Planning/Building my First ever Chicken Coop. Need help and ideas!

[henless]

The hinged vents would be perfect. You can open/close them as needed. It wouldn't hurt to put some on all sides of your coop, and just close the one/ones facing the wind during the Winter. Be sure and put a vent on the tallest side of your coop, since the fumes will travel up and follow the roof line.

 

[Jkraft]

Okay, thank you so much for your help! I have plans tonight but tomorrow I have the day off and hope to get as much done as possible. I can' wait to till I get to bring my girls home!

 

[Jkraft]

I made the door larger and added a ventilation window

Also added a window

The back is open where we will be attaching 2 nest boxes


Nest box just needs a divider in between, wood treated and paint then I will attack to the coop. We plan to attach it so that it hinges and opens up so I can easily clean the coop. The only way to clean it now is to remove the roof but it is heavy and once I raise the coop it will become even more difficult.

Do you think there is enough ventilation now? The one side of the coop has no window or door. I am thinking I will add add window.

 

[Jkraft]

I also made a chicken nipple waterier. Very easy and cost less than $10





Step 1: drill holes to fit nipples


holes drilled insert nipple after removing all plastic

All finished and tested for leaks.

I purchased the nipples on amazon got 10 for less than $6 and the bucket from lowes $3. What do you think?

 

[Jkraft]

You'll need one more ventilation window on the opposite side. That way you get air flow moving all the way across the roof line and out.

Thank you! I had thought that but wasn't sure. I thought about adding a door with a window but not exactly sure yet. If all works out like planned with the nest box than I will just add a window. No need for the door. I thought I might need another door to open and clean it out.

 

[Jkraft]

So we have made a lot of progress on the coop. We made about 6 or more runs to lowes but we are getting there. I need some more screws, hinges, steel roof, adhesive for the floor, and sticky tiles. Than we will attached the nesting boxes after the roof is installed and the rest of the window covers. After that I will paint the coop and we will attached it to the legs. Once the legs are on than we will build run. I think now it has enough windows (3 total). Although hard to tell all windows have hardware cloth attached on the inside. Any thoughts? I have to get this done soon as NC will not allow bird sales, shows, or anything like that from August till Jan 2016 due to the spread of the bird flu. I stopped feeding the birds to help prevent spread. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article23754268.html(not to shabby for a first timer. I'm going to add moutain clips to secure the door open or close unless someone else has better idea)
(Left and right windows. Back opens up for nesting box)
(nesting box to be attached to back of coop. On hinges to open for easy cleaning)

 

[junebuggena]

One thing I've heard a lot about is that nest boxes attached to the coop have a tendency to leak at the seams overtime. If you make the roof overhang enough, it might help keep water off the potentially weak point.

 

[Jkraft]

Thanks for the tip! It will hang over a good amount. The roof for the coop also hangs over the nesting boxes a small amount. I plan on making the roof for the nest boxes boxes pretty similar to the roof of the coop. To seal inside what should I use?

 

[junebuggena]

Some sort of exterior grade waterproof silicon caulk should work.

 

[Jkraft]

Awesome. thank you so much!