Building our Urban Garden Coop! - Page 2

Yes, we are building

THE GARDEN COOP

These plans were very easy to follow and change up to fit your space/style.   This is the VERY FIRST thing we have ever built.

Here is a quote from the Garden Coop site...

Questions about the roofing material (e.g., What is the snow load of the roofing material you recommend? Should I use clear, solar gray, or another shade? Where can I learn more?):

The roofing panels indicated in the plan are called SunTuf® and are made by Palram Industries. The plan follows the manufacturer's installation guidelines, which you can download here. (This is a general download page, so scroll down for the SunTuf® installation guides. There should be a consumer version and a more detailed "pro-sumer" version.) The panels as attached in this design are rated to support 20-30 lbs. per square foot. As for colors, SunTuf® panels come in different shades. Avoid Clear unless you are locating the coop in full shade. Solar Gray has been great -- it cuts all but 30% of the sunlight. It may look dark in the store, but outside you really see how much light comes through. White works nicely too, diffusing the light even more.

We have not noticed dirt/leaves/fungus accumulating on the gray or white roofs and have not had to wash them. If you have lots of leaf litter or little sunlight, maybe you'll see more of that.

Here are a couple more photos.....

This is the right side of the coop....I don't think we'll put much on this side, maybe just some ventilation holes near the top.  We are planning to add the roost to the other side of this wall. 



This is the left side of the coop house....on the inside of the run.  On this wall we are adding a large access door for cleaning and a pop door. 



This is the front of the coop house.  On this wall we will add an external nest box w/ 2 nesting areas.  Above that we will add a window for air flow and for decorative reasons.


We have a lot of existing plants that we are having to work around, so we have adjusted the coop plans a bit, so hopefully they will work out.

drumstick diva   -  oh no not a sycamore tree!!   We have a BIG one in the yard and it throws down a million branches, pieces of branches etc. daily,  I can spend an hour picking them up and carting away.

Yes, our tree is a bit of a mess, but we REALLY, REALLY love it and the shade it provides, plus it is VERY beautiful and is 85yrs old.  We will also be using the branches for roosts in the run....so win, win.  The leaves are a pain, but we usually just pay a local guy 50.00 a couple times a year and all gone.  We are landscapers at heart, so we don't really mind.  Good compost too!
This tree will be great for shade for our girls too.

drumstick diva - P.S.   one more thing  - out here bird feeders attract a lot of hawks  - they just sit nearby and wait to grab lunch.

We are in the heart of the city and we rarely see any hawks here, we've been here about 5 years now .  The coop will also be pretty tight, so no hawks can get in, but thanks for the warnings....that would be awful!