So My wife & daughter had a weekend project for me to do. No problem...what is it? A chicken coop...we are getting chickens. Really? How the hell do I build a chicken coop, what size, what materials, where are we going to put it? This is your weekend project!
Okay, research chicken coops, lots of info and pictures, looks easy enough. I found the best information here at BYC. I found a coop that I thought will work and submitted it to the bosses. Looks great! Okay, how much will it cost to build??? Looks like about $300.00-400.00...Too much. Okay, what will it cost if we order one on-line...$300-500.00...Too much!
Do more research, find another design, submit it to the bosses...Looks great! So did some more research and I think it looks to difficult. I finally found one here that I really liked and thought it was perfect for our space and price. So I have to give my thanks to Southern Carolina Hen House with Run! Great photos.
So off to the drawing board.
After final approval from the bosses I came up with a shopping list.
20 2x4's x10'
4 1x6 fence pickets
1 roll 2'x50' chicken wire
1 1'x4' wire shelving grate
3 sets of door hinges
2 4'x8' side panels
Lots of wood screws that I already had
Total cost just under $200.00 from Home Depot
Started in the middle of the week prepping the foundation by digging a ditch about 6" wide 6" deep in a rectangle shape 4'x6' to lay in some bricks to prevent critters from digging under the coop. Got it leveled and ready for the weekend.
Saturday:
Started cutting & framing. I cut the studs to 6' length which left me with a 4' piece to get the width. So the finished width is 51" instead of 48"...no big deal. And framing the wall legs on top of the 3.5" 2x4's makes the height 75.5" instead of 72"...again, no big deal.
Top
Framing in the walls, door & the hen house base
Sunday:
Adding the rafters & more to the base & siding The wire grating is the wire shelf that works perfectly. Allows the droppings to fall to the ground and allows for air flow as well.
And as weekend projects go they always run into the following week. So we put the finishing touches on during the week like the roof and chicken wire and finishing the inside of the hen house and ramp.
For the roof I used some 9mil corrugated plastic I had at work. This is San Diego, that's all we need.
Not bad for a couple hundred bucks and a weekend+
I hope this helps you as South Carolina helped me.
