Building 4x4 Barn style coop with 4x8 run

[tbatz11]

Proggress Photos and a question:

My husband found a website that tells you how to build a gambrel roof when you input the dimensions of the walls.
It was a little tricky figuring out how to attach the trusses though, we've never built a roof before!
But we found these brackets at Lowes and bent them slightly for the 4 corners. Then he used a 3.5" screw to give it more support.



This was kind of a pain in the butt. I wanted the 2x4's to hang over a bit, but had to take measurements to make sure everything was sticking out exactly right on each end. Otherwise the roof plywood wouldn't sit right.



We then took the 3 support pieces off the front and back so the sheeting would lay flat and added more 2x4's for support. the ones going horizontally make the roof extremely stable! and i can use them to hang the food and water.



We then followed another BYC member's advice and used tar paper to wrap the whole thing. It's under $18 for 100 feet.


I overlapped the paper here, just because i'm paranoid about water.


Here the siding went up. We measured from top bottom of the coop and how long we wanted it, then cut the sheet to make it smaller and easier to handle, then clamped it to the front/back of the coop. It had to be centered just right, then i traced around the top where it needed to be cut for the roof, then the doors and window.



We didn't realize this until later, that when we put sheeting over the frame the width of the coop would be wider on the outside. The sheets are only 4 feet wide! I supposed we could have cut the sheets using the wider side, but I really wanted the beading to be vertical. I'll be putting up trim everywhere anyways so the small gap will get covered and sealed.



This is the only wall left to put siding on. We were tired and my husband wanted to relax for at least a few hours of his weekend.



Wanted to show here that we made the siding go a little below the sheeting.


Now for the question.
I had no idea that insulating this and sheeting the inside would take up so much space. I'm not a builder, and even though my husband is all about precision measurements he didn't think it would be this much either. Our idea was to have a 4x4 coop, about 16 square feet for 4 hens. But the inside measurements are now 3ft 4 3/8" by the same. Which makes the coop only 11.3 square feet, which is 2.8sf per chicken. Plus the nesting boxes.
Is this going to be enough? The inside is pretty high, almost 5 feet, so we can have multiple levels of roosts. But i'm freaking out now that the bottom isn't big enough. They will have 20" of head room under the coop and a 4x8 run that will be available to them at all times also.

 

[jetdog]

Proggress Photos and a question: I would have the roost all the same height to avoid squawks at night, they will all want the highest one. My husband found a website that tells you how to build a gambrel roof when you input the dimensions of the walls. It was a little tricky figuring out how to attach the trusses though, we've never built a roof before! But we found these brackets at Lowes and bent them slightly for the 4 corners. Then he used a 3.5" screw to give it more support. This was kind of a pain in the butt. I wanted the 2x4's to hang over a bit, but had to take measurements to make sure everything was sticking out exactly right on each end. Otherwise the roof plywood wouldn't sit right. We then took the 3 support pieces off the front and back so the sheeting would lay flat and added more 2x4's for support. the ones going horizontally make the roof extremely stable! and i can use them to hang the food and water. We then followed another BYC member's advice and used tar paper to wrap the whole thing. It's under $18 for 100 feet. I overlapped the paper here, just because i'm paranoid about water. Here the siding went up. We measured from top bottom of the coop and how long we wanted it, then cut the sheet to make it smaller and easier to handle, then clamped it to the front/back of the coop. It had to be centered just right, then i traced around the top where it needed to be cut for the roof, then the doors and window. We didn't realize this until later, that when we put sheeting over the frame the width of the coop would be wider on the outside. The sheets are only 4 feet wide! I supposed we could have cut the sheets using the wider side, but I really wanted the beading to be vertical. I'll be putting up trim everywhere anyways so the small gap will get covered and sealed. This is the only wall left to put siding on. We were tired and my husband wanted to relax for at least a few hours of his weekend. Wanted to show here that we made the siding go a little below the sheeting. Now for the question. I had no idea that insulating this and sheeting the inside would take up so much space. I'm not a builder, and even though my husband is all about precision measurements he didn't think it would be this much either. Our idea was to have a 4x4 coop, about 16 square feet for 4 hens. But the inside measurements are now 3ft 4 3/8" by the same. Which makes the coop only 11.3 square feet, which is 2.8sf per chicken. Plus the nesting boxes. Is this going to be enough? The inside is pretty high, almost 5 feet, so we can have multiple levels of roosts. But i'm freaking out now that the bottom isn't big enough. They will have 20" of head room under the coop and a 4x8 run that will be available to them at all times also.

I think you will be fine with 4 hens, the only problem I can see you having is the ventilation, it's built so tight unless you put some good size vents in the ends you will be dealing with possible frostbite in the winter, I would make the run bigger than 4x8,as with anything the biggest you can make it now instead of trying to add on later will be better.

 

[tbatz11]

We are going to put a vent in on under the peak of the roof where the large door opening is. Then there are the two windows which are only covered with hardware cloth but will have wooden closures as well. And theres the chicken door.

