Our DIY Rooster/Night box

[Bens-Hens]

We live in suburbia, and like many are not permitted to keep roosters. After a recent hatch, we have grown some anyway, and are now faced with the desire to keep two roosters in order to give us some fertile eggs for our next hatch.

I have spent a long time online, trying to find all the 'tricks' too keeping a rooster in places where they are not welcome. For every theory, there seem to be two people have experience disproving it. SO, I am working on a project at combines the popular methods, in hope that one or some work together.

I have up[dated our 'blog' type thread with this info, but I figured that there may be other interested in just this part of our adventure.

We wanted something that is dark, sound proof, has air flow, insulated, limits neck extension, yet has enough room for a male of a night time.

I got my expert design skills out, sat down with my crayons poked my tongue out and got cracking. (My wonderful skills also extend to being able to upload the image the right way up.....hold the applause lol)



EDIT: I should add some measurements. Each 'booth' will be about 2ft x 2ft x 2ft internally. I will make the roosts adjustable to work on the neck extension part.

Then gathered up the materials, off cuts and left overs from a work project. Mostly 35mm steel fridge panel, with an extra 50mm piece. More on that in a moment. Ply could be used, but I had this panel, so I am making it from cool room parts.


It's a little out of order, but here is a cross section of the roof panels. Total 100mm thick, a 50mm panel and a 35mm panel, secured inside a 100mm channel. This gives the air gap seen here. I have used the air gap method for two reasons. The best form of insulation is an air gap, secondly, I wanted a path for air flow.


I cut a 100mm hole in the top panel, right in the middle with a hole saw, this is to mount the rotary roof vent to. The aim is for the roof vent to pull air from outside, into the box then, through the air gap and out the vent. Air flow that will act as a sound muffler.


Rotary vent, used for trucks. I got this on sale for $23AU, brand new in the box.


Here is the roof section upside down. the angles mounted to it are to secure the sides to.


I picked up a few stainless steel vent grills. I don't have the right size hole saw for the vent, so I improvised. The internal holes are offset to the central rotary hole, so we get the insulation, but reduce the crow-ibells from within.


Some of the pretty vents secured, aimed back towards where Mr Roo's will be.


I got the two ends cut and the roof rake sorted, but no pics of that tonight. Hope to have the basic structure completed tomorrow night, then work on the doors, other four vents, middle divider, roosts plus finishing touches over the weekend.

Once that is done, I can do some tests with my remote thermometers and see what sort of temps differences we get, got to make sure it's safe for our boys!

More pics as the build continues.

 

[lizanne]

Love this!! I look forward to seeing how it works!

 

[lavender pekins]

Tut tut Im kidding i love it how much is it costing and let us know how it works!!!

 

[speedy2020]

It also help if you select rooster that not crow all the time. The dark coop help a lot too. My coop have back door vents, but no windows. The only light are 1/8" from the vent and coop door. Rooster is allow here, but sure don't want to make the neighbors mad.
If you want to reduce noise, try to find the wavy kind insulation (noise cancellation insulation foam).

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/IN...5T492&ef_id=UbouRwAABLGJAgqW:20130613204117:s

 

[Bens-Hens]

I did consider lining our coop, but we have an open coop and run, there is only a partial floor to our coop.

The size and cost of sound proofing our coop is too high, so I am making this separate sleeping quarters for two roosters, the hens will be staying in our normal coop, no change. It will mean we have to go put the roosters in at night, and let them out in the morning, but it should only be a few minutes extra work on top of the morning duties already.

As for cost, so far I have only had to purchase the 100mm aluminium channel ($62) for a full length, hinges we $7.50 each (2 pairs), vents were a couple of dollars each, I got 6 and the roof vent was $23 on special, normally $34.

The panels are all off cuts of larger 2400mm x 1200mm sheets. I have been building another project, so these were 'free' I used to buy off cuts from a cool room place, but I have found buying full sheets for work has given me a better end product. The angle and other capping were off cuts too, so no cost there.

So far, about $100. If I keep on budget track, I should be able to sell it for that amount when we have had our use of it, or I can flip it onto it's back and have a $100 twin door esky!

It could be made with ply, I even found a video of someone that made one from an old BBQ hahahah, Ironic.

 

[Bens-Hens]

Got a bit more done this evening on the rooster box. I did not account for capping of the inner door frames, so I won't get it completed this weekend, but it should get close.

Undecided if I will put the middle divider in, see how it looks later.

Door ways are cut, back and side are on (upside down in this pic)


Floor and first fit of the capping. My kingdom for a compound saw! Would make for a better finish on those angle cuts.


Right way up.


Vent in place. Pretty sturdy as it is, but I plan to remove the self tapper screws and rivit it all together when I am happy with the final dimensions.


Tomorrow will be the doors, more vents and make the divider. It will be removable so I can leave it out if I like. Weighs a ton! My biggest concern will be air flow, I will fit the other four vents plus the floor hole and see how it looks then.

 

[lizanne]

Are you planning some kind of removable tray on the floor, for easier clean out, or are you planning to do pine shavings? I wonder if you could install a little fan inside, for better air flow and less noise. It looks great!!

 

[Bens-Hens]

I wanted to have a flat floor level at the door easier to scrape out, but it would have been too weak across the doors, so it has a lip.

I am going to put some holes in the floor to help with cleaning, but it will have a bedding in there. See what I have that is suitable.

As for airflow, I will see how the vents work out. I did find a 12V solar powered fan at my local 12V shop, but it was a bit pricey, and also moved a large amount of air (very noisy) and probably too much for this application.

Will test it out and see what needs improving. Work to continue this afternoon.

 

[lizanne]

The white noise of the fan might be a good thing. It could cover up a faint "cock-a-doodle".

 

[Bens-Hens]

the fans I looked at were more blowers than a fan, and were not the best. If the roof vent I have does not work out I will look at one of the bigger sorts. Just have to see how this works before I dive in to more parts.

So, the progress.

Picking up where I left off, I have had concerns about airflow. Temps should not be too bad, where it is going it will only see direct sun in the middle of the day, and it will be empty then. The rest of the time it will be dark or shaded. It will need decent airflow though. So, not having the right tools, I improvised. Not the pretties of jobs, but it will make the best airflow possible for those vents.

Drill lots of holes, and chop the guts out!






Secure with screws, drill the rivet holes


Bob's your uncle. Fitted these to each end, plus the pair in the roof. All holes have vents over them, so nothing sharp inside.


Roof vent


The doors, 35mm. I was planning to make it double skinned and also to have a foam sealing strip around it, but for now it is single skinned. And I have set the rivet head to form a spacer, so there can be a little extra airflow. If it's too noisy I will add the strip.

Here I have the capping on with screws, ready to rivet. I find that it takes a bit longer, but screws are easier to undo if something needs adjusting. Then, I go back and rivet it all down.


After looking at the inside, I decided to leave the divider out, this freed up some capping which I could use on a door frame.


I had some small hinges on to see the door work, but not very happy with them. I found some strap type ones in the shed. I will see if I can get them to work better tomorrow. I then ran out of capping, and had used my very last rivet.


As it is for the end of today. All the screws have been removed, replaced with permanent rivets, except the inner roof section. Which was bolstered with more screws, so if I ever need to take it off I can.


I have a pair of catches too, but I don't think they are the right sort, so I might get held up on those too.

Thanks for reading!