1st coop construction progress

[Skellington]

I got a lot done this past weekend!

I cut and test fit the 'legs' and edges for the platform support a week ago. On Saturday I cut the first wire,so I could make the wire sandwich for the back wall and assemble the platform.

(puh-chew, puh-chew, puh-chew! Pneumatic staplers are wonderful).

The platform went together quickly. I totally lucked out -- I built it at a height that was comfortable to reach in and clean but still high enough that I could get underneath without straining (the sides will be openable hatches to make that easier), and it just so happens that it's exactly the right height to let me stand on the platform and work. Handy thing about being only 5'4"!

I didn't have a precise plan for the walls, but I did have a lot of 1x from an old bed frame, and with the platform in place I could kind of rough things out with clamps and work it out as I went.

...a bit more wire, attached before I added the board to hold the window...
...and by Sunday I had a wall. Well, a wall-and-3/4s -- the other short wall is framed, I just have to cut the sheathing piece and install one more short bit to nail to. The window was just set in for the picture; I'm going to paint 'em before I install the outer trim that will hold 'em in place.

Just like I drew it! The other short side will match.

By this weekend I need to have a plan for the back (shorter window + nest box, or framed space for adding a nest box over the summer) and the 'front' -- the clean-out doors and pop door that will open into the run.

I really enjoyed the work. I've remodeled and I've worked a lot on projects other people have lead, but seeing something that was almost all me come together is pretty fun.

 

[Cryss]

I got a lot done this past weekend!

I cut and test fit the 'legs' and edges for the platform support a week ago. On Saturday I cut the first wire,so I could make the wire sandwich for the back wall and assemble the platform.
View attachment 1767555
(puh-chew, puh-chew, puh-chew! Pneumatic staplers are wonderful).

View attachment 1767559 View attachment 1767562
The platform went together quickly. I totally lucked out -- I built it at a height that was comfortable to reach in and clean but still high enough that I could get underneath without straining (the sides will be openable hatches to make that easier), and it just so happens that it's exactly the right height to let me stand on the platform and work. Handy thing about being only 5'4"!

I didn't have a precise plan for the walls, but I did have a lot of 1x from an old bed frame, and with the platform in place I could kind of rough things out with clamps and work it out as I went.

View attachment 1767565
...a bit more wire, attached before I added the board to hold the window...
...and by Sunday I had a wall. Well, a wall-and-3/4s -- the other short wall is framed, I just have to cut the sheathing piece and install one more short bit to nail to. The window was just set in for the picture; I'm going to paint 'em before I install the outer trim that will hold 'em in place.
View attachment 1767568
Just like I drew it! The other short side will match.

By this weekend I need to have a plan for the back (shorter window + nest box, or framed space for adding a nest box over the summer) and the 'front' -- the clean-out doors and pop door that will open into the run.

I really enjoyed the work. I've remodeled and I've worked a lot on projects other people have lead, but seeing something that was almost all me come together is pretty fun.

Excellent! Weather put a crimp on us starting mine too. Nice progress there!

 

[aart]

Just like I drew it!

I love when that happens!!(it doesn't always)

(puh-chew, puh-chew, puh-chew! Pneumatic staplers are wonderful).

Looks like youe pressure setting is good, not breaking the wire. Did you have to adjust it?

 

[Skellington]

@aart I've definitely worked on things that did NOT come out like I drew them!

I had to turn the pressure down a little on the staple gun. It was putting staples an eighth of an inch below the surface and occasionally breaking wire. I overlapped the wire enough that I can reinforce anywhere that breaks, though -- even with pressure turned down, it's a bit erratic (different densities of wood, I suppose).

The chicks are 3, 4, and 5 weeks old now. I'm watching two that have brighter, larger combs and want to bump chests. Might have four hens and two main courses.

View attachment 1771674

I'm trying to finish the coop part this weekend (took Monday off so I'd have a fighting chance) so they can have more space than they do in the brooder kennel).

I haven't figured out the nest box. I'm fine with framing a gap and figuring it out later, but I need to spend a bit more time looking at how other people did that. I know it should be fine just cantilevered out over a 2x4, but it feels like it needs more support than that!

