Starting a Chicken Coop build at 4200 ft elevation in the Pacific Northwest High desert climate (IN NOVEMBER) is a bit on the Nutty side. But.. we had fun doing it right ? (Disclaimer- we are not retired and Both work 40+ hours a week) This is what we do for fun
! And this is my very first article posted anywhere
mixed emotions.It started with all of this COVID madness being stuck at home. To top things off, this winter is our 20 Th. year wedding anniversary. We had plans of Iceland or someplace far away as we have never even taken a Honeymoon. So as the times continue to change we just have to go with the flow… and explore things we haven’t done yet
. We made a trip to Joseph Oregon and found these 2 cute windows that perhaps came from an old ranger station in eastern Oregon somewhere. Both of us love a bit of history and were hopeful to incorporate them into our life somehow.Covid has hit all of us a little bit different and we’ve all learned our many different coping mechanisms.
My teenage daughter had a longing for chickens. We are by no means newbies to the animal world as I have been a Veterinary Technician for 25 yrs and counting. We have had a plethora of animals in my lifetime alone. Horses, goats, chickens, cats, dogs, rabbits etc… But it’s been about 17 yrs since the last chickens we inherited have left the coop so to speak. So this was going to be a family adventure. And I had a longing for Something fancy! Not ordinary.
So we started this build knowing full well a store bought cheesy coop for 4 chickens would never hold up in our climate or to the kind of predators that roam around the mountains and woods in the cascades of Oregon. We decided on a sunny spot, and to use as much materials as we had on hand to offset the cost of our 4 digit$$ coop. We decided on using the southern end of our garage shop which is 24 ft wide and has power and water at the location. I had about 8.75 ft before the walkway patio. So overall a decent sized coop and run for 4 chickens with a little room to grow for chicken math.
I started by collecting insulation, lumber etc from Craigslist, marketplace etc.. Anything free was a bonus. Even if I didn’t know how or if I would use it in the build. I should have started collecting earlier though.. there aren’t many building material give aways going on around Thanksgiving and December.
To Start -a Pic of our inspiration Coop)
Pinterest is so Helpful. Sticker price to start on the pic is 8999.50 $ LOL
Of Course Our foot print won’t be that big but still. I am hoping we spend 1/4 of that. And for the record a 4 ft x 6 ft EZ Coop at wilco-not walk in size is 1700$. Made of some cheap siding, no insulation and asphalt roof. LOL.
Materials I had collected prior to the Build
1 wood / glass entry door-From our house
1 large Window-From our back door
1 Screen door-From our old Front door
2 Older swing out ranger station windows-From our 20th anniversary trip to Joseph Oregon
1 pack of Insulation-craigslist
2 Outdoor copper lights-re-store purchase
Gravel for post bases
A Random Pile of 2x4 in assorted lengths from concrete forms from our patio build in the summer.
For Framing a lean to Style 24 x 8.75 ft area fully covered Run. To withstand Snow load.
We purchased :1) 4- 6x6 10 ft Pressure treated posts-219.96
2) 21-10 ft 2x6 for rafters. -$251.79
3) 8 pieces of 36”x 10 ft Mocha Brown Ridgeline Metal Roofing + 4 Pieces of trim 264.00$ + trim pieces 2 gable 44.00$/ 3 return eave 66.00$ and 1 #10 x1” $15.50
4) 2-2x4x24 ft of lumber from our assorted Pile for roofing-free
5) 6-2x6x12 ft of lumber for lower roofing. -$89.94
6).8-2x6x8ft Perlins-$59.92
7) 10x3 deck screws- $32.99
Total Shed roof cost-$1044.10- And Now we have a dry area to work
BC its gonna pour rain for a few days. December 10-12th. (3 Days)Picture of garage coop Insert:
Finishing off our Temporary Coop- I thought I would build the entrance to the end of the run and use it on the front of their temporary coop in the garage. Not perfect but will be functional and secure without having to purchase extra materials.
I used my husbands scaffolding/ Garden netting I already had, Zip ties, a 10x14 tarp, an old dresser and some extra 2x4s. Not perfect but it works.
I netted in the 3 sides of the scaffolding with the deer netting. And zip tied them off.
I laid the tarp down and zip tied it off.
I turned the long low dresser into 2 nesting boxes and build the roost attached to the top of it and used the extra drawers for poop pans and filled them with litter/ sweetpdz and pine pellets.
Then we attached the front of the run we built to the face of the scaffolding.
7-8Ft 2x4 Pressure treated to Frame the hardware cloth in Panels - $38.29
1 Rolls of 36” width 1/2“ Hardware Cloth 25 ft. (Of which I used 16 ft of) The rest we applied to the base-floor below. $44.99
Galvanized Hot Staples-3/4” 1lb - $4.77
And 1 old wooden used screen door I had from the front of our house after we remodeled.
Finished this December 19th.
