Warning: Excessive pics!!
I wanted to add my coop to the forum because in my search for ideas I didn't find many coops that were build in a pole barn and with a pole structure. And the story begins.....
It all started in August 2012 when I got my first 10 chickens. We knew eventually we wanted to build a barn and would put the coop inside but didn't know when finances would allow us to build so we had to figure out an alternate potentially long-term but temporary plan. We built our first coop on a 4x7 trailer frame we had and used a 10x10 dog kennel as the run. It worked out nicely but my love for chickens quickly grew and in December I bought 16 new chicks and young pullets after a dog attack took out 5 of my original 10 laying hens (). Midway through Dec we discovered that we had saved up enough money to build our new barn!! Building started on Dec 22nd and the barn was done by the 28th (thanks to my hard working DH and several great friends)
On the 30th we started the coop! It is 8x12 and I'm so excited to have the bigger space! We used the existing poles of the barn for the corners so we could reduce the amount of framing needed and just put perlins up to have something to nail the plywood to. We also decided to put a floor in instead of leaving it dirt to reduce the risk of predators being able to dig in if they managed to get inside the barn.
We used 2x8's for the floor joists and on the right side you can see we started putting up perlins (the horizontal boards, you can see we also used perlins for the metal on the barn) which we used 2x6's for that.
The hole in the floor is where the waterer will go. Any spills will just drip down to the dirt below and not get the bedding all wet since we do the deep litter method. We also used laminate plywood for the floor for easy cleanup
After the floor was finished we installed the door and then cut the remaining perlins to fit to it. I forgot to mention earlier that we did have to put in a 4x4 post for the inside corner. Other than that we used the barn poles as the other corners.
Putting up some sheet insulation on the exterior walls for a barrier against cold metal in the winter and hot metal in the summer.
You can also see the boards for the roof in this picture.
We put a roof on the coop and my DH made this ladder so we could use the loft space for storage of supplies (extra wire, feeders, brooders, etc) when they're not being used. Props to him for such a great idea in my opinion
Now on to the nesting boxes...
Nesting boxes framed in and plywood up!
Now on to the chicken door. We will have a pulley system where I can open it from outside the coop but inside the barn. We used 2x4's and 1x2's to frame in the door and a scrap piece of laminate plywood to use as the door. You can see the 1x2 is inbetween the 2 2x4's so there is a big enough space for the 3/4 in plywood to slide up and down
We had some extra door trim from when we build the barn so we used that to trim around the chicken door opening so there wouldn't be any sharp metal to hurt the chickies! the ramp is just smooth plywood nailed to 2x4's on each side underneath and then extra 1x2's used for the "grips"
Gate to the run. Made with extra 4x4 posts and a piece of smooth plywood. The run is 15x20 but my chickens are all free ranged so this is only really needed if i'm going to be gone for the day or are having a predator problem.
And now to the inside!!!
I painted to match the barn exterior. The AS is our farm's brand and I LOVE the stick wreath I picked up at the flea market! Im going to blow some eggs and paint them to decorate the wreath with
You can see in this picture the "window" we made for ventilation/lighting/heating or whatever else we might need it for. I do have a light on a timer right now for in the morning because we didnt have time to put in an exterior window and since my DH works out of state we wont be able to till next time he's home. The window can be closed if for some reason we need to. You can also see next to the ladder that we ran electric from our house so that I can have a couple plugs for a light and water heater.
Just inside the door.. you can see we put 2x4's around the watering hole to keep most of the bedding out
I liked the ladder style roosts the best because I felt like they catered best to various age groups. The younger ones don't like to go as high but the older ones like to be at the top. The 2x6 you see is because my silly chickens were too "chicken" to go all the way to the top. My DH put this up there and they immediately hopped right up to the top roost so we nailed it down to leave permenantly.
Our makeshift pulley system
Heres the "window" I mentioned earlier. The plywood below it is on hinges and can be lifted up and locked into place if I ever need to close it.
And that's the coop!! So far I love it and other than all the white undecorated walls I wouldn't change a thing!!!
