Coop design advice needed

[mikecfry]

I was able to get the Ondura in stock pretty easily without any order. I'd be surprised if you couldn't get it, both Home Depot and Lowes stock in regularly although in different colors.

 

[mikecfry]

Also worth noting it should be substantially easier to cut and minimize waste as opposed to metal. I am planning to put panels on mine this week so really can't speak to it yet as far as how good the stuff is, just suggesting to help minimize your wait.

 

[makadiwal]

So last weekend I lifted up the logs and the chain link fence was still bent as ever sticking up on both sides. Very frustrating. So I decided to just dig up the dirt and lay it lower.



That is so much better now.
I left the fence just over the edge of the 4x4 so I can bend it back into the run area if necessary, but at least it wont leave any large open gaps right near the edges.

 

[makadiwal]

Here's a pic of my girls, waiting patiently for their new home.



You can see the waterer I made out of a plastic honey bottle. It was thick enough to hold the poultry nipple thread without having to worry about leaks and much cleaner with that much traffic in the small brooder.

 

[makadiwal]

Unfortunately, I just discovered one of my Buff Orpingtons has gotten wry neck!

You can see she's getting trampled over in there so I separated her from the others, but kept her right next to them so she does't get lonely. I've been trying to feed her vitamin B crushed in her water but she doesn't like being force fed... so I wasn't expecting her to last the night, but I woke up to find her starting to stand again. I think we're making some progress. She seems to be able to eat on her own but I haven't seen her drink yet, so I take her out now and then and make her drink some fresh water... I hope she gets better soon.

 

[makadiwal]

She knows when I'm watching her, cuz she gets up and looks at me

 

[makadiwal]

It's been raining ALL WEEK and I haven't been able to go back out to work on the coop. Thankfully, with all that hard rain, I have been watching how much water collects in the coop area and it seems to run down pretty fast. Just went out there this morning and this is what it looked like:


I laid down another layer of Pressure treated 2x4 over the 4x4's just to be on the safe side as I was worried the wall frames will be in touch with the ground...


I also managed to get the ends of the chain link fence to rest just under the lip of this layer so it worked out pretty great. The only issue now is the 4x4s aren't actually level anymore

All that effort... and now I think maybe I should have just done the cement

Anyway... onwards... I'll just use some shims if I need to to make sure the frames are level...

 

[makadiwal]

Finally - on to the fun part of the build... putting the frames together.

I started with the back wall as the back and sides are going to be the same height and I really wanted to get that length as straight as possible. I was going to build it on the deck and move it after but then realized just how difficult it was going to be to carry, so I moved the lumber over to the coop site once I got all the length cut and pocket holed for assembly.



Unfortunately the lumber wasn't as straight as I had hoped. The last two joins were pretty tough to get aligned but I managed to get it done with some help from my father in law. I watched YouTube videos of people building themselves, but for this size structure, it is a real challenge. Glad I had an extra pair of hands.

 

[makadiwal]

And here we have the right side done. My son modelling where the door is going to go.
You can also see the pocket holes.



I didn't paint everything before the build but I wanted to make sure the bottom of the frame was protected at least so I did one coat the same as the foundation just cuz it was being used. The plan is to paint the frame white once it's up.

 

[makadiwal]

It was getting late and I wanted to get three sides done so I could stand them up so for the coop side, I decided to just but the basic frame up for now and I will add the "internal" supports tomorrow.



Those clamps sure are handy!