I'm not sure I understand though, wouldn't having more vents make the coop colder and give them frostbite? We're making it so it can be sealed up tight in the winter, with the one vent above plus the chicken door open for ventilation. Won't that be enough?
The side where the vent will be is where the wind will blow the most.

 

[jetdog]

You do not want to have it sealed up tight far from that,heat and humidity from the birds and the droppings will rise and let alone the ammonia smell you want to get it out, as long as the top of their heads is lower than the vents they will be fine. If you seal it up you will indeed be setting them up to die,respiratory problems will set in no time. I know it doesn't make sense to leave it open but believe it. This is one of 2 vents I have and with the coldest and snowiest winters ever recorded in the New England history they did great, no frostbite no respiratory problems, both of these were open all winter, there are a lot of threads or here that will give you some good reading about ventilation,would be terrible if you were thinking your doing the right thing only to have sick or loosing your flock.

 

[tbatz11]

Thanks for the advice. I bought 2 vent covers today that have little shutters on them to hopefully keep the rain out. So we'll put one under each side of the roof peak.
Where in new england do you live @jetdog ? Up until 7 years ago we live in upstate NY so i'm very familiar with those winters!! We don't get nearly as much snow here in Iowa, but the temps stay in the single digits to the teens most of the winter, and the windchill can get to -40F. The development we're in now has zero grown trees for shade or protection from the wind and the whole area is pretty flat so the wind is pretty constant.

So we haven't done any work on the coop today, but we did build a very large brooder for the chicks. I was hoping to keep them in a large plastic tub for the first 3 weeks and then move them into a larger dog kennel. But I forgot how fast they grow!! I got the idea from the gallery of brooders here at BYC. With a few modifications and using some new and some old supplies we came up with this:


Linoleum is glued down to the bottom board which is mdf, something we had on hand. I bought the plywood for the back and sides as well as the plexiglass.


I also had to buy some screws and washers, a latch, and hinges.


When we were done I started to think "how are we going to lift this and carry it into the house?" Thats where these small chuncks of 2x4's came in handy. I wasnt about to run to the store for actual handles. The brooder isn't heavy, but before we added the 2x4's there was nothing to grab onto, so this makes it a lot easier to move around.
The 2x4 on top is attached to the brooder, it's to help keep the hardware cloth from sinking in when my can jumps up on it. He hasn't yet, but he will.






They were SOO loud when we moved them in here! Flying allover and chirping at the top of their little lungs. It took quite a while for them to settle down.
They all cuddled up by the window and looked a little chilly so I moved the EcoGlow closer. It's set at the highest level, what do you think? Is it too high? It feels like its giving off a lot of heat, but since i'm not a chicken I can't say if it's enough

 

[PapaChaz]

you have done a really great job on this! very impressive indeed. a couple of thoughts:

that's what trim is for, to hide the gaps. even the professionals have gaps they cover with trim and or molding, no worries about that at all!

about the ventilation/frostbite thing........I'm no expert, but the basics of it are this, as jetdog said, they exhale moisture. There's moisture in the air. The poo has moisture in it, there are a lot of ways moisture gets in. you want ventilation over the chickens heads, so the heat rising will take this out through the vents. if you don't, that moisture settles back down onto the chickens. No problems where they have feathers, but their combs will get wet from the moisture, and frostbitten when the temp gets cold enough. They'll fluff their feathers like the birds in the trees, settle down over their feet (if your roosts are wide enough to keep their feet flat) but their combs will get frostbite.


as for the warmer, they'll let you know if they're warm enough. keep a check on them, if they're all huddled, cuddled and piled together, they may be too cool. Otherwise they're fine. They're definitely a lot tougher than we think they are sometimes!

 

[tbatz11]

Thanks for that! I didn't really understand before where all the moisture would come from. Your explanation puts things into a better perspective!

We'll definitely have the two vents at the top open at all times, and if it gets too humid in there we'll just make them bigger. I already bought a simple outdoor thermometer to keep in the coop, but I can't remember if it also reads humidity. That would probably be a huge help too.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I don't remember if I've already said it, but this looks like a very nicely made coop. Hats off! Nice work!

 

[tbatz11]

I've done it once before, but now I can't remember how to edit the first thread post.

Anyways. I did a bit of painting in the past 2 days though I forgot to take photos. Mike has been working 7-7 tues-thurs so we haven't been able to work on the coop much. Today he got home at 3, but then got called to come back in. While at home he did manage to put siding on the back of the nest boxes and I put on the last piece on the side of the boxes, all by myself!

If I wasn't so terrified of the circular saw I might have finished siding the last wall. Ohh well.

I do have a question before we move onto putting up the roof. The trusses stick out past the walls about an inch. When we put the plywood up there will be gaps all around the base of the roof. How do we seal them up? or should we just leave them open for additional ventilation? I'm also worried if we leave the gaps then rain will get in somehow.

I'd appreciate any input

P.S. I'm in Love will all the smiley characters on here!

 

[jetdog]

I would leave it open the more air flow the better.