Again not perfect but it safely contains our 4 Cute Faverolles we picked up this Christmas weekend.
The inspiration Coop has an offset door. We decided the things would look more balanced if we centered the door between the two 18” windows we bought. In order to accommodate the door and windows trim with reasonable spacing we decided on 9 feet wide by 6 Ft deep. Centered in the middle of shed.
The FLOOR:
Today we Purchased
8- 6 ft Pressure treated 2x4s -$43.76
2- 10 ft Pressure treated 2x4s $21.34
2-Sheets of pressure treated Plywood 3/4” 4x8 ft $119.98
1-50 ft roll of 48” Hardware cloth.-$61.40
1 Roll of 6ft x 12ft Linoleum @ $32.33
We Built the base 9ft x 6ft and level set the frame on 5 (12x12x2”) concrete blocks for a foundation. On the bottom -facing the ground we stapled Hardware cloth and wrapped the sides of the frame stapling the bottom and the sides. Using 10 ft of the 48” cloth and 10 ft of the 36” cloth overlapped them and wove wire through the length of the seam to give strength and keep out rodents. I have a real fear of rats!! Bad childhood memories I guess LOL. (My husband Jokes this is the most impenetrable coop in the whole town LOL)
Then we laid the insulation I got for free R-15 between the 2x4s moisture barrier facing the ground fuzzy side up. And Topped it with the 2 pieces of pressure treated Plywood. (had some left over). Screwed it all together with decking nails. It took us a little more than half the day to go purchase these items and throw it ll together.
The hard part was melting the frozen ground to level the blocks with my portable fire pit. It made the work bearable in the high of 37 today. It was sunny and clear at least. We’ve been buried in 3ft deep by now most years. Time stamp December 27th 2020. Between the roof shed and floor and front of the run and using materials I had for free in addition to purchased we are 1413.91$ into this.
Today was a big purchase day. Door frame, Framing for all 4 walls. Insulation for all 4 walls, and siding for the back wall- Which we needed because water still ran down the back wall of the existing building, hard to match up metal flashing to ribbed metal and get a flush seal without cutting every single one. Plus, the garage gets really hot in the summer. So I felt like having a gap and sealing up the wall with its separate siding was the better way to go.
5 -sheets of galvanized metal 10 ft sheets $89.55
7 -rolls of insulation-$164.36
1 -door frame- $36.97
16- 2x4x10 ft-$141.12
22-2x4x8 ft- $97.24
Running total-$1943.15 Yeah I know 4 chickens are spendy! SHHH Don’t tell my husband It will be worth it
So far the coop itself is at 896.10~but we still need siding UUHG.So despite purchase day we were able to assemble the back wall and get it in place.
Dimensions are 9 ft wide by 9 ft tall.
Using 2 2x4x10 ft boards for the top and base.
Then support brackets in place 8 - 2x4-10 ft cut to fit 9x9.
Galvanized metal sheeting 36” x 10 ft cut to 9 ft length and attached to the Wall with overlap and screwed into place.
The tricky part was getting the wall into place. As you can tell from my above pic the roof has quite the drop and isn’t 9 ft in depth. We had to Stand it up and slide onto the back of the floor into place. (HOLY Hannah That was heavy- Hope I can move my arms tomorrow. I hope I didn’t paralyze my husband. So far 6 days of total work spread over the last 23 days-not bad! Things should go faster from here on out. Time Stamp 1/2/21 (Meanwhile the Chooks are doing great!)
The Next day we got the rest of the walls framed in. Ready for Siding and windows and doors. 1/3/2021 One thing I thought of afterwards was how token the mice from getting up all those channels on the rigid metal. So I stuffed each hole with Steel wool, and filled with a rodent repellant expanding foam. So no rats in here! Steel Wool 12$, Pest foam 9$ More Screws 32.99 = $950.05
Well its been a long week. Ive been busy prepping doors and windows. I got the door done! It came out beautiful If I do say so myself. Just used some old paint for the house we had on hand!
but the windows need a bit more work. Ive got them scraped/ sanded and puttied but need to sand, replace glazing, and paint still. So might be next week before we get windows.
Siding $123.03 and wall paneling 131.82 and Omelet automatic coop door 161.00$ to the total of $1395.90 for the coop. Still cheaper than an EZ Coop.
1-9-21 / Rain rain rain. We got all the Siding hung on the building today! Got all the Insulation in all the walls and the Door frame in! Hopefully hubby can get the door in tomorrow.
Best to just stay outta the way for the tedious stuff. (I have framed in a door before and managed to get it beautifully square open and close) But it was anything but pretty. My husband was impressed and horrified at the same time LOL. We won’t repeat that. Hoping we can get them into the coop by the end of the month.
Well rain rain rain. But we managed to get the windows in 1-11-21 / 1–17-21. Saturday and Sunday we managed to get the wiring done inside and out. Let there be light! Yay Yay oh happy Day!
