- Jul 24, 2012
- 27
- 3
- 24
Hi everyone 
I thought I would share with you my coop construction project.
So it all started off in 2010 when one of my students (I teach English as a Second Language to Quebec francophones in a village 40 minutes east of Montréal) told me she had a chicken coop. I found that hobby of hers to be quite interesting and started to look into the matter.
My house was built from 2009 to 2010 by a contractor who happened to be the father of two other students. He was very patient with me because I knew almost nothing about construction. For example, I didn't know if a 2X4 was metric or imperial... So for over 8 months, the contractor let me watch every step and he pointed out that I was a very quick learner. Hooray!
So having been initiated to the art of building things, I wanted to build a chicken coop. I decided to apply everything I learned with the contractor and he thought I was crazy. Exterior sheathing, furring strips, wool batt insulation, polyethelyne vapor barrier, everything. So I told him, "Well, our winters can be harsh and hot summer days can be a bummer. Might as well do it correctly the first time around. He laughed hysterically when I told him I figured it would take me two months to build the coop at my pace. "We could do that in two days!" So I told him, "Yeah, but I want to plan, measure and do it slowly in order to learn." He laughed again, slapped me on the back and gave me a bunch of left-over building materials. I then gathered my construction scraps, bought a few things, drew plans and got to work. So here it is, complete with pictures. Enjoy Merci!
Here, nothing has been nailed together. I only wanted to see if everything was square and looking good. The coop was built with 2X4s because I wanted to insulate the walls with wool batts. I didn't want the hens to freeze in winter and the batts also keep a coop reasonably cool in the summertime. The coop is 4X6 + an 18-inch extension for the nest boxes (3).
I guess you could call this the sub-frame with four posts to hold it above the ground. My contractor rolled by and hollered, "How long did you take to frame that??" I yelled back, "I'd say forty minutes!" He laughed, said I was doing fine, and went on.
One of the walls with two windows. These windows ended up being exit points to the run.
Now this is the floor with an exit that ended up being useless. Not wanting my hens to freeze their butts off in winter, I put wool batts and a polyethylene vapour-barrier. My contractor, amazed at all the care and attention I put into "Hen Comfort", simply said, "He's nuts!!"
My neighbour help me bring this to the back of my house and there it sits, just beside my deck. I dug around the perimeter, buried some wire and topped it off with gravel. Then, I stood on this floor and jumped on it like a maniac to let it compact the gravel.
So up went the first wall.
The interior is about 5'5'' high because the coop was also designed to be a playhouse for children. So if I lost interest in this hobby one day or my neighbours are disturbed by the hens, I'll only have to clean it up, paint it and presto, cool little place for children to play.
I took this picture pointing West, where the wind simply blasts us at all times during the year. The wool batt insulation wasn't a crazy idea after all. On very cold days, the temperature can go down to -25 C (-13 F). With a 175-watt red heating lamp, it was 2 degrees C (36 F) inside. Water did not freeze so I was pretty chuffed up.
Once the roof was up, I was very happy because the project was really taking shape. As you can see in the background, I was running a few projects at the same time. Had to stain my deck in a hurry because the Spa was due to arrive shortly.
Three nest boxes. Each is about 10 inches wide, 15 inches deep and 12 to 15 inches high.
I didn't really know how to make trusses so I improvised. Two years later, no sagging, no warping, thank goodness.
Maximum insulation wherever possible. I was obsessed with the idea that the hens could get cold and I had a lot of leftover insulation anyway.
Cedar shingles on the roof and 6-inch wide siding. I was very happy with the results. This was, after all, my first ever "construction" project.
Ceiling was also insulated with wool batts. I did not intend to do so at first. Then, my contractor told me that it would help in retaining heat during winter time. He was quite impressed with me building abilities. Hooray
Finished project with the useless exit. That was quickly removed.
My student gave me two hens and that's how it all started!
Nothing too fancy, but a lot of pride I succeeded!
The next summer, I added this chicken run.
I wasn't supposed to build this run. But I wanted the hens to have a litle more space to roam. So the two windows on the coop ended up being exit points.
Chicks I bought last week At this moment, I have 12 animals in the coop and run, of which 5 will go to a friend because I will build a coop for her, her husband and their three children.
Having a good time this week looking at me as I decided that I had had enough of a messy environment. So I shovelled 500 kilos (about 1 100 pounds) of sand into the coop and in the run. Not coarse sand as most BYC people recommend. But it's still better than mud, hay and wood shavings.
