The long road to chickenhood... starting with the coop

My husband and I have sort of tossed around the idea of getting chickens in the past but always laughed it off as a ridiculous idea, especially as I'm not even very fond of eggs, but for some reason, this year, the idea stuck. My husband works with someone who raises chickens and although we live in a suburbanish neighborhood, we noticed that several neighbors also raise chickens. So, one day, back in June, I dragged some leftover 2x4's out of the woods and started cutting. I didn't have any real plans I was following, other than a picture that I sketched on a piece of paper, which I have since lost. Originally, the coop was going to be a tractor that we could move around the yard but once I started building, I realized it was going to be much too heavy for dragging around.

Anyway, I started with building the base which elevates the coop about 2' off the ground and is roughly 4'x6' wide. The first design had one of the sides opening fully for cleaning but then I realized I better have two side doors in order to make access to the coop a lot easier. Lucky for me, my parents arrived at the end of June (they live in Florida and we're in CT) and my father who is way better at carpentry than I am, helped me significantly.

So, here are some pictures of the coop under construction...

The first cut, made in the basement, before we dragged the saw up to the garage


The front of the coop under construction...


Working on the nesting boxes, the dividers remove for cleaning...



Nesting boxes installed on back of coop


Inside back of coop

My dad working on the base

My mom helping to staple down the peel and stick tiles which didn't stick


The front of the coop up on the base


My husband and father working on something or other


Dad in coop trying to secure the whole thing before it falls apart


Our kids playing in the coop



Strong enough to support two grown men - should be able to handle 5 chickens!


Finally got to painting the coop. Here's my dad standing next to it and he's about 5'11". The roof frame is just resting on top. We later topped the frame with plywood and then added a tin roof. Wont attach it to the coop until it gets moved to the backyard and out of my garage - can't wait!

Side and back of coop


Front and side of coop


Inside of coop - nesting boxes to the right, droppings board straight in front and roosting bar will obviously go right over it, another perch in front of the window. There will be ventilation through all the eaves and over the side doors as well as a window that opens on the front of the coop.


Still have to come up with a creative name but here's the coop. The chicken door slides up and down with a rope - not attached yet in this photo.


Preparing the site in the backyard as the chicks are due to arrive any day now - though a friend is going to raise them and we will take them when they're old enough to move outside of the brooder.
Tried to do as much of the coop with recycled material but still ended up spending ~$500-$600 on it (including the run) as the hardware, hardware cloth and tin roof really add up.
Will continue to post as things continue to progress...

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful It's just wonderful

The chicks are here! The chicks are here! The chicks are here!

Well, they're not really here, but they did arrive yesterday at our friends farm so we should get to meet them this weekend - I can't wait!!!!

Managed to get a bit more work done on the coop yesterday. Attached one of the side doors and also levelled out the concrete blocks in the backyard for the coop and run. The weather is looking good for Labor Day so we may actually get to move the coop out back then. I can't wait to see it in the yard instead of the garage.

Great job! Can't wait to see your chickies...

very nicely done....excellent work. Congrats!!

Thanks guys! Over the weekend we were able to meet the chicks and move the coop from the garage to the yard, with some valuable help from our nephews for some of the heavy lifting. Here's some of the photos of the move, the chicks, and the coop..

My daughter helping to pull part of the run out on a wagon


Attaching front of coop to the base


Attaching the roof


The coop out in the yard


Front of the Coop


Back of the coop


Another view of the back - still have to skirt the run and put hardware cloth below the egg boxes.


I guess I should have taken another picture of the inside but I forgot. Maybe once we get the feeder up?

Chicks (we're only getting 5 of these when they're 10 weeks old)


My daughter and a chick

MORE PHOTOS - Trying to make our run look a bit nicer - made this pinecone garland with pinecones from the local park and twigs from the back yard. Tied together with jute. I think it looks cute but we'll see how long it lasts out in the elements. The border we picked up at Home Depot, still have to finish along the left side of the run.




Also, here's some photos of the inside of the coop...





We may have to make changes once the chickens actually move in. Have to experiment to see what works and what doesn't. Also, I just won a chicken brooder kit on the Chicken Whisperer blog radio show so we may be getting the chicks sooner than we originally thought!

So excited!!!

Nice looking coop...So it looks like the sticky tiles worked after all? I have been reading mixed reviews on how they go down and I'm not sure if I should try them. Also it looks like no insulation in your walls? I'm on the fence with that as well, I'll check in thru the winter it'll be interesting to see how you make out, I'm in MA so the winters are unpredictable...as you probably know. Best of luck with your new additions

The more I look at your setup the hardware cloth on the ground looks like the way to go...if I can find an area that can be leveled the tree roots are awful...no issues with the wire curling up?

The wire pretty much stays down but we also used landscaper crampons/stakes to help hold it down so that we won't trip on the edges. Then, I've also thrown more dirt on top and have planted seed around the front and sides. Haven't done that at the back because I worried it the grass won't grow back there in the shade anyways and we'll be walking a lot back there to open the doors and check the egg boxes. Maybe I'll throw some pea stones or gravel over that part of the skirt?
I didn't insulate and we'll see how the winter goes. Because of the open ventilation at the top of the walls of the coop, I really don't think insulating the walls will do much good. The cold air is still going to get in there. And there's tons of people on this site who say it's not needed who live in much colder areas than CT. We are only getting chickens that are cold hardy so that should help too.
The tiles didn't stick at all! We stapled them down to get them to stay in place. Hopefully, it'll work ok. The benefit was that they were cheap ($.38/each at home depot) but I'd recommend going with a piece of scrap linoleum if you can get your hands on some.
Good luck!!!