our-first-coop

I started with 9 chickens and two turkeys...because my boyfriend thought my idea of ordering from a hatchery was a bad one and we should "start small" to see how things go, if the chicks live, etc. So we got the first batch of chicks from a friend of ours who also happens to raise chickens to sell. They did GREAT!!! And of course, that meant I could order from the hatchery. Well, needless to say with the arrival of 26 baby chicks from McMurray...we had to start figuring out a solution as there was no way the garage was going to contain that many chicks for long. 

Now, my idea was to build a 10 x 12...the maximum size allowed without a building permit in my area...but my boyfriend would have none of it. As I would not be able to accomplish this all on my own, I settled for an 8x8 building (of course...we'll probably eventually have to build another ;P ).

Running Tally: $581.50

Details coming soon!

The Problem: Too many chicks in the garage.

The Solution: Build a Chicken Coop :D

Materials:

Material List Will Be Added Soon!!

Framing First

Walls / Base Start to Go Up.

OOPS!! - If your frames are 8 x 8 exactly...then APPARENTLY when you put them together...you need a base bigger than 8x8. Lesson learned! To fix we had to take it apart, cut down the sides, and put it back together 

This WILL be the pop door. We have two turkeys and my big concern was that it wouldnt be big enough for them to get inside if we did a smaller door. So we made it bigger. Now after I have read about keeping turkeys and chickens...that may change..well and given the fact that my boyfriend wants to buy more turkeys because he was all bummed that I did not pick up a Royal Palm (we have a black and a blue slate chick). SO IDK, we'll see, maybe the hen house will later turn into the turkey house once boyfriend realizes we need a bigger hen house :D Its not cut out yet because we won't have the run built by the time we put the babies in their new house.

Nest Boxes: I knew I wanted them outside. I was going for 7 along the 8 foot wall but because my boyfriend wanted them "solid" he used 2x4's which eat up a lot of space...so we wound up with only 5. I guess that is enough...for now...especially considering nobody is of laying age :D They will have sliding doors in the back and we still need to add to the inside a perch and ledge to keep eggs from rolling out. You can see the windows here too..made out of cage wire. Haven't figured out yet how we are going to close the windows whether we will use a pop up shutter type, two doors that open to the side...some thought needs to go into that still.

Just before painting.

The Painting Begins: Got super lucky and got a 5 gallon bucket of exterior paint from Home Depot that was a mistint. Normally $126.00 and I got it for $30....and REALLY actually like the color too :D

There is still a lot to be done. I am hoping to move the chicks into the coop within the next week or so. Painting in the high desert winds did not go so well...I am thinking of buying a sprayer. It was a big mess, the wind blew my paint liner full of paint right out of the paint tray. I had the wind blowing paint all over me, my face, and my hair. This building is going to need at least 2 more coats on the outside because of the raw lumber, plus I want at least a coat or two on the inside so it looks finished when you look in through the window...I think that adds up to enough pain in the &S* to just go ahead and buy a sprayer...plus...I can use it for my next coop 

Still have to paint the sign...there is going to be an overhang and porch (this is the first building in what we want to look like an old west town). The trim has to be added. Door made, roof put on. Perches need to go up. So there is still a bit of work. The chicks can bee added though once the paint is done and the roof is on. The porch is going to be a nice feature but no reason to keep the birds in the garage longer than necessary!! Then of course the run needs to be built. Luckily I was gifted over 1000 feet of chain link fence.