Hope you enjoyed this!
I thought I would share with you my coop construction project.So it all started off in 2010 when one of my students (I teach English as a Second Language to Quebec francophones in a village 40 minutes east of Montréal) told me she had a chicken coop. I found that hobby of hers to be quite interesting and started to look into the matter.
My house was built from 2009 to 2010 by a contractor who happened to be the father of two other students. He was very patient with me because I knew almost nothing about construction. For example, I didn't know if a 2X4 was metric or imperial... So for over 8 months, the contractor let me watch every step and he pointed out that I was a very quick learner. Hooray!
So having been initiated to the art of building things, I wanted to build a chicken coop. I decided to apply everything I learned with the contractor and he thought I was crazy. Exterior sheathing, furring strips, wool batt insulation, polyethelyne vapor barrier, everything. So I told him, "Well, our winters can be harsh and hot summer days can be a bummer. Might as well do it correctly the first time around. He laughed hysterically when I told him I figured it would take me two months to build the coop at my pace. "We could do that in two days!" So I told him, "Yeah, but I want to plan, measure and do it slowly in order to learn." He laughed again, slapped me on the back and gave me a bunch of left-over building materials. I then gathered my construction scraps, bought a few things, drew plans and got to work. So here it is, complete with pictures. Enjoy
Merci!Here, nothing has been nailed together. I only wanted to see if everything was square and looking good. The coop was built with 2X4s because I wanted to insulate the walls with wool batts. I didn't want the hens to freeze in winter and the batts also keep a coop reasonably cool in the summertime. The coop is 4X6 + an 18-inch extension for the nest boxes (3).
I guess you could call this the sub-frame with four posts to hold it above the ground. My contractor rolled by and hollered, "How long did you take to frame that??" I yelled back, "I'd say forty minutes!" He laughed, said I was doing fine, and went on.
One of the walls with two windows. These windows ended up being exit points to the run.
Now this is the floor with an exit that ended up being useless. Not wanting my hens to freeze their butts off in winter, I put wool batts and a polyethylene vapour-barrier. My contractor, amazed at all the care and attention I put into "Hen Comfort", simply said, "He's nuts!!"
My neighbour help me bring this to the back of my house and there it sits, just beside my deck. I dug around the perimeter, buried some wire and topped it off with gravel. Then, I stood on this floor and jumped on it like a maniac to let it compact the gravel.
So up went the first wall.
The interior is about 5'5'' high because the coop was also designed to be a playhouse for children. So if I lost interest in this hobby one day or my neighbours are disturbed by the hens, I'll only have to clean it up, paint it and presto, cool little place for children to play.
I took this picture pointing West, where the wind simply blasts us at all times during the year. The wool batt insulation wasn't a crazy idea after all. On very cold days, the temperature can go down to -25 C (-13 F). With a 175-watt red heating lamp, it was 2 degrees C (36 F) inside. Water did not freeze so I was pretty chuffed up.
Once the roof was up, I was very happy because the project was really taking shape. As you can see in the background, I was running a few projects at the same time. Had to stain my deck in a hurry because the Spa was due to arrive shortly.
Three nest boxes. Each is about 10 inches wide, 15 inches deep and 12 to 15 inches high.
I didn't really know how to make trusses so I improvised. Two years later, no sagging, no warping, thank goodness.
Maximum insulation wherever possible. I was obsessed with the idea that the hens could get cold and I had a lot of leftover insulation anyway.
Cedar shingles on the roof and 6-inch wide siding. I was very happy with the results. This was, after all, my first ever "construction" project.
Ceiling was also insulated with wool batts. I did not intend to do so at first. Then, my contractor told me that it would help in retaining heat during winter time. He was quite impressed with me building abilities. Hooray
Finished project with the useless exit. That was quickly removed.
My student gave me two hens and that's how it all started!
Nothing too fancy, but a lot of pride
I succeeded!The next summer, I added this chicken run.
I wasn't supposed to build this run. But I wanted the hens to have a litle more space to roam. So the two windows on the coop ended up being exit points.
Chicks I bought last week
At this moment, I have 12 animals in the coop and run, of which 5 will go to a friend because I will build a coop for her, her husband and their three children.Having a good time this week looking at me as I decided that I had had enough of a messy environment. So I shovelled 500 kilos (about 1 100 pounds) of sand into the coop and in the run. Not coarse sand as most BYC people recommend. But it's still better than mud, hay and wood shavings.
Hope you enjoyed this!
