My Suburban Chicken House

[Sinfonian]

WOW! I'm very impressed! And you say you've got no construction experience! Amazing work. Isn't necessity the mother of all invention. Nothing like growing chicks as motivation. Bravo!

 

[LittleDarlings]

Simply Beautiful!! I agree with a previous poster, I could NOT live in town or a sub-division. I don't handle authority well, especially when what I grow is none of their business! LOL I'll stick to my hick-ville, redneck section of the world and visit my poor friends that live in such a structured life.

It is refreshing to see a HOA that is allowing even chickens. Congrats!!

 

[zoelovesmom]

I'm in Highlands Ranch, also; maybe we should do a HR meet-up?

Your coop is AWESOME. My husband and I are not terribly handy, so we bought a ready-made coop and had it painted when our house was painted this spring. It isn't nearly as nice as yours and Princessbroc's. I'll post pics later.

 

[downeastthunderfarm]

You did a beautiful job; very fun. I particularly like how you handled the nesting box lid. I'll have to rethink my set-up!

 

[bloom_ss]

Wow! Looks great! Your chicks are the same age as mine are and we just finished our run yesterday!

I really do love your design...it is so much fancier than mine is!

 

[princessbroc]

Quote:
LOL!! I read this post before I saw the posters name and was like how the heck does this person know what my coop looks like?!

Too funny. I will need to post pics also, but yes a meetup would be cool!

 

[AtomicChicken]

Thanks for your comments.

I posted update pics to my page with (most) of the hardware cloth in place. Just have to attach the top gate, get some sand and gravel and blueberry bushes. I'll post pics later of my feeders and waterers that I made also.

Regarding ventilation: The air comes in through the soffit vents/window. At the apex of the roof there is a roof vent. There are also ceiling vents in the house. So air blows through the roof and into the vents in the ceiling and/or out the roof vent. Hot chicken gasses and air, exits the ceiling vents and is blown out the roof vent, just like an attic in a big house.

The doors and windows are handmade. And as I annotated on my page today, they were the worst part of the whole project. Definately something I wouldn't want to do again. But I searched for some and didn't really find any that fit the spaces and were solid wood.

The nest box lid was the most perplexing part of the project and I completely sided and trimmed around it saving it for last. In the end, I think it will turn out "mostly" waterproof. Using the inner tube under the hinge and caulking/sealing every joint behind should help alot. After putting some weather stripping along the edges, I think it will be golden.

I've been curious about other peoples coops in HR. So a meet up would be awesome. Not sure if there are any events or things where people hang out here as I am new to this and really haven't ventured out to see yet. But it would definately be fun to see other houses and get more ideas. I'm already planning the "snow panels" for around the run. I think I can make some nice ones to keep most/all of the snow out so they can play in the run year round.

 

[zoelovesmom]

There is a meetup in Denver. That is where princessbroc got some (all?) of her chicks. It seems to be more about selling and less about sharing info, although they do host the occasional coop tour. Not sure how often that happens. I have only been to one meetup. Since I already had my chickens, it wasn't all that helpful for me. The coop tour would probably be great, though they aren't working w/in the HOA rules. My coop is really nowhere near as nice as the one you built, and I've already encountered some challenges (mites - maybe), so it would be good to see how others have worked around those problems.

There is a woman outside Golden who makes and sells corn-free, soy-free, organic chicken food. She has distribution points in Golden, Elizabeth, and other nearby towns. Let me know if you'd be interested and I'll pass along her info. My chicks have been on her grower feed for about 6 weeks, and they seem to like it. I like my chickens not eating all corn and soy.

 

[teach1rusl]

Fabulous! I'd been wondering about the door - I couldn't tell whether you'd cut a "real" people door down or what... So you made that door?? That took some work!

 

[AtomicChicken]

Yes, I made the two people doors, the pop door and the window. And it was absolutely the worst part of the project. I found this site that detailed using 2x2s and 2x6s to make some doors and windows for a playhouse. http://www.buildeazy.com/newplans/playhouse_6x6_1.html

I ended up using two sheets of 1/2" plywood laminated together to form the bottom panels. Then I used 1/2" hardwood to attach the bottom panel to the frame of the door. For the window I just used 1/4 round hardwood for trim and cut plexiglass with table saw. I ended up using 2x4s for my horizontals instead of 2x6s. Then I caulked all of the seams (joints), sanded and painted. They turned out better than I anticipated. Certainly not "home" quality, but good enough for the chicken house.

The window is made using 2x2s with a single hinge centered above. I think I should have used two hinges. But that's easy to fix.