Building a coop from scratch

[fatjay]

4 years ago I built my first coop. It's pretty much perfect in every way for my purposes.

Now, I'm building a second that will double as my spring brooder, so that I don't have it in my shop getting dust everywhere.

The first coop...

I drew up some blueprints to work from, I just built it in my head, then put it on paper.

 

[fatjay]

The base is 8x 4x4's cemented in, and hardware cloth. The underside of the PT plywood is primed with outdoor paint, to get maximum longevity.

 

[fatjay]

The framing is really nothing special, with the mandoor on one side, chicken door leading into the run, framed window, and 6 egg boxes.

 

[fatjay]

The trusses came out better than I expected. I used nail plates to hold them together and made all the cuts and used standard 16" OC spacing for maximum strength.

 

[fatjay]

I used t111 for the sides and a small jack to hold them in place while I screwed it in. The trusses are tied to the top places and the top places are tied to the walls and the walls are tied to the base by the T111. So it's not going anywhere.

Some nice green paint to protect it as well.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Looks awesome! I love it.

This would make a great coop build article!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/categories/chicken-coops.12/

We have coop article contests you can enter to win prizes too!

 

[fatjay]

Got some trim pieces, ran string line for the fence posts, hammered posts in, put fence up. I put landscape timbers along the perimiter to help prevent digging, and ground stakes in on the fence.

 

[fatjay]

I got a 6x8 roll of linoleum from home depot as a plastic/rubber barrier inside and stapled it down so clean out would be easier. And I put chicken wire in the eves to prevent anything from coming through.

I covered the length of the run with welded wire as well. I'm pretty big on preventing critters from getting into my run.

The roof plywood I just covered with ice & water shield to make a barrier.

 

[aart]

Nice!
Love the large overhangs, did you leave the soffits open for ventilation?(NVM just saw the next post, hardware cloth would be more secure.)
Too bad you didn't make the gables overhung too.

Curious, how close to the fence, can you get back there easily to side and paint?

 

[fatjay]

And at this point it's pretty much done.

I put a flap on the inside of the chicken door from some leftover wood, so I could lock them out of the coop when cleaning it out.

For cleanout I use a snow shovel into the tractor bucket then I dump onto a 3 stage compost bin.