Lottso pics of my little coop

I was reading through some of the posts and thought I'd post pics of last year's coop construction in case it gives anyone an idea or two for theirs. I looked at a LOT of coops (online) for a year prior to building mine and wanted to incorporate a lot of ideas I had seen.

I wanted a steep roof for snow load, an interior I could hose out, outside egg collection and it had to be EASY to clean. I've replaced the shavings 2 or 3 times since moving my birds in early last summer and it's always been bone dry. As you can see, I have two small vents close to the floor diagonal from each other (one being in the droppings pit) and a vent at the peak that runs the length of the roof. that was easy enough to install, I just didn't run the plywood all the way up. I covered the opening with roofing fabric (nylon mesh) to keep bugs from using it as an open invitation.
The inside is whitewash and the outside is white stain. I'll probably paint the trim and give it another coat this year.

























And the reason I built it........





Hope I didn't bore y'all.

Great planning, execution and finished product.
Congratulations!

Very nice!

You have some very lucky chickens to have such great digs as that.

Very nice handi-work! I visualize my next coop to be similar to yours but on a larger scale with space for the garden supplies.

good job!

Sylvia

Do you mind me asking how much that cost you to build ( approx.)? We have a tractor and my husband spent a lot of time on it. It's nice but has it's issues. Anyone married to an engineer? They tend to go overboard but still not make it right......I try to tell him, less is more..

Oh well.

THanks for posting, Im planning my own and was just thinking this morning about the roosts and clean up underneath and keeping the chickens out of it....you solved my problem!

You did a beautiful job! How many chickens do you keep?

Thanks for liking my coop Like I said, I got the ideas from those who have been there, done it. Gotta love the internet for getting ideas....

I think the bulk of the wood was around $200. I already had fasteners, metal roofing, plexiglass, the wire around their droppings pit.... I used plywood which is a lot more expensive than OSB, and real 2x4s, but I wanted it to take a weather beating or hosing out. The stain and door harware added some more to the cost, but it was still closer to 200 rather than 300.

The droppings pit is a lifesaver. I cleaned it out just a week ago and it was "loaded".... the rest of the floor area where they walk around was still relatively clean and probably didn't even need the shavings replaced. BTW, I use a kid's snow shovel. Very handy and maneuverable.

I have five hens

The coop is 4x8x4 high... higher at the peak. I was tring to make sure they had decent floor area not counting the pit, so that's why I put the nestbox outside and set the wall studs flatways. I think it adds to the roominess inside, but I'm still learning as I go.
This spring I'm going to make them a larger yard like I saw here from lilshadow. It's made from 2x4s and is just high enough for the chickens. I think I'll be able to slide it back and forth in front of my chicken door door and let a good portion of the ground "rest" from time to time.

So thank you lilshadow for that idea!

love that coop - very nicely done - I also love that you made my DH's fav. breakfast " egg in a hole "



Julie

Nice job and great pics - I like to see the 'in progress' pics - it helps a lot when visualizing how the finished project came together