We started out with the leftover upstairs house from our childrens old playground.Most of the other wood had been repurposed or burned and that was the last piece left.The house is basicly 4 by 8 ft so it was perfect for the small flock I had envisioned.
It was serving as a makeshift greenhouse of sorts for my tender plants on the side of our house.But then my children and I came down with chicken fever and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the house after that
I started by tearing the house completely down to bare bones.I saved everything and then went dumpster diving to find more wood.This pic was my first dumpster haul...
Full of nails but I was ecstatic to get it! After a few more visits to the dumpsters I spent a few afternoons denailing everything.
Went to Habitat for humanity and got these cabinet doors for 1$ a piece for the windows to help keep rain and what little cold weather we have out of the coop.I removed the hardware and sanded and repainted them with a good primer followed by exterior paint..May at some point even end up replacing the middle panel with plexiglass.But for now they will do just like they are.There were 4 larger cabinet doors and 2 smaller ones.I bought all of them even though I didnt plan on using them all.I figured the hardware on them was worth the dollar I spent because I can use them for another project down the road.
I also found long solid wood cabinet doors at Habitat for humanity.They were also 1$.This one is going to be my egg collection door.
The piece of lumber in front was a brace to keep it stable while we worked on it and then moved it to its final spot.I put the wood slats from the sides aside for later use as trim.My Dad did all the carpentry.THANK GOODNESS!! I really have no clue when it comes to woodworking,lol!! I know a few things but not quite enough to tackle a project like this.So for all his hard work we ended up giving him chicken fever as well and he is currently working on a coop for his home that is MUCH MUCH bigger than mine.
Before moving the house I dug in bricks to make the house level because the yard slopes down on this side of the house.Sorry I don't have pics of that but you can see them in the picture below.We had also put in the frame for the small run at this time.At the time we were piecing together scrap OSB for the roof.
Most days while I was putting the wire in I had my trusty supervisor around to make sure things ran smoothly at the coop.
Another shot of the bones of the house.
Digging in the wire.The house and run are completely wired all the way around.Hopefully this will deter any would be predators creeping around.It took a few afternoons to get this all done.
Osb walls go up and we started working on the door to the run
Siding is up! Well at least most of it.Ran out of time that day.
I decided on a dutch door for the run so I don't have to open the entire door to give scraps and scratch.Although the kids open both doors anyway,lol!! The doors had to swing in 2 opposite directions because the top door did not have the clearance to swing out because of the shingles and roofing.(had to give a good amount of overhang in the roofing here to keep the driving rain out of the windows )
Finally got the front door in!! It was a throw away from a homeowner who was replacing the doors to thier home.(Woohoo FREE!!!)It had to be modified at the bottom to fit the henhouse.Basically my Dad just cut off half the bottom and we reglued the trim back to the shorter door.For safety and to keep the henhouse from getting too hot in the summer(Typical Florida weather!) we decided to put up tint after installing the door.My husband did most of that work,I kind of just helped to keep it from rolling in on itself,lol!!
Here it is after the trim was installed and painted.Also have the tint up in this picture.The trim was made from ripped down cedar boards from the old playground.The tint was purchased from Home depot for around 16.00$ So far its working out well in keeping the heat down.
Put in a tiny patio so I can get a rug for wiping feet.It seems the kids love to hang out inside the coop with the ladies and we needed an area where we could wipe messy shoes off before they came back into my house.
keep checking back as we are still working on this coop.Next up is the inside!
