coolcanoechic's Member Page

Hi Everyone!  Thank you for visiting my page!  We are located in Raymond, New Hampshire.

I first became interested in having chickens last spring when my brother decided to raise some.  Over the last few months, I would go to his house to visit and we would hang out by the coop on those lazy summer afternoons.  The chickens were fun to watch and I would often bring them treats.  Then one day, my brother asked me if I would like to have a couple of them.  I thought about it for a while and then said yes.  It seemed to me that it would not be much trouble to build a small coop and run.

I had plenty of time to plan and do some research.  That is when I found this site.  I kept mulling over all of the coop pages looking for something that would fit my needs, and be fairly simple to build.  After all, it was just going to be two chickens, right?

It took us about two months to complete since we only had weekends available to build.  Since my husband and I have had previous experience in handy work, it came out great.  On a very sad note, my brothers entire flock was wiped out by a mink the week before my coop was finished.  I was left with a brand new coop and no birds to live in it.  I searched Craigs list and found a breeder who was trying to thin out his flock before winter.  I bought 3 birds from him.  One died a week later.  I think the poor thing could not handle the trauma of being removed from her old environment and put into a new and strange situation.  I now have two very happy and healthy birds left.

Update  7/4/12:   

My two girls are now living on a nice farm nearby and I have a new flock of pullets.  I have three BCM's, One Buff Orpington, and one Speckled Sussex.

Update  7/4/12:

Many have asked to see construction plans and pictures, so I have sat down and taken some time to revamp this whole page.  There were really no plans except lots of thoughts and sketches drawn on paper.  We sort of winged it as we went along.  The footprint is 6ft by 10ft.  These pictures should give you an idea of how things went together as we slowly progressed in the construction of our coop.

September 6th,  2011

And so it begins. 

We started with a solid base made with pressure treated 2 by 10 and 2 by 6 for the floor.

The footprint is 6 by 10 feet.

September 10th,  2011

We planned for the coop to be raised for easy access.

The floor of the coop is covered with vinyl for easy cleaning.  It is also tilted downward in the front for those times when I feel the need to hose it out.

There will be storage underneath as well as a shallow closet on the back side.

The framing is started for a window and nesting box.

Notice the chicken wire?  I didn't have a clue about it until I started spending time on this site.  I never took it out, but went back and added hardware cloth right over it.  It would have come out looking better without the chicken wire, but it would have been a huge undertaking to remove it, so I just left it there and went over it with the hardware cloth.  I wish I had known earlier, but at least it was corrected before the coop was finished.

The trusses are up.  Way more than we really needed, but they will handle a huge snow load, and we won't have to worry when it piles up.

September 14th,  2011

Siding is started.  We went with T-111 with an acrilic wood stain that is semi transparent.

The roof is going on as well.

October 1st,  2011

Lots of rain in October. 

The shallow closet in the back has been painted.  Not sure why I chose pink.  It looked good on the sample card.  On the wall.....um?  At least it will have a door over it  :-).

Everything has been run for the electrical.  Lights, outlets and switches installed.

Some of the afternoons turned out to be quite hot, so a shade was hung.

Notice the interior wall of the run?  A nice porch light,  window,  pop door,  and a small door for the interior wall feeder.

Door for interior wall feeder.  It is held closed with cabinet magnets.

This is what it looks like on the inside of the coop.  It is angled downward so the food will fall freely toward the front of the holder.

Ventilation in the ceiling as well as two windows.  All corners have been caulked in preparation for painting.

Notice the chicken wire?  Yup,  I added hardware cloth to that too.

There is an interior outlet for plugging in things like a heated water dish or a vacuum when it's cleaning time.  The interior light is on a dimmer switch.  It's great for keeping the lights on low at night.

October 9th,  2011

Started the outside wall for the shallow closet on the backside, and added some shelves.

Inside the run, we didn't want the chickens hanging out in the rafters and pooping down the sides of the walls and hardware cloth, so we lined the whole ceiling with window screen and then put lattice over it.  The screen is to keep bees from making nests up there and also allows for air flow for the vent we installed in the ceiling of the coop.  The cut out for the vent is up under there.

