Between the Bees, Coop Outfitting

[we3ernes]

So, not exactly a coop build as my father gifted us with a shed, but I will be turning the shed into a coop, so I thought I’d documents what we will be doing to make it ours.

A bit about us, my husband was in the military for 22 years and this is the 15th home that we’ve lived in together. We’ve spent the last 5 years researching what we wanted to build and where. Two years ago we purchased 11 acres outside of Waco, Texas between the Brazos and Bosque rivers (the B’s). Since my husband will be raising bees we decided to call our home “Between the Bees Farm & Brewery”. We also plan on chickens (of course), goats, a vineyard, an orchard, and a garden. We have to keep reminding ourselves that we have the next few decades to get it done!

The first thing we decided on was a location for the coop. We looked a shade, proximity to water/electricity, prevailing winds, drainage, ease of access, and a few other criteria. There were five sites that made sense, but the one that fit the criteria best was this one:

You are looking down our sidewalk, across the driveway, to the site we chose. There was a structure further back into the woods at one point, but what you can see of it is the last wall standing. So we first needed to clear out a large enough spot for the coop and run.

 

[we3ernes]

Sorry for the incomplete post, my photos started acting up....

Here are a couple of shots that show where the coop site is in relation to everything else:

We are looking at our garage, the coop site is to the left, to the right is the sidewalk from the first post with the corner of the house visible.

And here is the house.

Now that we know where we are...

Here is the site cleared of small trees and raked clean so I could stake the are and find out what the drop was. I saved all the raked up leaves to add back to the run later on.

A closer view of the site. We set it back 5’ from the driveway edge so no vehicles backing up on the driveway would accidentally hit it. It looks like it is right on top of the tree (which I assure you is living, despite its currently scraggly appearance), but in reality the back edge of the shed is a good 15’ from the trunk. You can also see our falling down ancient shed wall even better.

Because the shed would run perpendicular to the slope I needed some way to channel drainage otherwise all the water flowing down from the left would sit against the gravel pad.

I dug in a 6” diameter 25’ long drainage pipe from 5’ to the left of the coop (where the first white rock is) all the way 10’ to the right of the coop (not really visible at the right hand side of the photo.

The drainage line ran parallel to the driveway until it got past the coop and then moved slight to the left to account for the larger slope of the drive.

 

[we3ernes]

We hired a local man to put in the gravel pad for the coop. His woodworking skills were amazing! I swear that the gravel base is built better than most houses.

Here he has just checked for size and level, nothing is fastened together yet. We had him bring the pad all the way up to the driveway so we could easily add a board sidewalk later.

You can really see his attention to detail here. All the corners were notched and overlapped, there wasn’t a single butt joint anywhere, the sleepers (those extra boards inside the frame) will keep the long sides from bowing and prevent the shed from creeping down the slope.

This is the finished pad as seen from our front sidewalk.

And a reverse view, from the gravel pad back to the house.

 

[we3ernes]

The most exciting day was the shed delivery though, it was amazing how fast and easy it went!

Yes, the installer is operating that little tracked machine with a remote! The shed is on skids, so they can just drag it into place.

Turning it, I was really surprised how smoothly it moved on just skids (I guess the Egyptians really knew what they were doing all those years ago).

In place, the angle is a little deceiving, I assure you that the front edge of the porch is 5’ back from the driveway. Now it is MY turn to play! I’ll be starting work on all the things this shed needs to become a coop.

First on the list - new ventilation and lots of windows!

 

[townchicks]

Wow, that looks like it's going to be a great site for the coop. Smart move to save the leaves, too. I use lots of leaves for my run.

 

[Bryant Redhawk]

Love it! Please keep us up on how it develops.

 

[we3ernes]

Mostly brain work today, but I did get the first coat of urethane on the gable vent and the first window framed out. Still doing some noodling on how I want to build the sashes so I won’t cut the exterior siding until they are ready to go in. Using leftovers from our house build which is why the “new” window framing looks so old!

 

[aart]

Make sure your window sills are slanted outward.
Did you make that louvered vent?

 

[we3ernes]

Make sure your window sills are slanted outward.
Did you make that louvered vent?

@aart , will do! I didn’t make this vent, I found one at Home Depot for less than I could make one!
I will make the one for the back where it will just be painted pine. The price of cedar has gone through the roof, rough sawn fence pickets are over $8 apiece!

 

[blackdog043]

Nice looking coop!