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

[henless]

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

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?

I love the nipple waterers. They sure beat the flip waterers hands down! Another option is the horizontal nipples. I like them even better than the vertical ones.

 

[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!

 

[Jkraft]

Here is updated pics. I still need to seal the coop, add 2 window covers, finished the floor (it's half done), paint it, roof the nesting boxes and put it on it's legs. I'm pretty excited how it has turned out. Now instead of opening the roof to clean it I can open the nesting boxes and clean it out that way. Once the coops is on it's legs it will be hard to remove the roof and do cleaning plus it's heavy.



Front of the coop: door opens/shuts with mountain climber clip to keep it secure


Side view: window on each side of coop, same size. Both opens/shuts with mountain climber clip to keep it secure

Back of the coop with nest box.

Back of the coop: nesting boxes open and close for easy cleaning of the coop. The coop is secure with a pad lock to keep it closed and predators out.

 

[junebuggena]

The way the nesting box opens up is going to be a weak point for water penetration, the roof overhang will not be sufficient protection. And you're going to want a lock to secure that latch. The carabiner on the front is good.

 

[Jkraft]

Thanks for the tips!

I am going to add a steel roof to the nesting box I just haven't done that yet. I am trying to find one the same color as the roof on the coop. If not I will just have to go with a different color. I also have to chalk the inside and out to seal it/waterproof it once I finish the floor. You think that isn't enough? I also am securing the nesting boxes shut with a pad lock. I purchased one but it was to small so I need to exchange it for a larger one. Right now it has a sharpie in it, not permanent.

 

[ToniTalley]

May I suggest building a poop board under the roost. If you check out BYC, you will see that poop boards with edges, filled with Sweet PDZ, will keep your coop clean and smelling much nicer. Since I installed ours, I rarely need to clean the coop, just scoop out the poopboard like a litter box. every day or three. Also, with the coop up on legs, you can hang the feeder and waterer underneath so it won't get spilled, pooped on, or rained on.