My Casa de Galinas (AKA Coop de'Ville) is nearing completion!

[mallory2013]

So! My little babies are going to be coming in exactly 15 days (

) and I am making their new home, which I am unoffically calling the Coop D'ville until I come up with something more creative! I am converting my old tree house that my dad built for my brother and sister and I about 15 years ago. I wish I had gotten some pictures of it before we cut it down, but alas!
It was originally 7'7" off the ground on stilts, which my dad cut using a chainsaw, a hydrolic jack, his faithful John Deere, and luck. It is by no means anywhere near finished! I am not too worried about looks since I live in a rural spot and no can see the coop. All the materials are over 25 years old (they were salvaged from my aunt's deck remodel).

Here is the front. The small rectangle hole was where the slide use to be and is now going to be made larger into a people door. I also going to replace the lattice with hardware cloth since in CT we have A LOT of oppossum and coons.

I also dug out a 6" deep rectangle for the run, which I first filled with about 4" of gravel, and the remaining 2" I am going to fill with pea gravel or 3/8" natural rounded stone. The run is 15' long and 8'6" wide, with a total of 127.5 square feet, and when the fence is up it will probably be around 6' tall. I am VERY worried about predators, especiallt foxes, so I am going to put a base board at least 12" in the ground around the run. Unfortunatley I am unable to afford large amounts of hardware cloth so I am using welded wire with poultry wire on the bottom edge of the outside. The poultry wire I have is approximately 3' tall. Do you think I should get pavers or cement blocks of some kind and put around the outside of the run to deter diggers?

This is the north side which will open into the run with the pop door. There is a large pine tree right next to the run which will protect the run from too much wind. Do you think I should keep the window? It's a bit hard to see, the top is flush with the roof.

The back. Again, the lattice will be replaced with hardware cloth.

The south side. I had to climb a rock to take this picture so it's not the best! Haha. But you get the gist.

On this side I am going to completely remove the lattice and cover with plywood. There is also an openning which is in the left side of the picture that was where the ladder was to get into the tree house which I am not sure what I am going to do with. I suppose more plywood? Suggestions?

I am getting a total of eight chickens, and as I am well aware of chicken math, I have enough room to add some more feather butts. The coop is 8'6" long (front to back) and 8' wide (side to side) giving a total of 68 square feet. Overall I am very excited about the potential of the coop! Please leave me suggestions! Thanks for looking!

UPDATE!!!
Sorry it took so long to get pictures up, but the casa de galinas is making progress! It may not look like much, but I have been working hard on it. My chickie babies are coming today!!!

Front:
As you can see from the first picture the bar across is gone and I removed the lattice where the door is going to be. My dad is going to make the door out of some old pine boards he has left over. I am going to paint the lattice white and then put the hardware cloth on the back, just like I did with the back.

This is just to show that we (my dad and I) lowered the house about 6" lower than it was before and put patio block underneath.

This is the back side. It doesn't look that different but I painted it and also put hardware cloth on the inside of the lattice.

This is the side where that huge piece of lattice was and where the opening to the ladder used to be. It is now closed in with 1/2" plywood.

The lattice from the inside, with the hardware cloth

I covered the openings at where the roof meets the walls with hardware cloth to keep out wild birds and other climbing type of nusiance.

My chicks came in today! All 9 are happy and healthy (and extremely sleepy) and I am in love with them already!

I will post again when more progress is made.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Your coop looks sweet! Lots of ventilation too, which is ideal! --oops! I just re -read you are going to cover some up. I would try to make something that could go on over the open areas in the winter, so that when it gets warm you can open it up again.

I think the lattice looks cute. I wouldn't replace it , I would just put hardware cloth behind it.

Looking forward to seeing the finished product.. and your chicks too.

 

[mallory2013]

Quote:
Thank you! I like the lattice too, that's a good idea to put hardware cloth behind it. I am going to cover the opennings with plastic or plywood or something during the winter since they get pretty nasty here. I'm happy with all the ventilation too! Thank you for your post

 

[BoltonChicken]

I love the lattice. I would leave it and cover it with hardware cloth! Just MHO, but I like it. The ventilation would be great!

 

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

I would try to make something that could go on over the open areas in the winter, so that when it gets warm you can open it up again.

I think the lattice looks cute. I wouldn't replace it , I would just put hardware cloth behind it.

My thoughts exactly! I would make sure to paint the lattice a contrasting trim color (if you are painting it) before the hardware cloth goes up behind it. I am really into the lattice, I think its adorable and adds character. I would even out the back by covering up the left side of the lattice window with some plywood--I like symmetry though. As far as nest boxes and a access door are--are you just going to go inside the coop to gather eggs?

I think you should put down some big square pavers to deter critters like you were saying, looks like your soil is on the loose side. I commend you for recycling your old tree house! I hope you take progress pictures too!​

 

[mallory2013]

Quote:
You guys are definitely convincing me to keep the lattice! I like it too and honestly I didn't even think of putting the hardware cloth over the lattice. Thank you!

 

[mallory2013]

Quote:
My thoughts exactly! I would make sure to paint the lattice a contrasting trim color (if you are painting it) before the hardware cloth goes up behind it. I am really into the lattice, I think its adorable and adds character. I would even out the back by covering up the left side of the lattice window with some plywood--I like symmetry though. As far as nest boxes and a access door are--are you just going to go inside the coop to gather eggs?

I think you should put down some big square pavers to deter critters like you were saying, looks like your soil is on the loose side. I commend you for recycling your old tree house! I hope you take progress pictures too!

I think I am probably going to be painting it, but just with paint that my dad has left over from jobs he has done. I'm thinking light colors to try and reflect heat away. I like symmetry too, however I don't know if I will be covering it up, I will have to see how much that window bugs me! Lol
Yes I am going to be going into the coop to collect eggs and clean. The coop is large enough inside that I think I will be ok with internal nestboxes.
The soil is very loose, you're right. There are a lot of roots too so hopefully a base board and pavers as well as a mess of roots will make the foxes give up, but you never know.
Thank you! I am very fortunate that my father is a carpenter and the treehouse lasted that long (he built it around 15 years ago when I was 5 out of materials that were from my aunt's porch which was at the time about 10 years old). I was actually planning on building my own from scratch until I was down with the horses one day and looked over at the woods where the treehouse is and thought "I can use the treehouse!". Lol. It is still in excellent shape for being so old with no maintence! I will definitely take progress pictures!

 

[Going Quackers]

what an excellent job of recycling! I agree with the others some hardware cloth over your lattice will look great and add ventilation. You could make shutters to cover it up in times of bad weather... we're planning on this concept for our duck house, since our winters are long and harsh but summer can hit 100+

Pavers would be a good idea to. Look forward to seeing how this transformation progresses.

 

[ThinkingChickens]

I like the lattice! You could almost create shutters that hook and eye open for the warmer months and then shut for the winter months. It's great you'll be able to reuse this childhood playhouse! I can't wait to see it all spiffed up.

 

[mallory2013]

Quote:
Thank you! Oh what a great idea with the shutters I see you are in Canada, I'm sure your winters are much worse than ours but it gets into the negatives, and just like you said the summers get very hot as well. Thank you for your post!