Coop Built, your thoughts? Pic Heavy

This is our first coop. Any feedback or thoughts are much appreciated! We have 8 girls, 2 Buff Os, 2 Barred R, 1 Calif X, 1 EE, 1 SLW, 1 silkie.

Okay so despite all my drama with a permit i decided to just...go for it...here is the process.

It's 7 x 5 ft and about 7 foot high, with the run under for now. We will build a full size run attachment soon. It has a ramp, lockable ramp door, 2 false windows with window flaps, 1 real glass window, 4 vents under the roof on siding, back door escape hatch (for adding run or letting them out when i build a new fence on one side), actual shingles with shingle felt and drip edge, 2 nest boxes (one is for eggs the other for food) with a water container on hindges and 2 roosts!.

We opted for bar sand inside and under.

Built by the man and I. I"m a bit more on the motivated side so it was built starting early AM on weekends and after work during week. Started 2 weeks ago but most work done in last 5 days. The kid helped too! plus she looked cute in her carpentry outfit the man got her.

Original plans found here:
http://www.barngeek.com/free-chicken-coop-plans.html

We modified it a lot, using Vinyl flooring inside, all real wood for framing, OSB for roofing and Plywood on nest boxes. Cost (since i made some mistakes) probably around 750 total. About 150 of that is in nice hinges, paint and a few tools i lacked. Shingles were about 95, Siding was 85 of it. Real window was from craigslist for 20 bucks.

Pics here shown without final window flaps and chains to raise them. Only about a third of the yard shown in pics, decent size so I had a lot of choices on placement but fence fell on the other side of the yard so we opted to go on this side for now. I stained all visible wood to the cedar color of her swingset. The paint will be two blues in the end. The roosts are 2 ways, one flat and one vertically for the picky roosting.

We still need to trim it and paint it but the girls went in today. Still no action on the ramp yet...been a few hours so i'm a bit worried. We go to Gettysburg this week so a neighbor is going to care for them so getting them in ASAP was most important. Unfortunately it's been non stop storms here so we did a lot of this in the mud and storms. So the yard is ruined and porch is a mess!

Tools used...levels, roofing nails, mostly screws in 3.5", 3", 2" and 1 7/8 " for support, hinges, circular saw (god i wished i had opted to buy the miter saw but i didn't, one mishap with my left index finger), electric screwdriver/drill, staple gun, 19 gauze .25 square metal wire, lots of 2 x 6, 2 x 4s, 4 x 4s for main frame, 1 x 8's for base floor, 12 x 12 vinyl, smartboard siding, 2 x 2 litter stops, OSB and Plywood, Lowes Shingles, hammer, hooks, 1/8 metal rope and hooks, 2 x 4 racks for roosts, cedar wood stain and seal, drip edge and felt, 4 return air vents, pavers for base, stone to lift pavers up, regular chicken wire under the pavers and sand in run.

Worst thing is i plan to move this later LOL i'll need a forklift though.

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I think it looks really nice! I used vinyl on the floor of my coop as well and I love it!

Is the only way you can get to the bottom of the coop that little door? My girls make a nasty mess out of their run and I regularly spray it down with water and clean the area as much as possibly because the flies are just everywhere.

The flooring was awesome cause it was on clearance and each boxed actually messed up and scanned for .01 a box LOL. .02 total for vinyl!

I'm going to add 2 more doors to the bottom one on the right and one on the front. I actually put that one on after it was already built so i already worked out the framing. Time was a bit of an issue so I just did one for this week and will add two more when i get back from vacay. I basically made a box out of 2 x 4s. Then used snips to cut the wire, attach the box in and rewire with hinges and locks so i can add it easily enough. With the sand i plan to do a lot of just sifting, and the kid likes to climb in there. she spread the sand this time by sitting under there and i shoveled it in. Once i add a real run on I think they'll be in that (which will be people sized) more than under so i'm praying it will be okay.

Awesome! Does vinyl come in squares like tile? What's the difference in vinyl and linoleum? We are in the process of building a coop/run, but I have no idea on the flooring part.

This is the sticky back type vinyl, it came in 12 x 12 inch squares, we stuck them down and used a blade to cut off the extra. I used the EP Henry sub floor prep stuff i got at home depot to help adhere it to the wood sub floor. In my exp vinyl is way more flexible than linoleum tiles. I did have some lift from all the rain so on the edges inside the coop i screwed down inside trim to keep the edges down.

Oh ok. Thanks so much for the info. Love the coop.

Very nice coop! Glad to see that you used hardware cloth.

I shoved one BR in back door and a another down the ramp. They played about a bit and walked back in. I'm hoping they will lead the charge down in the morning! Hardwire was a definite I just wish I had dug down more. Under the ground is just chicken wire under the pavers and lots of stone.

Nice Job!

Are the staples on the hardware cloth from a regular staple gun? If so, add some screws and washers or it may get peeled off.

Did they figure out the trap door? The size of the trap door and the angle of the ramp might make for tight head room.

Might need another door for accessing the entire coop without climbing in there....or maybe move the roosts closer to the existing access door as the majority of the poop will be under the roosts.

it's normal staples for time but after this week i'll go out with those felt washer screws and fix the corners i think, great idea. No go on trap door, i think that i'll move the door back some and cut deeper when i get back from vacay. Sucks i don't have time to do it before i leave, or do I....The two roosts are near the front door so pretty easy to reach under. I think i'll end up cutting the back into a door too but i haven't decided.