MrStop's Coop Build

MrStop

In the Brooder
Apr 14, 2015
24
7
24
Cincinnati, OH
At the prompting of @aart and @PapaChaz I'm going to start my own build thread... I'll start with a little background. I broke down a couple of months ago to the pleading of my kids to get some chickens.some chickens. One of my daughter's friends just so happened to pickup ten new chicks. Not needing all of them, they were looking for a home and in a moment of weakness I said yes. We now have 4 rapidly growing chicks, a Buff Orphington, an Australorp, a Barred Plymouth Rock, and an Ameraucana. I was hoping for a turnkey coop or plans for our mid-size suburban lot, but while there is lots of inspiration I haven't found one that quite fit the bill. So I turned to my tool of choice, Sketchup, and started to draw my own.

My goal of this coop is to build something that makes keeping chickens easy, is durable, and fits into the fabric of our neighborhood. My design requirements are:
  1. Coop and run sized to fit 4-6 hens (no chicken math here)
  2. Provide a comfortable environment for the chickens
  3. Easy to clean and maintain
  4. Allow for some self-sufficiency should we be away from home for some period of time

With those requirements, I am trying to incorporate the following features:
  • Coop/Run Design
    • Compact coop design with ~20 sq ft of coop space and ~60 sq ft of run
    • 2 nest boxes
    • Storage for food and supplies
    • Minimize potential for drafts
    • Insulation to moderate coop temps
    • Cover run for shade and protect birds from weather
    • Pest and predator proof
    • Proper coop ventilation
  • Feeding / Water System
    • Minimize mess and waste.
    • Deter rodents while being able to feed and water for several days.
    • Keep the water from freezing during the winter
  • Cleaning
    • Poop board under roost to keep coop bedding cleaner, longer
    • Protection for floors and walls
  • Automation
    • Pop door
      • Open at dusk /dawn & automatically adjust for the change of sunrise and sunset throughout the year
      • Manual override
      • Second chance opening at dusk - reopen the door about 5 mins after close to allow any stray chickens in
      • Sound of some sort about a minute before door close to indicate that it is time for the chickens to come in
      • Pressure sensor so the door doesn't close on the chickens (or releases if it does)
      • Red/Green light that is visible from our house on the coop that tells us if the door closed / opened correctly.\
    • Lighting (inside & outside coop)
      • Automatically turn on / shut off to extend the egg laying season
      • Should have a manual override if we need to turn on during the night
      • Should be LED to minimize power consumption
    • Temperature / Humidity logging / monitoring
 
So here is my design that is in progress. The coop is 4' wide x 5' deep x 5' high. It definitely is not design to optimize building materials, but the dimensions make sense for my need. Below are a couple of renderings of the interior. There is a cleanout door in the front. A window is on the left with the pop door located behind. The roost is along the rear wall with a poop board underneath. The poop board will be affixed to two full extension drawer slides so that it will come close to the door to make cleanout easier. The nest boxes are on the right. There is also a small extension on the right that gives a little bit more floor space and could be used should I ever need to move food or water indoors.

I'm still working out the exterior details. However, the coop will be sheathed with 1/2" OSB and plywood. 1-1/2" of foam insulation will be applied to the outside of the sheathing to protect it from the chickens and minimize thermal bridging. A rains screen will be applied and siding (probably fiber-cement) will be installed over that.






 
My first "innovation" is a compact rollout nest box. I posted in the Show us your nest boxes! Ingenous design post it here! thread, which led to me starting my own thread. Anyway, I was looking for something a little more compact than the standard rollout nest box to save on the coop footprint. So I took some inspiration from @Spudd dud and his front rollout design. I flipped it around and modified it so that I could access the eggs from outside the coop rather than inside. The first pic shows the design with the door closed. The ramp on the left is attached to the door. The second pic shows the door open. I will cover the ramps with some neoprene foam or similar to cushion the eggs.

This concept is still on the drawing board as I haven't started coop construction yet (fingers crossed for this weekend). I also need to wait until Sept or so until the chicks start laying, but will do some testing with store bought eggs first.



 
excellent!

I will say though, read up on insulation, you don't want something the chickens can and will pick at and eat.

also, you can check into 10 ft sheets of materials, so one sheet could be cut in half and minimize waste. Of course, if you're going to use an external type siding, you could always use 10 ft 1x dimensional lumber instead of sheathing.

