When I first started hounding my DH about a year ago about getting chickens, now that we finally moved out of town, he said "we will talk about it." Nearly a year later I have 8 fluffy sweet chicks and one fine looking chicken coop! (He confessed recently that he thought chickens would be a passing phase and he would "get out of it"...but he found out otherwise!) Of course he only looked at a few of the of pictures I found when planning, but somehow he hit the nail on the head...so to speak...for what I was looking for!
I was going for the little potting shed in the woods that was cute to look at, yet functional. We are still going to add a run once the rain lets up, but for now at least the girls are out of my basement and happy in their new palace! The coop is 6x6, with 4'6" side walls and a 12/12 pitch roof. We settled on 3 egg boxes that are 12"x14". I am so happy that we put them on the side so they don't take up floor space and I don't have to get my shoes dirty everyday to collect eggs! The cedar shakes were a must have for my vision, although DH begged me to consider a metal roof. It wasn't until he started installing the shakes (that I just had to have) that I understood why he tried to talk me out of it! The poor guy spent nearly 3 hours installing them with almost every other one splitting and breaking as soon as the got the nail started! But I have to say, I think it was well worth all of "his" effort
I wanted it to have a "modern rustic" look (yes I think I may have just invented a new term). Think Pottery Barn meets Big Cedar Lodge! We used a siding that has a barn wood looking grain embossed on the surface to give it some more character. You can see the grain in this picture.
This one is from our back deck looking down to the yard...
This is the side with a window
Took make things a little easier, we built each side and the floor system in our garage. Then carried each completed piece down the site. It only took an hour to assemble all of the pieces! Then we worked on the roofing, trim and doors.
Here is a picture of the assembled coop before we started trim and shingles. The boys are "helping" Daddy...
We only used treated wood on the floor and put the shed on skids so we could move it someday if we wish to.
On the inside I put some stick down tiles on the floor to protect it from the birds, (and the birds from the chemicals) Then we put 3" of sand on top of that to ease in the clean up (we used sand in the brooder and it was so much easier than I thought).
We put some extra ventilation on the back side and may add more if needed.
We will add a pop door once the run is on. We still have some landscaping to do but overall I couldn't be happier with it! I think the girls agree! (And my basement doesn't smell anymore which is a huge plus, and as it turned out, a HUGE motivator for my DH to finish the coop! Hehe!
We have 1 barred rock, 2 silkies, and 5 Easter Eggers. The boys helped me name them all:
Lacy(barred rock)
Duffy(silkie)
Micky is my friend(silkie, and yes my 3 yr old had to have this name!)
Rosy
Pip
Squeak
Ursa (don't ask
I am so happy that everyone on this forum was so generous with the information about their coops and positive and negative design aspects. Although this is a simple little building it has just the charm I was going for, and seems like it will be very functional. As far as budget goes, I think we came in around $700, but I have a few items to return so it may be a little less. As my DH so elegantly stated..."this is an expensive bird cage!" but totally worth it
I was going for the little potting shed in the woods that was cute to look at, yet functional. We are still going to add a run once the rain lets up, but for now at least the girls are out of my basement and happy in their new palace! The coop is 6x6, with 4'6" side walls and a 12/12 pitch roof. We settled on 3 egg boxes that are 12"x14". I am so happy that we put them on the side so they don't take up floor space and I don't have to get my shoes dirty everyday to collect eggs! The cedar shakes were a must have for my vision, although DH begged me to consider a metal roof. It wasn't until he started installing the shakes (that I just had to have) that I understood why he tried to talk me out of it! The poor guy spent nearly 3 hours installing them with almost every other one splitting and breaking as soon as the got the nail started! But I have to say, I think it was well worth all of "his" effort
I wanted it to have a "modern rustic" look (yes I think I may have just invented a new term). Think Pottery Barn meets Big Cedar Lodge! We used a siding that has a barn wood looking grain embossed on the surface to give it some more character. You can see the grain in this picture.
This one is from our back deck looking down to the yard...
This is the side with a window
Took make things a little easier, we built each side and the floor system in our garage. Then carried each completed piece down the site. It only took an hour to assemble all of the pieces! Then we worked on the roofing, trim and doors.
Here is a picture of the assembled coop before we started trim and shingles. The boys are "helping" Daddy...
We only used treated wood on the floor and put the shed on skids so we could move it someday if we wish to.
On the inside I put some stick down tiles on the floor to protect it from the birds, (and the birds from the chemicals) Then we put 3" of sand on top of that to ease in the clean up (we used sand in the brooder and it was so much easier than I thought).
We put some extra ventilation on the back side and may add more if needed.
We will add a pop door once the run is on. We still have some landscaping to do but overall I couldn't be happier with it! I think the girls agree! (And my basement doesn't smell anymore which is a huge plus, and as it turned out, a HUGE motivator for my DH to finish the coop! Hehe!
We have 1 barred rock, 2 silkies, and 5 Easter Eggers. The boys helped me name them all:
Lacy(barred rock)
Duffy(silkie)
Micky is my friend(silkie, and yes my 3 yr old had to have this name!)
Rosy
Pip
Squeak
Ursa (don't ask
I am so happy that everyone on this forum was so generous with the information about their coops and positive and negative design aspects. Although this is a simple little building it has just the charm I was going for, and seems like it will be very functional. As far as budget goes, I think we came in around $700, but I have a few items to return so it may be a little less. As my DH so elegantly stated..."this is an expensive bird cage!" but totally worth it
