Woods coop underway!

[MiaS]

Well, I guess I've made my thoughts of raising a half dozen chickens real as my 6 x 10 Woods coop is underway!

So far I've got my PT 2" x 6" and PT plywood floor built, and all of my outside walls prefabbed and ready to panel. I've gone with the windows placed and sized as per book elevations, though my stud layout is a bit of a hybrid. Not quite as sparse as the book but not quite 16" oc placements either.

You can see the back walls leaned up against the SmartPanel siding and the two side walls stacked on top of each other laid out here.

I bought the nail gun as a gift to myself. I'm a girl and I nail like one This little tool is a bit scary but WAY better than me trying to nail all of this together by myself.

I've managed to find a piece of commercial linoleum for the floor and plan to pin it under the stud walls to secure it. Wow, it is tough stuff to cut!!

Despite my Alberta, Canada location I'm going with the consensus advice here and not planning to insulate. I can always add it later if needed.

Wonder if anyone can give me some advice on rodent/weasel proofing the base? I'm going to lay it out on concrete 'elephant feet'. Do I need to add some HC to the underside, maybe right up against the plywood or at the bottom of the floor joists. We do not have rats and I don't know if weasels are chewers or not. The base will be no higher than the elephant feet and may be pretty much ground level. I do intend to surround the base with wire fence or HC to prevent digging.

 

[Ted Brown]

From what I have read herein putting 1/2" 19 guage HC as "aprons" around any outside area will be just fine.

You go girl!!

 

[Ted Brown]

@MiaS I had to look but finally found the post thread on "aprons" that I liked, with pictures.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wire-around-coop.1110498/#post-17093528

In looking I saw that the was some debate on the size of HC you, seems to be dependent on what varmints you need to protect from. The bigger the varmint the heavier the wire gauge is sort of the rule of thumb.

I searched "apron+ @aart" and "apron+ @Howard E ".

 

[MiaS]

@MiaS I had to look but finally found the post thread on "aprons" that I liked, with pictures.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wire-around-coop.1110498/#post-17093528

In looking I saw that the was some debate on the size of HC you, seems to be dependent on what varmints you need to protect from. The bigger the varmint the heavier the wire gauge is sort of the rule of thumb.

I searched "apron+ @aart" and "apron+ @Howard E ".

Thanks! And thanks for the search tips too. So far my search inquiries on BYC has been a bit hit and miss.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I’m so impressed with your carpentry! I’m following with interest.

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

Very nice work! I started my coop today.

 

[MiaS]

I’m so impressed with your carpentry! I’m following with interest.

Well thanks. I'm not really a carpenter but I do have an interior design background so I have a decent understanding of design and construction. We'll see how I do when I get to the roof

 

[trumpeting_angel]

Well thanks. I'm not really a carpenter but I do have an interior design background so I have a decent understanding of design and construction. We'll see how I do when I get to the roof

My background as a psychologist is turning out to be utterly useless in coop design and construction.

 

[Ted Brown]

My background as a psychologist is turning out to be utterly useless in coop design and construction.

I'll bet it comes in handy in taking care of the chickens however!

 

[Ted Brown]

@MiaS It occurred to me that you may have missed the need for "jack posts" to support the monitor window frame in your coop?

These are simply 2" by 4"s that are the length needed to run from the bottom of the wall to the height where the bottom of the monitor frame will begin. I see that you have put a small square on the stud which I assume you will use to support the front roof? If yes the bottom of that square is the height you will need. So a few points:

• The jack post will go flat against the longest stud you have and on the inside, one on each wall. It should be aligned with the back edge of that long stud and will be wider so that it sticks out along the bottom edge of the square.
• You will also need an extra 2" by 4" that is attached to the monitor frame, flat on the outside and aligned along the bottom. This is needed to support the front roof panel across the width of the building, very important!! This is shown is in this diagram and labeled "front roof plate":

• The monitor frame will sit on top of the jack posts on each wall and will also be nailed to the longest studs. DO NOT DEPEND ON JUST NAILS TO HOLD THE MONITOR FRAME SINCE IT WILL HAVE TO CARRY BOTH ROOFS ALONG WITH ANY SNOW LOAD THAT WILL BUILD UP!! The roofs could collapse otherwise. Also use nails into the long stud EVERY 12" along the two jack posts.

Hopefully this is clear, if not ask!!!

In addition, the monitor frame itself will need to be carefully designed. It will carry the snow loads of both roofs and must be strong enough to hold. I suggest you draw a picture of what you have in mind BEFORE YOU BUILD IT and post it here so others can chime in with suggestions.

This diagram from Woods' book is a good model. If I recall correctly @Howard E re-enforced his monitor to ensure it did not collapse: