Thanks. I have my hand-written "chicken scratch" notes and drawings that I always save when building stuff like this but not electronic prints or anything. I always wanted to get a drafting or CAD program so I can have a permanent record and even tweak it along the way. Anyway, I always start with the end product of what I want conceptually, like with the multi-coop I wanted four 6'x6' pens with a 4' wide hallway to access the pens and store stuff, so the building interior dimensions had to be 10X24. And then I decided on a 1:10 sloped roof since we don't have any snow load here and I wanted to keep the peak under 10'. I also learned after building the first coop that a 1' overhang is really nice to have because it keeps the rain away from the building and runs so that was something I wanted too. Once you know the big picture of what you want in the end it's just a matter of planning each piece on paper before getting any material, that way if something doesn't gel you can figure it out before you buy the first board. Also you can make a bill of material for each piece and get the cost off the Homeless Depot site so you'll have an accurate estimate of what the whole project will cost. Surprisingly the two coops/runs I built turned out to be a lot less expensive than what I originally guessed. Once everything goes together ok on paper you just buy the material for the first section - complete, then move on to the second section and on and on till done. Like with the breeding pens I'm starting this weekend, I'll get the 2X8's and plywood for the base and put that together, and then get the 2X4's for the walls and erect them, etc. My wife says I should get all the material at once so I don't have to run to the store for each phase but I have a pretty shallow brain so I can't think much beyond each individual phase. But yeah, when you break it down into sections it's a lot less stressful and easier to manage.
Also if you want some ideas on the basic structures, you could do what I did and get a book on building sheds/outdoor storage which'll have the framework illustrated so you can see how it all goes together. There's also a really nice video series called iCreatables (
https://www.youtube.com/user/icreatablestv) that has all the details you'll need to build whatever you want be it a barn, gable roof, or sloped roof building. Personally I'm not much for working off of plans that I got somewhere else because they're rarely what I have in mind, but I'm all for reviewing them and then designing what I want based on the plan's concepts. Also you can easily modify or add to your own plans, like in my case I ended up adding brooding pens (4X6) at the ends of the hallways - I have to enter the brooding pens to walk into the regular pens on the ends but that's not an issue for me and it gives me more space to keep the chicks separated until their old enough to go into the flock.
Anyway, if you ever have any questions that I might be able to help with just send me a pm or ask here and I'll be glad to tell ya what I know. I'm certainly no expert but I can at least tell you what's worked or hasn't worked for me.
