Chicken Coop Berea, Kentucky
We built a chicken coop into an existing barn that was empty.
Slide your mouse over this picture to see before and after.
Here my son is securing the wood into the concrete floor. First we drilled the 2x4 wood into the floor using a tapcon drill. We finished tightening them by hand.
Here my husband is cutting the
wood.
Here we are securing the wood into the floor, and a nice smile from one of my great helpers!
Wood goes in from floor to ceiling using two by fours. Chicken wire is staple in.
To the right the wall goes up, made of plywood. When we are done we will be able to walk all the way down the side of the coop, and maybe someday put doors in to access the eggs without going into the coop!
Drilling in the top part of the coop.
Here the door is in, and you can see the wood drilled into the floor. The halogen lights helped to keep us warm, it was VERY COLD the weekend that we built the coop.
This is a basic screen door from Lowes. We placed a lock on the outside so we could lock it with a combination lock if we needed to. I was warned by some nice folks that people steal anything, even animals and they were right. Ask me about it some time!
Here my other great helpers secures plywood to the 2x4s. It wasn't easy to do. Everyone helps, this was a great family project!
This is the wall, with the last section covered by chicken wire from top to bottom. This is so we can go down near where the chickens roost and talk to them, or check on them.
This is the view down the side. We can store straw or food down here. There is now a door here.
Here is a view of the top of the door. There is chicken wire from floor to ceiling. I like to tell people it's the FORT KNOX chicken coop.
Here you can see the door open, and the chicken wire that is up in between the 2x4s.
are you done yet? I will take a nap while I wait.
more and more chicken wire! I think we had nightmares about staple guns and chicken wire LOL!
Below, roosts made of 2x4s. The loft was made by securing 2x4s, and then a piece of plywood was laid on top. Then we covered it with straw.
loft
Nest boxes are made from 2x4s, and pine boards that were 3 feet wide. The tops are cut at angles to keep the chickens from roosting up there. We cut them to fit into our loft area.There are 2x4s in front keep the straw and eggs from rolling out.
The nest boxes sit on top of the loft, they were constructed first and then drilled into the sides, where the 2x4s are. We use the deep bed system, and pile clean straw on as needed. We throw food in and the chickens turn the straw over looking for food, and that helps keep things clean.
The finished coop.
The next thing that we are going to add is a nursery area under the loft. There is one nest box under the loft, we will put some 2x4s in and then cover it with chicken wire, and add a small door too.
We may add more roosts and nest boxes too. Our chickens are free ranging and they are in the coop at night, or when they are laying.
We built a chicken coop into an existing barn that was empty.
Slide your mouse over this picture to see before and after.
Here my husband is cutting the
Here we are securing the wood into the floor, and a nice smile from one of my great helpers!
Wood goes in from floor to ceiling using two by fours. Chicken wire is staple in.
Drilling in the top part of the coop.
This is the view down the side. We can store straw or food down here. There is now a door here.
are you done yet? I will take a nap while I wait.
more and more chicken wire! I think we had nightmares about staple guns and chicken wire LOL!
Below, roosts made of 2x4s. The loft was made by securing 2x4s, and then a piece of plywood was laid on top. Then we covered it with straw.
The nest boxes sit on top of the loft, they were constructed first and then drilled into the sides, where the 2x4s are. We use the deep bed system, and pile clean straw on as needed. We throw food in and the chickens turn the straw over looking for food, and that helps keep things clean.
The next thing that we are going to add is a nursery area under the loft. There is one nest box under the loft, we will put some 2x4s in and then cover it with chicken wire, and add a small door too.
We may add more roosts and nest boxes too. Our chickens are free ranging and they are in the coop at night, or when they are laying.
