up on the cement blocks I'm going to use.
Right now it's just an 8'x8' square. I'm not sure where I'm putting the door, but leaning towards the side that's facing here. To the left is a partially fenced in area that I can easily turn into a nice sized permanent run. To the right is the rest of the upper barn, where the water hydrant is.
Here's another view:
If you click on the picture, I think it'll show you the bigger one. Anyway, the section to the back are where the hay mows are, and they'll have access to them all winter (and summer, too, but hoping they go out and about throughout the rest of the farm during the nice days). And I'll be covering the cement flooring with sawdust and ashes from the wood stove. I had thought about covering it with sand but there is water that runs through here during a rain and the sand would end up in the barn yard below. Obviously all rabbit cages and other misc. stuff will no longer be there.
I'm designing this for colder weather, because we have longer winters and yucky weather than we do actual nice enjoyable weather. There are outlets to the far left, so I can easily hang a light in there for them. They'll have quite a bit of space to roam when it's cold and snowy, especially if they find the horses in the lower barn...which also has an access walkway (far back left).
Well, off to find some muscle to help me get the plywood flooring brought over and put into place. Then I'll have the floor done. Slowly but surely the girls will have a place to call home. :-)
Update: Floor is finished. :-) Tomorrow I'll start the framing for the walls. I'm going to start with the easy ones and then the back and hopefully, by that point, I'll have enough experience to do the front. haha
Day 2:
I didn't get as much done today as I would have liked. It was super hot and humid again today so I waited until it cooled off some. And then ran out of daylight. I ended up removing the center rough cut stud and replaced it with dressed. I'm done using rough stuff, even though we already had it just up in the rafters. It's just a pain, especially when I've never even built anything before in my life. Tomorrow will be another trip to Lowe's.
I need more plywood anyway, so I'll have them rip some to length for me. I'm not confident in my ability to cut a straight line that far. lol
Day 3:
I have the other short wall done, but this one isn't getting plywood added until AFTER all 4 walls are up and standing. It's going to take more than just me to get the sided one up in position. lol Hopefully I'll have the front framed in an hour or so, and then the back wall. That one has me worried, with attempting to do external nest boxes (remember, I've NEVER built anything before this project!). Wish me luck!
Thanks to my son, the walls are up! I'm so excited! I did screw up on the plywood for the short wall. I can either remove it and put new on or just patch the two ends. I tried recycling 2'x8' plywood from our old stall decorations, which is why they're running horizontally and not vertically. I have 2 more 2'x8' pieces of plywood, which were slated for the back and other side wall. Now I need to ponder what I want to do about it.
Update: Floor is finished. :-) Tomorrow I'll start the framing for the walls. I'm going to start with the easy ones and then the back and hopefully, by that point, I'll have enough experience to do the front. haha
I didn't get as much done today as I would have liked. It was super hot and humid again today so I waited until it cooled off some. And then ran out of daylight. I ended up removing the center rough cut stud and replaced it with dressed. I'm done using rough stuff, even though we already had it just up in the rafters. It's just a pain, especially when I've never even built anything before in my life. Tomorrow will be another trip to Lowe's.
I need more plywood anyway, so I'll have them rip some to length for me. I'm not confident in my ability to cut a straight line that far. lol
Day 3:
I have the other short wall done, but this one isn't getting plywood added until AFTER all 4 walls are up and standing. It's going to take more than just me to get the sided one up in position. lol Hopefully I'll have the front framed in an hour or so, and then the back wall. That one has me worried, with attempting to do external nest boxes (remember, I've NEVER built anything before this project!). Wish me luck!
Front wall is framed. Now I'm just waiting on my boys to help put the three walls up and in place. Then I'll move on to the back, and last, wall! The girls MIGHT have their coop ready by the weekend. :-)
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| Oops...the top is facing the camera. I should have stood on the other side. |
And I'm still not sure what I'm doing for the roof. I'm going to browse around Lowe's and see if I can come up with any ideas.
