Thought I would post my chicken coop to give others ideas on what to do or not to do.
I designed this coop to accommodate my height of 6'2, attempted to make it as simple as possible, and still look somewhat attractive. I wanted something I could walk in and not have to constantly crouch/duck/bend/curse to maintain. I also wanted the fowl to have a comfortable environment.
I based this design off other coops and a gable roof 8 x 12 shed I built about 2 years ago on our property. Deck is 6' x 12 ' using 2 x 4 none treated wood floor joists 12 inches OC and treated lumber for outer edges on 4 x 4 runners. It sits about 24 inches on one side and drops to about a foot on other due to uneven ground. At 24 inches above grade the structure had sway. To counter this I reinforced the deck. After adding 2 x 4 in a X from post to post and 90 degree supports at the end it's solid. The flooring is CDX. It's considerably less costly than thicker plywood. Really, chickens don't weigh much and I'll only be in there to clean.
Went with a shed roof considering ease of construction compared to a gable roof style. Roof is a 3 x 12 pitch. Architectural Pewter Grey laminated shingles. 7' on tall side 5' on lower. Rafters are 24 inches OC with OSB sheathing.. I know.. I hate OSB. It soaks up water and doesn't hold nails as well. It's cheap compared to plywood and had a few panels left over from my temp goat house. Overhang on all sides. enough so water won't drip on nesting box covers. I plan on putting a gutter for rain water collection so that won't really matter anyway. 15 lbs felt. drip edge and flashing on higher side to keep water from getting underneath. For fascia I used left over pieces of siding.
Walls 2 x 3 studs 24 inches OC. Went with the primed siding that comes in 4' x 8' panels. It was the same price as none primed.
Door opening is approx 72 inches by 20.5 inches. I did have enough siding to make a door but decided on a board and baton style using cedar planks used for fencing. I would suggest using tongue and groove or ship lap boards for a cleaner sturdier door. I kind of rushed it but it came out OK.
Nesting boxes have external egg collection top hinged doors. I had planned on using the same CDX as the floor for nesting box doors but they warped. I really dislike the way OSB looks and will probably go back and replace with plywood. At this stage I just wanted to get it usable for my chickens. It would have been MUCH easier to make the deck say 7' x 12' leaving the actual structure the same 6' x 12' and building nesting box walls off that. KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid as a friend likes to repeat. I had planned on internal nesting boxes but changed my mind after the fact. It was basically just a lot more cutting and measuring.
Floating vinyl flooring. Poop deck boards are also removable along with roosting rail. Added 16 penny gav nails at ends of rails so they can't get to close to wall.
It has no windows at the moment. I'm holding out on finding some windows at the Habitat store or Craigslist.
Things to be done:
Windows
Paint
Trim - Batons
Bird blocks
steps to enter coop
I'll list the big items and approx cost. Keep in mind some material I reused.
Siding 4' x 8' panels - 30$ x 9
CDX 4' x 8' panels - 16$ x 4
Cedar planks - 2.38$ x 10
Roofing shingles - 5.5 bundles used approx 120 sq ft. free (left over material from friends roofing job) Also check roofing supply places as they always have clearance shingles as low as 50-70$ a square.
2 x 3 x 8' - approx 2.05$ x 25 (purchased. reused some material from goat house)
2 x 4 x 8' - 4.50$ x 25 (wall stud)
2 x 4 x 8' - 6.50$ x 2 (treated)
2 x 4 x 12' - 7.50$ x 2 (treated)
4 x 4 x 12' - 10$ x 2 (non treated.. went the cheap route as runners are not close to ground)
Pier blocks - x 6 (I had 4 left over from goat tree house and 2 left over from deck construction that we did not use)
Paint 1 gallon x 2 exterior from the opps rack at 8$ a gallon (normally 45$)
I used various deck screws, framing nails, galv nails, and big box of roofing nails.
So far adding up the above cost is about 550$ not including some other items like felt, drip edge, trim.
We're still doing pretty good considering the Chicken Palace at Tractor supply that came with a run and coop the size for 12 hens was over 1K. For less $ spent we have a large coop that when painted will look as nice and is sturdy enough to live in. It was a lot of work but consider I have almost 0 building experience. My first built anything was our 8x12 shed. If you're considering building your own coop I say DO IT. It's cheaper or about the same $$ amount if you bought some cheaply built coop from a feed store type place. Even custom built coops can cost in the thousands. Keep it simple. Do LOTS and LOTS of research before deciding on a plan. Consider purchasing coop plans or just build a shed and turn it into a coop. Building your coop might be more work but I think it's more practical in the long run. I'll update with progress pics after I add windows, trim, and paint.
thanks.
