My First Stab at Building a Coop
With luck on my side I don't think my first construction project turned out too bad. My wife, before she was my wife, had a dog run behind the shed, so all I had to do was build a coop next to the existing shed and Walla a hen paradise! Well close anyway. There was already a cement slab there, luck 1. There was a shed there I could attach to, luck 2. There was already an "L" shaped run fenced in with a gate, luck 3. Did I mention I was lucky? My father had a storage wall case from an old K-B Toy store, which I converted into a 4 plex nest box, luck 4. Anyway...on with the pictures.
I went with a 4 X 8 size for the ease of getting lumber, plus my neighbor had a nice piece of painted 4 X 8 pressed wood for my ceiling, is that luck 5? When I finished painting I noticed some places I missed so I went back to touch up, but made the mistake of using a different can of paint, hence the dark spots. The hens haven't noticed yet.....good thing they don't have internet access.
Clean out Door
On the right side I was able to go under the existing shed rain gutter, luck 7, and drain the rain out of the run.
The nest boxes have outside access by lifting the shingle cover and unlocking the locks. From the inside the top two nest boxes pull out for ease of cleaning. They also have linoleum on them which I got from the neighbor, are we on luck 8?
The girls requested Dish network because of all the HD channels available. No seriously I put the dish there just to make the neighbors scratch their heads.
They have 4 roosts only 3 are shown here.
This is a cover for the left side in the event of severe winds. Inside the coop my wife says it looks like a write and wipe board. She thinks she should use it as a to-do list for the girls. Silly wife..Doesn't she know they will do what they want anyway?
This is their garden window.....what?...... there is a garden out there!
I made a homemade feeder and waterer, I got my idea for it right here on BYC! The steps to get to the bottom roost are only temporary until they can hop up there on their own. But you know how city ordinances are......I had to put steps up. BTW you can see in this picture a 2 X 10 on the right, that is removable for clean out. It's also the remains of my stepdaughter's water bed, luck 9.
I have a foot of chain on the top of each feeder for height adjustment.
And last but not least ...the dust bath, which appears to be in use, close your eyes!
Thanks to all the members of BYC for the ideas that I stole from you. You can't go to jail for steeling ideas can you?
Thanks to my wife for her never ending patience. (I Hope)
Thanks mostly to my brother-in-law who got me started on these wonderful feathered friends!!