I thought it would be fun to build a deck for the pop door just like a real deck.

Inside the coop, the walls have been painted.  I used two coats of Kilz primer, and two coats of tough washable interior paint.  Bug screen was added over the chicken wire in the windows.  Notice there is still no hardware cloth?  Yup, had to remove the trim and add the hardware cloth.  Dang!

Had a nice beer at the end of the day while enjoying what we call our "admiration hour."  It is when we finish our work for the day and sit back with a cold beer and admire the work we accomplished for the day.

October 15th,  2011

Things were starting to get a little frosty and cold.

We managed to get the door onto the shallow closet on the back side.

A little more work done on the front side.

October 24th,  2011

Finally got the nesting box installed.  The roof of the box goes up inside of the wall so water will flow down the roof if it gets behind the trim board on top.  The trim hides the gap created by the angle of the roof.  No water can get inside of the box.

Started trimming the window, clean out door, and underneath storage.

November 15th,  2011

We made the window with double paned glass for added warmth in the winter.

The nesting box is finished too.

We made a panel for inside the nesting box to keep the girls from escaping while we collect the eggs.

It is removable for cleaning.

Things are starting to look finished.  Notice the hardware cloth?

The closet in use!

Still need to do the front.  Doors take some thought as to how to put them together.  The top window is fixed and we had glass cut to fit it.  It is double paned for warmth.  It faces south so in the winter, it helps to warm the coop.

I made a sign for the deck.  Ha ha  :-D

I also put a cut piece of vinyl there because you know what the chickens will be doing on the poop deck.

The interior feeder and a heated water bowl.

November 21st,  2011

YaY!  The clean out door and storage doors are finished!  The clean out door has double paned glass for winter warmth.  There is a keeper board in there to keep the bedding in place when the door is opened.

I originally started with sand in the coop.  I didn't like it very well and switched it out later for chopped straw.  Much better.  Less dusty and warmer for the girls in the winter.

It's kind of hard to see, but there are a couple of perches in the run for the girls to play on.

Notice the exterior outlet for a heated water dish?

A little inspiration for the girls.

April 1st,  2012

A new addition!

Remember now, the ceiling in the run is breathable.

We call this the "loft" or "The halfway house"

It was added to use for introducing new birds to the group.  It can also be used to isolate sick birds, without separating them from the flock.

Right now, it serves as extra space for the girls to hang out in.  They like to sit on the edge like vultures looking down on everything.

The front side has a plexiglass window because the birds love looking out the windows.

We used T-111 again so it would match the rest of the building.

April 23rd,  2012

This is a unique door we made.

Open the small door, it is a window,  open the next door, it is a screen,  open the next, it is a clean out.

Inside.  A small roost.

Clean out view.

Screen view.

Close up of doors.

The loft in use!

It still needs the ramp painted, but that is a project for another day.

July 1st,  2012

Another new project!

Well, the grass never completely grew back after construction.  It became packed dirt that splashed mud up all over the coop when it rained.  So, after getting up the gumption for another tough job, I decided to put stones in around the coop.  Hubby decided to make some homemade wood gutters too.

It is July and hot.  95 degrees both days I worked on this.

Before:

After.

The back side

9/14/12

Another update:

Plans are in the works for an addition.  We are planning to add another run to give the girls more space!  It is just a sketch so far, but soon construction will begin.

It will have an open bottom, a roof, side walls to keep all their kicked up dirt inside, and hardware cloth windows.  Of course, it will be bomb proof against predators with hardware cloth barriers against digging predators. I may add more stonework around the outside too.  One thing at a time though..... 

Meet the girls!

Michelle

Maggie

Marion

Marilyn and Gwenneth

John named Gwynnith 

A fellow BYC member has requested a look at the inside after a year of use, and I am happy to report that it has been holding up well though I have made a roost change to accomodate more chickens and to minimize the squabbling that goes on at bedtime.  It is working out very well, and they all behave themselves when it's time for bed.

I hope you have enjoyed this page. 

Nancy and John