City to rural

[FuneralOfHearts]

Well I moved from the city to a small town in Northern British Columbia. Im now living on six acres and decided to give chickens a try. I have never built anything in my life and have no experience with raising any farm animals. So here's my first attempt...

Here is the start. The coop is fully insulated due to cold winters and advice from a local expert.

 

[FuneralOfHearts]

The coop is 8' x 5' . The floor is a little over 2' off the ground and the high side wall is a little over 6' tall. Short sude wall is a little over 4' tall.

I took MANY more pictures along the way showing all the steps (building, insulating, vapor barrier, etc)

The roof

External nesting boxes under way..

Walls up

Back door / maintenance hatch.

 

[SueT]

Welcome to BYC!!!!! Looks like a great start...how many chickens are you going to get?

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I would make the "maintenance hatch" big enough to walk into the coop. 8x5 is too big to reach all corners for cleaning, collecting rogue eggs, or retrieving a sick bird without going inside.

 

[FuneralOfHearts]

I was given 13 chickens. But Im not keeping them all. Im planning on 6-8 chickens total.


Inside with laminate floor down..

Inside poop board and roosts. (Nesting boxes are boarded up below)

All it needs now is paint

Any guess on what kind of chickens?

 

[FuneralOfHearts]

I would make the "maintenance hatch" big enough to walk into the coop. 8x5 is too big to reach all corners for cleaning, collecting rogue eggs, or retrieving a sick bird without going inside.

I just climb in when needed. No big deal. Im pretty tall so i simply step up and in.

 

[aart]

Pretty nice!
What did your 'local' expert say about ventilation in winter?

 

[David McCue]

Never built anything in your life? Well you nailed it! I am jealous and may use your plans to build myself another coop. I just need to figure out how to hid it from my wife .

Did you consider putting coop and run on wheels so you can move it freely around the yard? Just an idea I saw. I've had 4 chickens for 5 days now and just collected my 9th egg. It's fun. Tonight or tomorrow I open the gate just before dark so they can free range. Wish me luck.

 

[FuneralOfHearts]

I couldnt imagine rolling that coop around on wheels. It would be VERY heavy..