Building a new coop, suggestions welcome

[enrgizerbunny]

Pinned the stationary door and installed a latch and a piece of plywood for the pop door this morning.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Finally found the GFI I bought for the coop and got it installed. I have to buy wire and conduit to get the overhead light and switch installed. I've chosen to keep everything in conduit and outdoor covers to prevent any birds from getting curious about electricity.

 

[aart]

Why the solid metal door sheathing?
I would think you'd want more ventilation

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Why the solid metal door sheathing?
I would think you'd want more ventilation

Materials on hand. I did put steel mesh on one door. I have a lot of ventilation up top and full mesh doors would definitely open the roosts up to drafts.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Finished the interior wiring for the coop. I am going to put some motion sensor flood lights on the outside to get some light on this portion of the yard, but that's not essential and will have to wait on a few things. I'm actually using underground wire inside conduit because it was cheaper than the interior wire at Lowe's. It's probably overkill, but everything except the light fixture is rated for wet locations and everything is protected by GFCI.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Power to the coop today!

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Decided to change course on the front gable. Changed to running vinyl up the sides of the loft access door since that will be covered with HC and the peak above it will be HC also. So I covered the sides with sheathing and tyvek.

While I'd like to do the same to the rear gable I'm not sure it'll be worth the effort.

 

[McChooky]

Oh here we build again! This will probably be a slow update until the foundation is built.

After a 4 year run with chickens in a too small high maintenance coop, I'm going to build a new coop because I just love those fresh eggs annnd the lack of bugs in the yard is worth having them around by itself.

Coop will be 8'x8' built on a concrete footer and cinder blocks using Quikwall surface bonding cement. Dirt floor. I'm considering (not committed to) using pallet Lumber for this project. If so I would have 7' walls instead of 8. Roof roll likely end up being a gable with asphalt shingles on it. Gable ends and eaves will probably just be open with hardware cloth covering them. For simplicity, I'm considering keeping everything internal (no nesting boxes accessible from the outside). For simpler construction and in the future the idea can be sold that this is a second shed, not a coop. As such, it will have a large opening in the front door for annual clean out, that is large enough to drive a lawn mower inside. At least that's my plan. It's going to be built on the edge of my yard, half in the woods, half out. I've attached a couple pictures of the location. I've laid out a rough perimeter until I get some proper stakes and I can put up string lines in a precise manner and start to digging!

I'd love to hear the things that have made your life easier with chickens. I'm planning to run electric to it for water heater and a light overhead. I will also have an automatic pop door. Planning on buying the chickenrun T50.

One thing I'm on the fence about is nesting boxes that I can access from outside, instead of having to go inside and step in poop every time I get eggs. I had external boxes last time and still had to step in poop because of the run.


For reference, I'm in Central Virginia USDA zone 7a/b (close to the line).

For anyone who needs a visual on how Quikwal works :
https://www.quikrete.com/athome/video-dry-stack-wall.asp

I use the deep litter method(horse pellets) in my pallet coop and run combo and go inside for my eggs everyday (its covered completely with hardware cloth and has a tarp on top) I don't have to worry about spreading disease in my coop (bio security)because I wear easy to clean rain boots nothing sticks to.They are easy to slip on and off.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

I use the deep litter method(horse pellets) in my pallet coop and run combo and go inside for my eggs everyday (its covered completely with hardware cloth and has a tarp on top) I don't have to worry about spreading disease in my coop (bio security)because I wear easy to clean rain boots nothing sticks to.They are easy to slip on and off.

I'm planning on deep litter. My dirt floor is 8" below the level of my wall framing so there's quite the capacity before it tries to overflow out the pop door. I did decide to have boxes that are accessible from the exterior and I'm planning to build roll out boxes for their lower maintenance, cleaner eggs, cleaner feet, and ease of access by a house sitter collecting eggs for me. I also added a loft that wasn't in the plans initially.

 

[McChooky]

I'm planning on deep litter. My dirt floor is 8" below the level of my wall framing so there's quite the capacity before it tries to overflow out the pop door. I did decide to have boxes that are accessible from the exterior and I'm planning to build roll out boxes for their lower maintenance, cleaner eggs, cleaner feet, and ease of access by a house sitter collecting eggs for me. I also added a loft that wasn't in the plans initially.

Sounds like you gave it a lot of thought and have some great ideas! I only planned on raising a few chickens a couple years ago so I built a small raised coop for 6 hens.If I ever decide to build a walk in I'll probably tear this one down first