One thing I have learned through the years, if you're buying your materials from the big box stores, they'll have a cull area where they will put warped/twisted/damaged to some degree materials that will be sold at a discount. I bought all the 2x4s I needed to frame my coop at home depot for $51 this way. Also, if there's a piece that's damaged, just ask someone on the floor what kind of mark down is on it. I never ask IF a piece will be marked down, I ask how much. They rarely argue over it, esp if it has a good bit of damage on it. Another example, I needed to front a linen closet in a bathroom remodel. I bought a piece of 3/4" hardwood smooth sided plywood that normally sold for $48 a sheet, for $13 because it was damaged on both sides. i only needed 32" and I cut it out of the middle
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great thread! I love some sketchup, I use it a LOT. Looking forward to keeping up with your build. Planning to subscribe so I can stay up to date easier!
 
Sweet!!

PapaChaz.... sounds like covering the insulation from pecking has been covered(hehe).

Gotta tell you, go bigger if at all possible. :)
More room is better for those snowy winter days they won't want to leave the coop at all.
I've found that the 4sqft rule is a minimum.

Are you using 2x4 for framing?
What kind of roof do you have planned?

What are the dimensions on the nests....can sketchup generate a detail with dimensions?
 
Yes, I have the insulation "covered" - between the sheathing and the siding - so the hens shouldn't be able to get to it. The framing is mostly 2x3's with some 2x4's used as headers. I will be joining the frame with pocket screws and have rotated the framing to save a bit of floor space. I could have probably used 2x2's as they would be sufficient for the load. However, 2x2's are pretty junky and don't always hold screws well. The roof will be gabled over the coop and a low slope over the run. My preference is metal roofing, but it's still a bit TBD.

Thanks for tips on the materials. I'll keep an eye out for 9' or 10' sheathing. The 1x is an interesting idea, but a standard plywood or osb will give a bit better structure and help with air sealing against drafts. I have been scrounging some of our local Habitat Restore's. I picked up a very nice 2'x3' vinyl and wood window for $15 and a 3/4" sheet of plywood for $8. I would like to find some additional windows, but it's hard to find something small enough (I would like to find an awning window that's about 32"x14" +/- a couple of inches).

I hear you on the size, but I'm pretty set as I don't want to take up too much of my hard. I understand the concept of chicken math, but we're pretty set on 4 to 6 birds max. That gives me over 5 sq ft per bird at 4 hens and about 3.5 sq ft per bird should we decide to add to our flock. Based on what I read, they prefer to be outside anyway. Our winters are generally pretty mild hear. We may have some cold snaps down to the single digits, but it doesn't last too long. I'll be enclosing the underside of the coop on 3 sides to provide protection from the wind and snow so they should be able to go outside in most weather.

I love Sketchup. Yes you can dimension in it. However, it is pretty hard to create usable dimensions within Sketchup that can be printed easily (especially on a complicated model). I actually have Sketchup Pro which comes with a complimentary product called Layout. Layout imports scenes that you create in Sketchup and makes it much easier to dimension, add text and other elements to make a nice set of construction drawings. Below are some examples from a loft I built for my son. I'll be doing the same with the coop and can provide dimensions of the nest boxes when I get to that step.




 
Yes, I have the insulation "covered" - between the sheathing and the siding - so the hens shouldn't be able to get to it. The framing is mostly 2x3's with some 2x4's used as headers. I will be joining the frame with pocket screws and have rotated the framing to save a bit of floor space. I could have probably used 2x2's as they would be sufficient for the load. However, 2x2's are pretty junky and don't always hold screws well. The roof will be gabled over the coop and a low slope over the run. My preference is metal roofing, but it's still a bit TBD.

Thanks for tips on the materials. I'll keep an eye out for 9' or 10' sheathing. The 1x is an interesting idea, but a standard plywood or osb will give a bit better structure and help with air sealing against drafts. I have been scrounging some of our local Habitat Restore's. I picked up a very nice 2'x3' vinyl and wood window for $15 and a 3/4" sheet of plywood for $8. I would like to find some additional windows, but it's hard to find something small enough (I would like to find an awning window that's about 32"x14" +/- a couple of inches).

