The Sky Rise Coop
So to start off this lovely project i asked my BiL to help me build it. He builds bridges for a living and i told him what i needed in this coop and he drew up the plans. I told him he needs the following: I would like it to be a 8x12 raised coop, Nest boxes with exterior access to, 2 roost poles, A sliding chicken door and 2 sides to be covered and 2 sides open. He drew up plans and here they are.
After he made up the plans we figured out how much wood we needed. We figured we would need the following:
After he made up the plans we figured out how much wood we needed. We figured we would need the following:
- 5 4x4x8's
- 10 4x8 sheets of 3/4 inch plywood
- 4 2x2x8's
- 1 box of 3/4 inch drywall screws
- 1 box of 2 inch deck screws(i believe).
- 4 2x4x12's
- 1 roll of 3 foot wide chicken wire
- I believe it was 12 2x4x8's
- 2 latches for the boxes
- 2 hinges for the box doors
- 3 loop screw things for the sliding chicken door
- And lastly 1x3x8's for the boxes.
So here is the proccess of building it.
As you can see we decided to go with a slanted roof so that the water would run off it. The slates in the floor are spaced about ever 2 and a half feet so we could screw the wood floor in. We then cut 2 corners out of 2 of the sheets of plywood to fit into place.
After we put the floor in we moved it to where the coop and run will be. You can see we are in the process of leveling the coop in this picture.
We then put in place the roof supports.
We put up on the back wall two support beams so that the roof wouldn't sag and also we could screw in the plywood. We also put the roof on and the one side. We cut a 2x4x8 in two and then cut them down to fit in place on the side to screw the plywood inplace.
We then cut another 2x4x8 in half and screwed that in on the front at 4 feet spacings and tacked up the chicken wire. We also took one of the full sheets of plywood and covered the left side for the night so we could put the girls in there.
Next we cut the hole for the chicken door which is a 12inch by 15inch and screwed up the roost that are made from the 2x2's.
Next the ramp was made. Its 8 feet long and 1 foot wide. We used the 2x2's to support the ramp and also for the rungs on it. They are spaced every 10 inches and since they are 2 inches wide its really only 9inches. At the time i thought that would be a perfect spacing but i was wrong. My LF have no problem with it but my silkies kinda slide on it. The door is just a sheet of plywood 15in x 18in. We cut part of the 2x4 to allow the door to slide up and down but stay secure.
The boxes are 4 feet long and 15 inches tall in the back and 18in in the front. Each box is 15 inches wide and 15 deep. We framed it with the 1x3's and the door was supposed to lift up like it is in the picture but the hinges wouldn't hold it. We also ran out of plywood for the dividers in the boxes and you can see in the pics. So i braced the door and made it open down. By this time my BiL had to leave back to colorado for work so i finished what i could.
We had talked about covering the spot over the boxes with plywood to keep them darker but since we ran out i had to just wire them.
The coop is almost done. I just need to run the wire on the top but i want to wait till we go get more plywood. Right now the girls free range in the yard since we dont have a run set up but that is the next project.So that is my new coop. I really need a cleaning door on it since i cant clean it out very well. I also should have gotten extra wood since i can always take what i dont use back. I also wanted to paint it but since i just moved here and all and already had the girls i needed a place for them so that will have to wait. I would also like the nesting box doors to be double doors so im not opening them all at once. There it is people, i hope you enjoyed it. =)