Introducing Coop #3...the Post-Brooder Coop...with clickable thumbnails
Pepper Anne, our Aussie, in predator proofing mode at the new coop.
Since I got into incubating this winter, I desperately needed another small coop, so I'd have outdoor room for the chicks once they reached 6 - 8 weeks old. We have very limited level land here so I discussed the project with Skip and we decided to add on to the playhouse coop but keep it separate, at the same time.
We'd bought the chickens a table saw for Christmas, so we bought pressure treated 2 x 4's (to build the frame) and ripped them into 2 x 2's ourselves. Here's me being Skip's "lovely assistant" to make sure the frame was going to fit where we wanted it to...
We turned a portion of our Harley shed into a wood shop since the weather was always iffy and it was great to be able to work on the coop when the weather was bad.
One last "frame check" before Skip got started adding braces and closing it in...
Skip attaching the floor supports...
The floor and north wall are in place...
We used a 4' x 8' sheet of 1/2" pressure treated plywood for the floor, north and east walls and the door. The roof is made from recycled 1/4" plywood and tin.
I had Skip cut in a window on the north wall. I used a piece of plexiglass and it's held in place with mirror hangers. On the inside, the window is covered with window screen and 1/2" hardware cloth. Since the coop is located on the north-side and for younger birds, I insulated with Tekfoil.
The board across the bottom of the doorway is removable so I can push the wheelbarrow right up to the door, for easy clean-out.
Draft protection, for those windy days, hillbilly style...
I added a Tekfoil skirt around the bottom of the coop to help insulate the floor which also gives the chicks a sheltered place outdoors and added several inches of hay to the ground under the coop to help with insulation. It's the perfect place to keep their trough feeder.
We started this coop in January and worked on it on Sundays, when the weather was too bad to get out on our Harley. It was completed by February 4th, except for the ramp, that leads from the pop-hole door out to the run. We spent the day riding, on our way home, someone ran a red light and we t-boned them, wrecking the bike. When I got out of the hospital the following Tuesday, it was time to let the young'ens explore the rest of their new home. I had to improvise a ramp as my right wrist was in a cast, so I used some downed tree limbs since I couldn't build anything. We finally got a ramp built for the coop on 3/27/08.
The first tenants....
One really cool thing about this coop is that when we move to the farm in Arkansas, we'll be able to build "the other half" and double the floor space. As it is right now, it's roughly 6' high, 4' long and 3' wide. Still need to paint the outside but am waiting until I get my cast off.
More pix of the building of the Coop and some of its tenants.
Thanks for stopping by and checking out our pages!
Dawn & Skip
Pepper Anne, our Aussie, in predator proofing mode at the new coop.
Since I got into incubating this winter, I desperately needed another small coop, so I'd have outdoor room for the chicks once they reached 6 - 8 weeks old. We have very limited level land here so I discussed the project with Skip and we decided to add on to the playhouse coop but keep it separate, at the same time.
We'd bought the chickens a table saw for Christmas, so we bought pressure treated 2 x 4's (to build the frame) and ripped them into 2 x 2's ourselves. Here's me being Skip's "lovely assistant" to make sure the frame was going to fit where we wanted it to...
We turned a portion of our Harley shed into a wood shop since the weather was always iffy and it was great to be able to work on the coop when the weather was bad.
One last "frame check" before Skip got started adding braces and closing it in...
Skip attaching the floor supports...
The floor and north wall are in place...
We used a 4' x 8' sheet of 1/2" pressure treated plywood for the floor, north and east walls and the door. The roof is made from recycled 1/4" plywood and tin.
I had Skip cut in a window on the north wall. I used a piece of plexiglass and it's held in place with mirror hangers. On the inside, the window is covered with window screen and 1/2" hardware cloth. Since the coop is located on the north-side and for younger birds, I insulated with Tekfoil.
The board across the bottom of the doorway is removable so I can push the wheelbarrow right up to the door, for easy clean-out.
Draft protection, for those windy days, hillbilly style...
I added a Tekfoil skirt around the bottom of the coop to help insulate the floor which also gives the chicks a sheltered place outdoors and added several inches of hay to the ground under the coop to help with insulation. It's the perfect place to keep their trough feeder.
We started this coop in January and worked on it on Sundays, when the weather was too bad to get out on our Harley. It was completed by February 4th, except for the ramp, that leads from the pop-hole door out to the run. We spent the day riding, on our way home, someone ran a red light and we t-boned them, wrecking the bike. When I got out of the hospital the following Tuesday, it was time to let the young'ens explore the rest of their new home. I had to improvise a ramp as my right wrist was in a cast, so I used some downed tree limbs since I couldn't build anything. We finally got a ramp built for the coop on 3/27/08.
The first tenants....
One really cool thing about this coop is that when we move to the farm in Arkansas, we'll be able to build "the other half" and double the floor space. As it is right now, it's roughly 6' high, 4' long and 3' wide. Still need to paint the outside but am waiting until I get my cast off.
More pix of the building of the Coop and some of its tenants.
Thanks for stopping by and checking out our pages!
Dawn & Skip
