Our Hen House
After reading many books and doing an extensive search of forum topics on building coops, I developed plans and set to work with my husband to create a simple, yet functional coop for our flock that would total about 15 birds.? We originally planned to place it out in the yard nearer to the back fence, but after some deliberation, and more reading, I settled on an unused spot under the deck near the basement door.? If this doesn't work we can always shoehorn the coop out of its spot and relocate in elsewhere in the yard.
So, here goes....the picture presentation of the process concluding with a picture of the curious girls checking it out for the first time.After reading many books and doing an extensive search of forum topics on building coops, I developed plans and set to work with my husband to create a simple, yet functional coop for our flock that would total about 15 birds.? We originally planned to place it out in the yard nearer to the back fence, but after some deliberation, and more reading, I settled on an unused spot under the deck near the basement door.? If this doesn't work we can always shoehorn the coop out of its spot and relocate in elsewhere in the yard.
Site selection & foundation. It took MUCH more work than it appears; building the foundation, that is.
Framing
And more framing. Here you can see (sort of) where the clean out hatch will be beneath the roosts
Here's a better picture of the roost area to the right of where the door will be. Keep scrolling, it will all become clear.
Now for the sheathing. We used plain ole 3/8 plywood with intention to prime & paint
Primed. Doesn't look like much other than a big white box right now. But you can see how it is situated beneath the deck for protection from the elements. Plenty of breeze blows through down there. You can see it is also next to the basement door for easy access.
An inside view of the roosts and framed out droppings box area, and the lovely vinyl floor.
After completing the siding and vinyling of the droppings box area. You can see where the hatch will be. you can also see the clear polycarb roof. Since the coop is sheltered from snow by the deck we figured we could use clear roofing to let in light, negating the need for clear view windows.
The clean out hatch from the outside
The door, and a lot of construction tools.
Cutting out the windows and pop door.
With wire mesh on the windows and over the droppings box. You can clearly see from the window and clear view ceiling that we worked on this well after dark each night.
Finished photos...well finished enough for occupancy; a few more things need to be done on the outside.
The girls checking out their new digs.
Trying out the roosts
The girls milling around on night 3 in the coop (it's was forecast to go down to almost 30, thus the brooder light):
And settling in to roost:
Now to build the nesting boxes, perch for the pop door and surrounding temporary run. When they are old enough we hope to free range them in the fenced in yard; right now they are only 7 weeks old.