Now we can work on the inside even in the dark LOL Yes that is my very own lumpy ice area only 2 inches thick. Now I just need a Zamboni so I can use it . Next order of Business is the wall paneling and Roost board and next boxes. There will be nest boxes -only 2 as I won’t have more than 4-6 chickens. So 1 under each window, will be perfect with and access hatch on each one. And they will have 2 coop doors one on each side of the main coop house. So they can have sun or shade at any part of the day they so desire.
January 21-24, 2021 Heres the fancy!
Super excited! We got the wall paneling up and all the trim on the inside. Ive been painting all week long in the house and so this weekend was all about cut and trim. Nail, staple, stretch you name it. Got all of the hardware cloth installed on the windows. And the windows all working, locking etc… We even got the next box bases made and installed. My hubby hung up a picture of some Japanese bantams my grandmother crocheted, so I took some inspiration from that and got a window valance for the door and a shower curtain for the wall behind their roost so I can just take out and hose off when it gets nasty-because you know Poop happens in a chicken coop!
Just working on the roost and the roof for the next boxes. My wonderful friend Kathy volunteered to make me curtains for the next boxes. She did a fabulous job, Etsy eat your heart out!
Lots of touch up painting and roost installment. I will fill their roost box with zeolite to scoop their poo out and keep things a little cleaner than the norm.
Installed the lil chicks camera and my temp/hygrometer so I can keep an eye on everything. NO, the fireplace isn’t staying in there silly- that is to help the paint dry and keep my fingers warmer while painting and hanging curtains. I am so egg cited we are almost there!
Here’s the results from our work so far this week. 1-30-2021. One unfortunate circumstance is the fact it its too cold to paint outside. So best I can do is to keep a tarp hung up to prevent splatter on the outside until it warms up. Hopefully tomorrow we can get some of the outside run walls up and a chicken door so they can go outside!
Of course we got them all moved in by the 1st of February and even had a new Addition. Torman the rooster- a homeless gentleman of a Speckled Sussex rooster who was living in a tree outside my friends bantam coop. Seems quite youngish maybe close in age to my faverolles. So now its Torman and the French Ladies. “Loon, Tilly, Iris, and Flora. He’s quite grateful!.
So fast forward a few weeks to some nasty snow storms! February 5th we finished an outdoor enclosure and pop door. They were so happy to go outdoors! Much like the rest of the country we’ve been getting the oddest winters around. It has been 6-26 degrees all week long. On and off rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain? Bipolar as all get out. My average temp inside the coop has been 31 degrees and a humidity of 60-75%. No heat. Just insulation, vented windows, and vents above the door that are open. The windows are closed at night bc they are Roost Height. I even insulated their nest boxes.
my hands after this week lol- paint-wood putty, cuts, bruises, and yes some blue note for a cut comb- yes Wine is the remedy for that!
We had one freakishly warm day -on my day off no less a miracle and I was able to primer the whole building so no more tarp!
The framing will be painted brown like the rest of the building in a sold wood stain. The building will be red with white accents and brown trim.
So in Building this our wood prices went up significantly! 6$ a board up to 15$ for a 6 ft 2x4
OMG.I had to buy 2 more rolls of 48”x 50ft of hardware cloth- 61$ each.
30 -2x4x8 ft boards-450$ HOLY COW.
+ hinges for the pop door, and gate, latches and Caribbeaners for the pop door and gate, 1 handle
The total was about 620$ for our outdoor excursion.
The good news is I have all of the wire needed already to complete the other side and 1/2 of the entry wall is completed. - It was zipped tied to their temporary coop in the garage! Yay for small miracles when you are unable to work on something for a bit. I popped the door off and took it into the house to spice it up a bit to go with the rest of the red and white festivities. This is the side that everyone sees when pulling into the drive so fancy it is!
But alas It will take a bit longer to build the other side… so hoping I will need 2/3 of the wood for the other side. Like I said it is Fort Knox coop. Sandwiching Hardware cloth between pressure treated 2x4s is $$. But it will be worth it to not have to worry about coyotes, Loose dogs, and whatever else wants to get in there.
I ordered an automatic door from Omlet on Jan 1, 2021, it won’t be here just yet…. Yes their shipping does take forever… Delivery on Feb 5 turned into feb 22? And so forth… Well no worries BC I’m not where I though we would be in this build process. So far no eggs yet but here’s too hoping. The hens were born in August I suppose with winter its all about normal for them to not start laying yet.
Sad as this comes to a stand still for Us, I will post some news when we get our first eggs and get this coop done! 4 months and counting and more like 1/3rd the cost of one of the cutest coops instead of a quarter, but it is mine. I thank my husband deeply for this lil beauty and the peace the chickens give me is pretty priceless.
I am thankful for discovering this group of people. <3 Backyard chickens!