I hear you on the size, but I'm pretty set as I don't want to take up too much of my hard. I understand the concept of chicken math, but we're pretty set on 4 to 6 birds max. That gives me over 5 sq ft per bird at 4 hens and about 3.5 sq ft per bird should we decide to add to our flock. Based on what I read, they prefer to be outside anyway. Our winters are generally pretty mild hear. We may have some cold snaps down to the single digits, but it doesn't last too long. I'll be enclosing the underside of the coop on 3 sides to provide protection from the wind and snow so they should be able to go outside in most weather.

I love Sketchup. Yes you can dimension in it. However, it is pretty hard to create usable dimensions within Sketchup that can be printed easily (especially on a complicated model). I actually have Sketchup Pro which comes with a complimentary product called Layout. Layout imports scenes that you create in Sketchup and makes it much easier to dimension, add text and other elements to make a nice set of construction drawings. Below are some examples from a loft I built for my son. I'll be doing the same with the coop and can provide dimensions of the nest boxes when I get to that step.




ok so apparently I misread it to think you were using the insulation to cover the sheathing to keep the chickens from pecking the sheathing.........thanks for clarifying!

I do agree with aart, bigger is better, especially since your dimensions are going to have you wasting so much material....but I do see where you are limiting how much space to use in the yard.
 
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My lumber guy rips 2x4's for me, he's really good at it...built all my coop framing from those nominal 2x2's, but it just holds mesh not any sheathing as it inside a large shed.

Can you see the dimensions as you build your model in sketchup?...maybe just do a screen shot, course that's another trick that may not be easy.

I played with sketchup for a couple hours once, my curiosity did not overcome my reluctance to learn yet another new software....
.....and it works very differently from the acad inventor I am acclimated to.
I use screen shots of models for clients all the time, they love them and they're easy to pop into an email.
You can also paste them into photoshop to make postable jpgs.....I use program that a lot too, so it's easy.

Nice bunkdesk btw!
 
My lumber guy rips 2x4's for me, he's really good at it...built all my coop framing from those nominal 2x2's, but it just holds mesh not any sheathing as it inside a large shed.

Can you see the dimensions as you build your model in sketchup?...maybe just do a screen shot, course that's another trick that may not be easy.

I played with sketchup for a couple hours once, my curiosity did not overcome my reluctance to learn yet another new software....
.....and it works very differently from the acad inventor I am acclimated to.
I use screen shots of models for clients all the time, they love them and they're easy to pop into an email.
You can also paste them into photoshop to make postable jpgs.....I use program that a lot too, so it's easy.

Nice bunkdesk btw!

I thought about ripping down 2x4's, but it seemed like a bit more work and I was able to compromise with the 2x3.

I haven't used acad too much so I don't have a good reference. However, my understanding is that you have to think a bit differently in your approach within Sketchup as you are modeling in 3D by basically pushing, pulling & extruding shapes. Some people will use Sketchup to create concept models and then move to acad for details. I prefer to model each component individually (although I'll create some dummy component assembly's to explore ideas). Several people are moving this way to create conceptual renderings for clients in Sketchup. There are several plugins available that give you extremely realistic renderings. You can then create static images of these rendering and print them. Or, you can create a presentation to "walk" your client through the model. Once you get approval, you can then work within Sketchup to finalize the design and then export into layout for final drawings.

The cool thing is that the free sketchup program is really powerful. Upgrading to pro is worth it if you use Sketchup a lot. It allows import/export of cad files. Plus, it gives you layout. Checkout mastersketchup.com for some great tutorials. If you're doing architectual drawings, Nick Sonder is pretty inspiring.

Now to answer your question specifically. You basically draw everything to scale. There is a window that allows you to precisely size as you push or pull by typing in the dimensions. You can also use a tape measure tool to snap lines and then follow. Below is a pic of my workspace. I drew a little rectangle on the left and you can see the dimensions in the bottom left text box. If I were to start typing after I drew the box it would resize the box. For example, I could type 1', 2' 3 1/2" and it would resize to that dimension.



 
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I'm making some progress on the design. I started work on the run, roof, and foundation. Still have a bit more design work and tweaks to pull it all together. However, I wanted to get the footprint down so I can start laying down a foundation. Anyway, you can start to see conceptually what I'm thinking.



We also started to clear out the area where the coop will go, as it was a bit overgrown...



So we moved some plants and mowed it down...





Afterwards, I broke up the soil and did some cleanup and preliminary grading...



I think the chick's like the work so far...
 
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