 

[Skellington]

Oh -- a pic of chicks --

...and two of coop progress yesterday. Or rather, a bit of framing progress and a bit of indecision:

(Leaning towards middle large chip and bright teal doors and windows. Was going to go lime green doors and windows, but finding a good bright green in housepaint is tough, and I don't want to mess with it).

 

[jthornton]

I haven't figured out the nest box. I'm fine with framing a gap and figuring it out later, but I need to spend a bit more time looking at how other people did that. I know it should be fine just cantilevered out over a 2x4, but it feels like it needs more support than that!

I made my roll out nest box and just used a couple of screws on each side to secure it in the wall of the run.



JT

 

[concrete_boots]

Looking great! Like the vertical window

 

[Skellington]

@jthornton That's really clever! So, it has about a stud's width resting on the framing? Gives you a nice solid surface to screw to.

@concrete_boots Thanks! I found the windows at a fantastic salvage store in Bellingham, WA, and designed the coop around them.

The big progress yesterday was proving that I can haul 8' lumber in my chevy Bolt. The rest didn't go quite as fast as I wanted, but I DID tweak the design to have even more ventilation. Now I've got about 1.5 square feet on the prevailing wind side and around 12 square feet on the lee side. I'd been going to wire over the space between the rafters, or just over the rafter tails and soffits like I've seen here, but I think I may not need to... it'd be easier to block them off. I'm clearly well over the 1 sq ft/ bird minimum!

I'm also trying to figure out how to build the cleanout doors. I've drawn them, but I might need to get/learn/borrow a pocket hole jig. And I'm not sure whether they should be wire, wood, or wire with a plexi insert (my original, ambitious plan). They're right across from the roost, so they'll need to be solid much of the year.

...I suppose if I get the frames done I could build them solid now and retrofit them later. Removing the plywood back would just be a few screws.

Here are the half-updated drawings (I tweaked the roof slopes and never updated that bit).

Weather side:

Lee side:

 

[Skellington]

I've been so busy working that I haven't updated -- the chickens are finally in the coop and out of my laundry room! The run isn't done yet, but the coop is (hopefully) secure and cozy. I'm posting thumbnails because this is really photo heavy.

I used CDX left over from my friends' house (the same friends who supplied a lot of demoed studs). I was going to wire over the soffits, but instead I framed in some easy-to-wire lower ventillation and stopped the soffit up with notched OSB (I had extra the right size, and it was way easier). The window is just in to test fit, and you can see the framing for the nest box.


My weird framing letft me with a few odd little gaps. I got dad to put a bevel in some 2x2 and stopped tidied them up so crud couldn't get down there:



...and then there was a pop door, and paint! I used up the odds-and-ends of three left-over quart cans priming the inside, which was very satisfying. Not exterior or the right gloss, but it soaked into the plywood and got it out of my house.


The floor is covered with a Henry's white roof sealant product. Dad had an extra half gallon in his garage that was just enough for two coats on the floor and up the 1x6 around the base.

I mixed some of the exterior brown into a gallon of interior semi-gloss white I had lying around to use on the interior, so it wouldn't be quite so glowing white. The windows and exterior go NEW paint (lucky them). After the first coat of paint I installed all the windows with two screws each (after painting they get trim strips that hold them in better).


...and for the last bit, well, dad pointed out that if I had temporary plywood doors I could build cool doors in his shop at my leisure, which sounded fantastic. So he built me speedy temporary plywood doors while I finished blocking soffits.

 

[Skellington]

Aaaaand then there were chickens!

(Okay, then there was a barrel bolt and a hasp-and-padlock and a temporary OSB hatch over the pop-door, but the crucial bit is that I no longer have chickens in my laundry room!).

My sweetheart hauled the kennel out for me (some things are easier with longer arms). Of course, once the kennel was in the coop was the door open, they didn't want to leave and I had to chuck chickens. I'd remove one, and the one I'd just removed would run back in.


...but once they were all out and the kennel was removed, they got pretty excited! (Erik is looking funny in the window because he is pretending to be a chicken)

...and my favorite pictures, the ones with chickkinz lookin' out the windows!