Progress on our first coop

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ashncarson

Songster
6 Years
Jul 15, 2013
381
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Reno County, Kansas
I wanted to post the progress we have done on our first coop. We did most all of this yesterday.

The coop is 8x5, the run (including under the coop) will be 13x10. We are trying to use all re-claimed wood as possible so we can save $$ for the hardware cloth! This will be for 5 city chickens!

The front view (what we see from our house, south side) the nest box will be right here in the front, under a window.



Here is the West side (going into the run) the top board is going to be moved down, to move UP the ventilation bar
(we pretty much ran out of wood here so that will be one large long vent)

The tree here will be cut down to just the remaining main branches which will remain in the run! It was my favorite tree and over the winter it died :(


I asked my husband to put the coop door 12 inches up from the coop floor. I hope that was correct in doing so. Will that be a problem for them (I would think not but just checking). The door is 14x14 I believe is what we decided on.


This shows the East wall. This is where the "Human" door will be, in front of the crepe mrytle trees. I believe 3' wide, not sure height just yet, enough to clear the roof line.

The walls have a slope of about 5 inches to help with rain.



How is it looking so far? Is there anything we need to think about of change right now? There will also be a small access door on the north wall for easy cleaning of the roost area.

Thanks for looking!
 
The first photo looks a little crooked - might just be the photo but I'd check it with a level ;) Also if it's going to stay on top of those cement blocks, is that enough to support an adult's weight inside it?

I love using reclaimed wood - we have some tractors (movable coop and run) we made out of a 60 year old barn that got torn down.


When building my coops and tractors I've learned the following things are important to consider in designing it
- How will you get in to feed/water and where will the chickens be while you do it? Is there a place to hang the feeder and waterer?
- How will you collect the eggs? Hint: you don't want to have to go inside every time. Collecting the eggs should be the easiest chore ;)
- How will you close that coop door?
- What bedding will you use?
- How will you clean the coop and run?
 
jesirose said:
The first photo looks a little crooked - might just be the photo but I'd check it with a level ;) Also if it's going to stay on top of those cement blocks, is that enough to support an adult's weight inside it?

I love using reclaimed wood - we have some tractors (movable coop and run) we made out of a 60 year old barn that got torn down.


When building my coops and tractors I've learned the following things are important to consider in designing it
- How will you get in to feed/water and where will the chickens be while you do it? Is there a place to hang the feeder and waterer?
- How will you collect the eggs? Hint: you don't want to have to go inside every time. Collecting the eggs should be the easiest chore ;)
- How will you close that coop door?
- What bedding will you use?
- How will you clean the coop and run?
Click to expand...
Its very square, the west side is taller than the east side, to create a slop on the roof! But yeah, I think its the way I stood to take the photo. Plus, those walls are just braced up at the moment, and without the side walls are not 100% stable yet!

My husband was able to jump on the middle, and he is about 210, so I would say yes, it is supporting adult weight!

I believe we have figured out all the other questions!
The water will be a nipple system and food will be PVC system
There will be a exterior egg box to collect from, which will be under the East side.
Coop door will have a pulley system installed later to open/close from outside the run
Bedding is probably the one thing I will read some more about.
Coop will have a door on the side by the flowering trees to access the coop, with a small access to clean the board under the roost
The run will have a door behind the coop!
 
Moving the board you mentioned will give you the same long ventilation opening that I have. I think it is a good idea, because it allows the air to exit up high. If you put a large opening in the door opposite the long vent, you will have a natural flow air that won't be a draft.

It probably doesn't matter, but I would be inclined to lower the bottom of the pop door opening allowing less than 4 inches for the chickens to climb.

One thing to consider is to make the coop itself part of the run by attaching the fence to the front of the coop on each end. That will enable you to attend to the eggs and the rear access door without having to enter the run. Applying wire to the outer perimeter of the coop at the bottom will allow the chickens to use the space under the coop for shade, dust bathing, and to have a dry place in the rain.

Make the door that opens into the run so that it swings out. The chickens will be excited that you are there and will crowd the door so that you cannot readily open it inward. You will also be able to sweep stragglers into the run by closing the door.

Put some roosting bars up so that the chickens can look out through the long ventilation window. Mine fill up the roost, starting with the roost that enables them to see out. I don't know why they do that, but it seems to matter.

Chris
 
chfite said:
Moving the board you mentioned will give you the same long ventilation opening that I have. I think it is a good idea, because it allows the air to exit up high. If you put a large opening in the door opposite the long vent, you will have a natural flow air that won't be a draft.

It probably doesn't matter, but I would be inclined to lower the bottom of the pop door opening allowing less than 4 inches for the chickens to climb.

One thing to consider is to make the coop itself part of the run by attaching the fence to the front of the coop on each end. That will enable you to attend to the eggs and the rear access door without having to enter the run. Applying wire to the outer perimeter of the coop at the bottom will allow the chickens to use the space under the coop for shade, dust bathing, and to have a dry place in the rain.

Make the door that opens into the run so that it swings out. The chickens will be excited that you are there and will crowd the door so that you cannot readily open it inward. You will also be able to sweep stragglers into the run by closing the door.

Put some roosting bars up so that the chickens can look out through the long ventilation window. Mine fill up the roost, starting with the roost that enables them to see out. I don't know why they do that, but it seems to matter.

Chris
Click to expand...
Thank you for your suggestions!

It is kind of hard to imagine, but the run will attach at the corner where the chicken door is. it will go over 5 more ft..then back 13 ft (5 ft past the coop) and then will go across the back 10 ft.
I would like to have it attach to both the side and the back just to give the chickens more square footage. Under the run will also be covered.

I see what you mean by that would leave the small access door (to clean roost) inside the run. I will have to brain storm a bit to decide where else to put a small access hole, along with the large clean out door!

Thanks
 
That will be a cute coop! I like that you are using used materials, so did I when I built my coop. I bought reject paint at Lowes at a deep bargain, check it out, it will help cut paint costs. I built my run from cow panels, then hog ringed hardware cloth to the cow panels. I built the frame work for the run from salvaged used lumber.

 
Baymule said:
That will be a cute coop! I like that you are using used materials, so did I when I built my coop. I bought reject paint at Lowes at a deep bargain, check it out, it will help cut paint costs. I built my run from cow panels, then hog ringed hardware cloth to the cow panels. I built the frame work for the run from salvaged used lumber.
Click to expand...
Do cow panels really bend like that! wow..whats the height on that?

We liked to get paint when ACE hardware has them a pint for free. We get family members to go and get the same color we get and we end up with enough to paint a while room! We did our daughters room addition like that and repainted our sons room.....all that to say, we have some different shades of paint :) but will check out the bins in case I decide to paint it all one color!
 
I like your coop. We are just about to complete ours. Do to location we have built the run and coop all enclosed. We do plan to ad a larger run in due time. The structure is on concrete and the extended run will go out into our yard. My peeps can't move in to soon. It's taken longer than expected to build. But yeah, we're almost done. My 4 peeps will be spoiled with a sand covered run and a house above to nest in.
 

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