Building 4x4 Barn style coop with 4x8 run

[twfernandez]

The coop looks great! I love the rubber strip over the nest box lid, may incorporate some similar flashing on ours! Looking good - keep up the good work!

 

[tbatz11]

The Coop is DONE!!! I am super happy about this! We got it moved to the back yard today. If the weather is good then we can start building the run tomorrow. We're supposed to get a storm tonight so we'll see how the coop weathers it.

Now for the latest photos:

Got the chicken door put on as well as the vents. (I put in a small hook above the door to keep it open)




Inside coop layout:
Boot tray for the poo and a ladder for the roost. We made the ladder so it can be moved from side to side.



The third ladder rung kinda works as a shelf. I read from someone that her birds liked to sit on a shelf, so this kinda works out well.



I bought another strip of rubber base moulding and cut a new/wider piece to replace the too short one above the nesting boxes then used the leftover piece as an awning over the window!



98% done with the door. I'm going to put another piece pf white trim at the top when I can get more wood. I'd like to put a white X on it too but my husband thinks it will look bad. what do you think?



How to move a heavy coop from the garage and into the back yard/how to put (temporary)wheels on a coop:

2x4's were screwed all around the base. Mike used 4 3" screws on the sides the wheels went on.
I bought 4 10" pneumatic tires. The holes were 1/2" so I got 1/2" x 7" long bolts to put inside them, but hey were too tight, so Mike took the pieces from the inside of the wheels to work and made the holes a bit wider. It went on like this: 7" bolt, washer, wheel, slide into 2x4, washer, nut, tighten. We used 3 chunks of 2x4's and lifted one side of the coop while I slid them under. Once the wheels were on on one side we had to lift the other side together because it was too heavy for Mike to do on his own.



And then we realized that the tires had practically NO air in them, so we used the air compressor to pump them up.


We had a neighbor help us move it to the back yard. Since the wheels only turned one way it had to be pushed to get around corners and that still worked out well. I took these photos from the very back corner of the yard.


Google+ put a few pics together and came out with this panorama.



One other major issue we ran into (which we knew somewhat ahead of time) was that the coop is 2" wider than the gate. In order to get it back there we had to make our gate from a single to a double. We could have taken part of the fence down on the other side of the house but the ground there slopes quite a bit (can't see it in this photo) ans we were worried that it would tip over.

 

[Percheron chick]

Great job. It just needs a rooster weathervane. Where did the insulation board end up? Can the hens get to it? They LOVE it and will eat it if they can reach it.

 

[tbatz11]

Thanks!
The insulation is between 2 boards so they can't eat it.
I LOVE the idea of a weathervane!!! I'm going to look for one now

 

[Percheron chick]

I have a witch on a broomstick for mine once I move.

 

[twfernandez]

Wow!!! All we can say is that you two have really done a fantastic job on the coop - it looks great! Sue can't wait to see after you finish the run and the girls are getting settled in!

Personally, since you handled all of the painting and finish work, I think you get executive decision when it comes to the X on the door - and I think that it fits perfectly with the color scheme and classic "barn" design.
Either way, the coop looks excellent - great work!

Looking forward to the next update!
T&S

 

[yolksonus]

Looks wonderful!!!! Great job!!!

 

[chickyduck]

That's a very pretty coop. It looks like you put a lot of love and hard work into it

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

This is so nicely made. I'm always in a big hurry when I've built coops and keep saying "it's just a chicken coop, it doesn't have to be pretty" and then when I see a prety one like the one you've made I feel jealous and vaguely ashamed of mine.

 

[chicknshrimp]

Thats gorgeous! That definitely puts all my projects to shame, well done, your girls will love it!