Redwood coop to match our fencing

happytahoegirl

Hatching
5 Years
Aug 21, 2014
8
0
9

Breaking ground. I bought the brick from Home Depot. They were around $1.50 each. The window was there for inspiration. I planned to incorporate the old windows I've had around.


The framing was largely 2x6 because we had a lot of scrap wood from a skate ramp we removed


I didn't have firm plans I followed, I just figured it out as I went.




Sophie and Jamison are hanging out in case I need any help.


The 2x6 are just placed on top of the brick. I figured the weight of this structure will keep it in place until anchored. Our ground is very hard.




I had to figure out how to build it to keep it off the stucco on the garage. I made a spacer at the ground.



Starting to take shape






Anchoring the framing to the garage eves. We've had big earthquakes here in Napa.




Roof framing is in place. I had a challenging time getting the pitch the same as the roof line but it worked out in the end. I special ordered red metal footing from Home Depot. One neat thing is they ship it with additional pieces to protect the top and bottom pieces so we ended up with a couple extra pieces. Maybe Sophie and Jamison will get dog houses soon.








I thought it looked a little off balance at this point but it wasn't too long that it began to take shape.


Framed in the floor of the chicken coop.




Put the plywood in the coop.


Put the windows in (ended up changing them out later to another size)












Motivation to finish my project! I jumped the gun and bought 6 chick. I purchased 2 black Australorps, 2 Rhode Island Reds, and 2 buff Orpintons.


I constructed the coop door next. I was building the coop to match the new fence we put in last year.




Laying box installed


The cat on the roof is Alley. She is more of an investigator than a helper.


I painted the framing to match the garage but then decided it looked too washed out. Also it looked a bit off balance.






Babies again








Roofing going in and hardware cloth installed






I love the roofing!


Changed the windows to something cuter!


Got the idea to face with redwood we had left over from the fencing project.








You can't see it here but I eventually put a 2x2 stick of redwood on the corners for trim and it pulled it together beautifully!




I put the hardware on the laying box door.


First night the babies stayed in the new house


Framing out the chicken run door. Sophie has to be the center of my attention.


Oh brother...


Chicken run door is installed. It turned out really nice. Also makes the coop feel balanced now. I attached redwood strips on the front of the 2x6 framing and it served to also protect the edging of the hardware cloth.






The girls are growing up so fast!




This is the first sign that I have a rooster in the hen house. He was one of the black Australorps. I re-homed him sadly. I was worried my neighbors would complain.

Today the girls are laying 5 eggs a day (one per hen). I let them out in the morning and they put themselves away at night then I will go and close the door. Having chickens is one of the best things I have done. It is a great sense of accomplishment. I clean the coop once a week or so. They don't really smell too bad. They keep the bugs down. Occasionally, I will scoop them up and take them to my garden area and let them get bugs and weeds while I garden. I use the poop as gifts for my gardening friends, add it to my compost, and make chicken poo tea. You basically just put a small scoop of poop in a watering can with water. Let it steep like tea. This way you can add it to your plants and not burn them with the high nitrogen.
 
I broke ground on March 3rd and finished on March 24th. This was after work and on my weekends. My husband helped anchor to the eves because he knew what he wanted to do with it and he helped with a couple of the the roof panels but the rest was by myself.
 
Apart, I just closed in the openings in the eves to prevent rodents. The Windows prop open if ventilation is needed. So far, I have never closed the coop door, just the run door. We don't go below freezing here so I haven't thought it was a problem. They get ventilization this way.
 
Apart, I just closed in the openings in the eves to prevent rodents. The Windows prop open if ventilation is needed. So far, I have never closed the coop door, just the run door. We don't go below freezing here so I haven't thought it was a problem. They get ventilization this way.
Closed them with solid wood or just HC?
I closed my open eaves with HC to guard against preds but open to air.
 

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