Then it was time to start on the dreaded nestbox section.I had used the measurements from the plan I bought (I'll include a link to it in case anyone else is interested) and modified it for the space I had (the plan, for those that missed it, was for a 6'x6' building). Thankfully I had some spare pieces of plywood, so I made the end pieces first. It took a LOT of tweaking and measuring and figuring, but I finally figured it out. First I cut out the real end pieces, trimmed the 12" and 14" wide pieces to their needed length, and started to assemble them. This is what happens when I attempt to assemble and answer business text messages in the middle. lol
And I have the main part of the framing for the back wall done. I still have to add the studs in the upper and lower sections. Then I can start working on the external nest boxes that, if things go according to plan, will fit nice and snugly into the center opening. I can't wait to get started on the rest tomorrow!
Day 4:
Back wall framed and up!
Now I have to build the nest box section and figure out a roof plan. Here's what I envisioned (using scraps for the test). That will work, but it will fit exactly over the building, with no overhang. I'm not sure I need an overhang, since it's under the main barn roof??
While I contemplate a solution to my roof, I'm going to start on the nest boxes. This is the hard part!
Day 5:
Yesterday I attempted to cut the windows out, with my little jig saw. That ended in a disaster and major frustration. Luckily a friend volunteered to bring his reciprocating saw over and cut the windows and doors for me. YAY! I need to make yet another trip to Lowe's, for 2 more sheets of plywood and some more 2x4s. Then I can get the rest of the building covered with plywood and call Rod to come and cut out the windows and doors. I just hope he can crawl through the back wall. haha
Yesterday I attempted to cut the windows out, with my little jig saw. That ended in a disaster and major frustration. Luckily a friend volunteered to bring his reciprocating saw over and cut the windows and doors for me. YAY! I need to make yet another trip to Lowe's, for 2 more sheets of plywood and some more 2x4s. Then I can get the rest of the building covered with plywood and call Rod to come and cut out the windows and doors. I just hope he can crawl through the back wall. haha
Day 6:
I made a lumber yard run but thought I had more sheets of plywood here than I did. So i'm two short. But Rod got my windows, man door, and chicken door cut out. AND he made me a neat little sliding chicken door, too!
I made a lumber yard run but thought I had more sheets of plywood here than I did. So i'm two short. But Rod got my windows, man door, and chicken door cut out. AND he made me a neat little sliding chicken door, too!
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Somehow the right side ended up not quite lining up for the plywood edges, so I just added another stud. That's why there are two windows on this side and one big long one on the other. The left side I can either leave as two little ones or one big one...haven't decided on what I'm doing yet.
Day 7:
Slowly but surely I'm making progress! Today we had a horse show, so very little time to work on the coop. I framed out the windows first. I have the hardware cloth for them already (from a bunny coop project), so I can get that up tomorrow.
After I fixed my "oops", I put the bottom 14" piece of plywood on. I had to wait for one of the kids to come help me place it in the opening. Then I screwed on the top board (where the hinges will go) and screwed the nestbox into the frame. YAY! This, by far, has been the hardest part yet! Mainly holding the plywood together and screwing it in at the same time. But I got 'er done. :-) The plywood was VERY green and wet, so super heavy. When I was lifting the part you see here and turning it over, so I could screw the bottom on, I pulled something in my back. Tomorrow is going to be fun.
Here are a few shots of the nestboxes.
Yet ANOTHER trip to Lowe's is in store for tomorrow. I need 2 more sheets of plywood to finish up the sides. The one piece I'll have Lowe's cut with their big saw, for above and below the nestbox. I also need to pick up a few more 2x4s and the trim boards. And I need to start painting everything, so I need to figure out a color scheme. I haven't even given that part much thought. If anyone has any suggestions, let me hear them. :-)
I think I'm going to go with 1"x3" boards for the main trim and use furring strips around the windows and chicken door. I really wish I had the money to buy painted trim. lol
OH! I almost forgot the most exciting news! I ordered a reciprocating saw. :-) It should be here by Wednesday. YAY!