I designed this coop to accommodate my height of 6'2, attempted to make it as simple as possible, and still look somewhat attractive. I wanted something I could walk in and not have to constantly crouch/duck/bend/curse to maintain. I also wanted the fowl to have a comfortable environment.
I based this design off other coops and a gable roof 8 x 12 shed I built about 2 years ago on our property. Deck is 6' x 12 ' using 2 x 4 none treated wood floor joists 12 inches OC and treated lumber for outer edges on 4 x 4 runners. It sits about 24 inches on one side and drops to about a foot on other due to uneven ground. At 24 inches above grade the structure had sway. To counter this I reinforced the deck. After adding 2 x 4 in a X from post to post and 90 degree supports at the end it's solid. The flooring is CDX. It's considerably less costly than thicker plywood. Really, chickens don't weigh much and I'll only be in there to clean.
Went with a shed roof considering ease of construction compared to a gable roof style. Roof is a 3 x 12 pitch. Architectural Pewter Grey laminated shingles. 7' on tall side 5' on lower. Rafters are 24 inches OC with OSB sheathing.. I know.. I hate OSB. It soaks up water and doesn't hold nails as well. It's cheap compared to plywood and had a few panels left over from my temp goat house. Overhang on all sides. enough so water won't drip on nesting box covers. I plan on putting a gutter for rain water collection so that won't really matter anyway. 15 lbs felt. drip edge and flashing on higher side to keep water from getting underneath. For fascia I used left over pieces of siding.
Walls 2 x 3 studs 24 inches OC. Went with the primed siding that comes in 4' x 8' panels. It was the same price as none primed.
Door opening is approx 72 inches by 20.5 inches. I did have enough siding to make a door but decided on a board and baton style using cedar planks used for fencing. I would suggest using tongue and groove or ship lap boards for a cleaner sturdier door. I kind of rushed it but it came out OK.
Nesting boxes have external egg collection top hinged doors. I had planned on using the same CDX as the floor for nesting box doors but they warped. I really dislike the way OSB looks and will probably go back and replace with plywood. At this stage I just wanted to get it usable for my chickens. It would have been MUCH easier to make the deck say 7' x 12' leaving the actual structure the same 6' x 12' and building nesting box walls off that. KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid as a friend likes to repeat. I had planned on internal nesting boxes but changed my mind after the fact. It was basically just a lot more cutting and measuring.
Floating vinyl flooring. Poop deck boards are also removable along with roosting rail. Added 16 penny gav nails at ends of rails so they can't get to close to wall.
It has no windows at the moment. I'm holding out on finding some windows at the Habitat store or Craigslist.
Things to be done:
Windows
Paint
Trim - Batons
Bird blocks
steps to enter coop
I'll list the big items and approx cost. Keep in mind some material I reused.
Siding 4' x 8' panels - 30$ x 9
CDX 4' x 8' panels - 16$ x 4
Cedar planks - 2.38$ x 10
Roofing shingles - 5.5 bundles used approx 120 sq ft. free (left over material from friends roofing job) Also check roofing supply places as they always have clearance shingles as low as 50-70$ a square.
2 x 3 x 8' - approx 2.05$ x 25 (purchased. reused some material from goat house)
2 x 4 x 8' - 4.50$ x 25 (wall stud)
2 x 4 x 8' - 6.50$ x 2 (treated)
2 x 4 x 12' - 7.50$ x 2 (treated)
4 x 4 x 12' - 10$ x 2 (non treated.. went the cheap route as runners are not close to ground)
Pier blocks - x 6 (I had 4 left over from goat tree house and 2 left over from deck construction that we did not use)
Paint 1 gallon x 2 exterior from the opps rack at 8$ a gallon (normally 45$)
I used various deck screws, framing nails, galv nails, and big box of roofing nails.
So far adding up the above cost is about 550$ not including some other items like felt, drip edge, trim.
We're still doing pretty good considering the Chicken Palace at Tractor supply that came with a run and coop the size for 12 hens was over 1K. For less $ spent we have a large coop that when painted will look as nice and is sturdy enough to live in. It was a lot of work but consider I have almost 0 building experience. My first built anything was our 8x12 shed. If you're considering building your own coop I say DO IT. It's cheaper or about the same $$ amount if you bought some cheaply built coop from a feed store type place. Even custom built coops can cost in the thousands. Keep it simple. Do LOTS and LOTS of research before deciding on a plan. Consider purchasing coop plans or just build a shed and turn it into a coop. Building your coop might be more work but I think it's more practical in the long run. I'll update with progress pics after I add windows, trim, and paint.
thanks.
