Authentic Woods KD (Knock Down) 10' by 16' Coop Build

[Ted Brown]

If I push assembly should be done by end of week when my seven ready to lay chickens arrive.

 

[aart]

If I push assembly should be done by end of week when my seven ready to lay chickens arrive.

Now that you've done all the thinking, the build and assembly should go quick, right?

 

[Ted Brown]

Now that you've done all the thinking, the build and assembly should go quick, right?

The last two walls have taken 2-3 hours each to build. I have one large side wall to do, will be more like 6-7 hours so say 10 hours for the two remaining walls. Roof and floors should be quick.

Also have to redo part of the big wall that is already up to make the doorway (I was going to put it on the opposite side but your comments on tracking through the run to get to the coop made me change sides) but that will be quick.

 

[Ted Brown]

My sister is in flight arriving at 1:00am Tuesday. She sent a picture of the fertilized eggs that her landlady packaged for shipment (16 eggs each from hens selected for temperament, laying consistency; has pictures of each mother and eggs are marked to correspond...).

I laughed when I saw this:



Seventeen "exotic" eggs inside the box; each is marked and mother hen noted, I have pictures of each mother.

 

[Molpet]

M sister is in flight arriving at 1:00am Tuesday. She sent a picture of the fertilized eggs that her landlady packaged for shipment (16 eggs each from hens selected for temperament, laying consistency; has pictures of each mother and eggs are marked to correspond...).

I laughed when I saw this:

View attachment 1903651

LOL on the sticker

But the address is showing and this is a public site. Anyone can see the address. Might want to crop it

 

[Ted Brown]

But the address is showing and this is a public site. Anyone can see the address. Might want to crop it

@Molpet Thanks, thoughtless of me.

 

[Molpet]

@Molpet Thanks, thoughtless of me.

You're not the first, better than a phone number

 

[archeryrob]

Ted, why did you build it as you did? Would it not have been easier to build the floor first and assemble the walls on the floor and stand them up as traditional construction? Am I missing something about the design?

 

[Ted Brown]

@archeryrob A bit more than a year ago I thought I would get some chickens, joined BYC to learn about what that meant.

Soon on I found references to the "Woods" coop designs and decided they suited the climate I live in (cold winters). I read the book and decided I would use the original design approach; looked simple, elegant and cheap. Also, liked the challenge of building something different.

The KD style was designed as a kit with the ability to dismantle and move if one wants; total of thirteen panels that I could build on my shop floor and then move into place.

If one did it in the conventional way the only wall panel that is suited to stick framing is the back wall; all others have either sloped tops or virtually no structure (front open wall) so most frame pieces would have to be custom cut with different lengths and sloped cuts at the top to accommodate the roof line, seemed fiddly and prone to errors.

The Woods approach is dead simple:

• cut the sides bottom and top to length (all specified in the book)
• lay it on the floor (without fastening together)
• make sure it is "square"
  
• put a board on one end, scribe the angle and cut, attach, repeat.

I targeted four hours per panel and with the exception of the two larger sides I have hit that goal, guessing stick framing would be at least double the time to build the frame then the skins.

So cheap (under $650 for materials) and quick to build. BTW in Woods design approach floor panels (3) go in after the walls are up and before the roof panels (4).

 

[Ted Brown]

Installed the rest of the foundation frame, braces yet needed.