Day 8:
Not a lot of progress, due to other things I had to do. I secured the nestbox into the wall and the dividers put in, along with the board that runs along the front. The hardware cloth for the one window is cut. I'll attach that with furring strips along the window frame. That's all for today, though.
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| The closest nest box is NOT that long...it's the camera angle. lol |
Day 9:
Much more productive, even though the heat is scorching out there today. First I finished up the windows. I used hardware cloth and then furring strips to tack it down.
I also put up the roofing boards. A friend is giving me some clear greenhouse roofing panels. YAY! I put two 2x4s across the front, 1 in the middle, and it'll get nailed directly onto the back header. That puts it 4" higher in the front than the back, which should be more than enough slope for a few drops that may hit it.
I also cut the lid for the nestboxes out (you can see it on top of the man door to the right of the above picture). When it cools off a bit I'm going to go and get the roofing panels, then to WalMart for some paint (it's much cheaper there than Lowe's!), then to Lowe's for the plywood and trim boards. If I get the roof on tonight, I can start painting in the morning. :-)
Day 10:
I picked up the roof and have it up. I'm going to get some caulk to caulk where it overlaps. The only rain that will ever touch it is if there's a leak from the main roof. Thankfully it was long enough to cover the nestboxes in the back. :-)
I still need 3 more sheets of plywood, the trim, and the paint. Hopefully I can get the rest of the supplies tomorrow and they'll be moving in by the weekend. :-)
Day 10:
My truck is in the garage, so I wasn't able to get the rest of my wood. I did get paint and got the majority of it painted. The truck is done, so heading to Lowe's shortly for the rest of the plywood (back wall and front side) and all my trim boards. I went with Clipper Ship Blue for the building and Sunburst Yellow for the trim. They should be in by this weekend! :-)
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| The chicken door will be yellow, too. :-) |
And I got the chicken door painted and put back in.
I finally got the rest of my supplies. I think. lol First I put on the piece of plywood I had from a horse stall decoration at our fair. Picture taken from the inside. I had it on upside down, so had to flip it the right way. haha
Next the bottom of the back wall and the front left side went up.
The man door and the nestbox lid is painted. I cut the trim for the man door this evening but ran out of daylight before I could get the trim cut for the nestbox, or any of that painted.
Oh well, tomorrow's another day. :-)
Day 11:
I finally had nothing else scheduled, so started working on the coop at 9 this morning. :-) I'm cutting the trim and then painting it before attaching, because I'm the world's sloppiest painter...ever. lol
I painted the man door trim and the left window trim first thing. Then I cut and painted the trim for the left window frame and nestbox lid. I got the 4 windows painted and, while they were drying, grabbed one of the kids to help hang the man door.
Then we put the windows in their spots, put the trim on, then put on the hinges.
I have the right window framing pieces cut and painted. I'll begin assembly on those after it dries a bit longer.
I did find a snag with the nestbox lid. The hinges I bought aren't working, so I need to go to the hardware store and see what else I can come up with. And I still need "things" to keep the windows fastened when they're open...and closed. And the man door, because if it shuts behind me I'm stuck in there until someone comes looking for me. lol
Once I put a 2x4 between the 2 blocks in the back, I can move the girls up. Their run is going to attach to the back side and go around, but the nestboxes won't be inside the run. I can't wait to get them moved into their permanent home!
Update: I have all the trim painted and ready to put into place. I moved the girls to their new coop tonight (yay!) so I can get the temporary run taken down and moved to their permanent location tonight and they can be let loose in the morning. I'll make a big section with ashes from the wood stove and the rest of the run will have sawdust down. Hopefully I'll have pictures of the run tonight. If not, by tomorrow. Along with the coop all finished. :-)
The run:
I have a lot more to do before it's finished, but it's well on its way, for sure!
And a friend even gave me some Coop Decor. :-)
July 24th I added 2 more kennel panels to their run (adding another 16' to the front left). I also got all of the hardware for the windows installed (latches to keep them shut in the winter and hook/eye to keep them open.
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