UPDATE-FINISHED! New Coop from "The Garden Coop" plans PIC HEAVY

[poppsiej]

Great pictures. I love how open, yet contained everything is. Good job!

 

[Caity]

Hi! Sorry, I just realized I had a response to this old post! We've been really happy with the garden coop and it has held up great. Using the sand in the run was probably the best thing we did because it's been so easy to keep clean. We have actually decided to up-coop to a larger coop and liked the garden coop plans so much, we bought his bigger coop plans, the Garden Loft. I'm in the process of building it now, and, funny enough, I have a 1 and 4 year old, too, so feel your pain re: home depot! I didn't go for the hardware kit because I am using a nail gun for parts of it, but from what I have spent on what I have bought, his hardware kit looks very reasonably priced--especially when you take into account the what-feels-like-years at the hardware store getting all the little pieces. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

 

[KDot22]

We used The Garden Coop too. Our modification was to add a storage area for feed on the right, which gave us 3 more feet of run space/shade underneath. We love our coop!

This is wonderful! Would you consider this an easy build for a newbie builder?

 

[KDot22]

Hi! Sorry, I just realized I had a response to this old post! We've been really happy with the garden coop and it has held up great. Using the sand in the run was probably the best thing we did because it's been so easy to keep clean. We have actually decided to up-coop to a larger coop and liked the garden coop plans so much, we bought his bigger coop plans, the Garden Loft. I'm in the process of building it now, and, funny enough, I have a 1 and 4 year old, too, so feel your pain re: home depot! I didn't go for the hardware kit because I am using a nail gun for parts of it, but from what I have spent on what I have bought, his hardware kit looks very reasonably priced--especially when you take into account the what-feels-like-years at the hardware store getting all the little pieces. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Hi Caity - how many hens did you have in the Garden Coop? I don't know which one to choose, but I want to keep around 6 hens. I already have 2. Do you think the plans are easy for someone that has no build experience?

 

[Caity]

Hi Caity - how many hens did you have in the Garden Coop? I don't know which one to choose, but I want to keep around 6 hens. I already have 2. Do you think the plans are easy for someone that has no build experience?

This is definitely a good build for a beginner--it was the first project I'd ever built! The plans are really clear and easy to follow, and the creator has a blog that goes with it where you can see everyone's alterations. We kept four hens in ours and never had any problems. If you're in a warmer climate like we are (North Carolina), six would probably be fine, because our chickens never really spend much time in the actual coop--just to sleep because it's rarely below 20. You may want to consider expanding the run if you're going to have six, just to give them more room to roam. We do let our chickens out for about an hour every day to free range.

 

[KDot22]

This is definitely a good build for a beginner--it was the first project I'd ever built! The plans are really clear and easy to follow, and the creator has a blog that goes with it where you can see everyone's alterations. We kept four hens in ours and never had any problems. If you're in a warmer climate like we are (North Carolina), six would probably be fine, because our chickens never really spend much time in the actual coop--just to sleep because it's rarely below 20. You may want to consider expanding the run if you're going to have six, just to give them more room to roam. We do let our chickens out for about an hour every day to free range.

Thank you! I definitely live in warm weather, I am all the way down in South Florida. I have 2 hens right now and they free range all day. I am trying to build a bigger coop to segregate them to particular area, because they are pooping all over the yard lol. I just want to contain them, especially if we are entertaining. My husband and I have never built anything, so I don't want to embark on something that isn't attainable.

 

[Quail Newbie 3]

Caity -
Thank you so much for posting all the information regarding the Garden Coop plans. We're planning on purchasing the plans to build the coop for our bantam chickens. Using the Garden Coop plans, do you think it's easy to modify and make the coop longer and/or wider? Or knowing what you know now, would you have just built the Garden Loft? Our chickens are smaller than the regular sized ones, but we do plan on getting 3-4 more bantams.

I hope you don't mind, but I have a couple of questions regarding how you built your coop. It looks like you dug a trench and put the cinderblocks all around and then you built the coop.

Did you screw the wood to the cinderblocks? If you did, what kind of tool did you use? We live in SoCal and get the Santa Ana winds. It can get really windy.

How far down did the hardware cloth go? I can see the hardware cloth covering the cinderblocks but I can't tell how far down they went.

Which tools (circular saw, stapler, etc) did you use and recommend?

We are true beginners and have never built anything other than buying IKEA like products where everything is pre-drilled, cut, etc. Our basic tools include a various screwdrivers, hammer, and a few other things for simple to do things in around the house like hang pictures.

p.s. If anyone else who reads this has anything to offer, please do. We welcome all the help we can get, but remember we are beginners DIY.