Building the Chicken McMansion (Part 3)

[Chieftain]

Quote:
Thank Miss Jenny...considering that this is what it looked like at Thanksgiving...

...I'd say I've come a ways in a short time. I told my wife last night that I know it's cost more money than we thought, and if we had studied it closely and estimated accurately, we never would have built it in the first place. As it is, we were able to spread the cost out over several months, pay for everything in cash and finding the best bargains whenever possible, and using what materials I already had. Cumulatively it will cost less than $1000, but to buy a building kit will run you hundreds anyway, and you still have to come up with a run, etc. There is a baseline cost for a project like this that you cannot avoid, and I spent a few hundred dollars more by making it double walled, insulating it, along with the additional rock and timbers that were necessary for the foundation.

It's not so much the cost as it is the value. A grand amortized over the next 20 years (minimum) against a supply of fresh eggs every day for the same length of time is a great deal in my book. In this neck of the woods, the coop is also a good selling point, and for anyone who knows what TEOTWAWKI means, a secure chicken coop in a barter economy is most definitely a good asset to have. I'd much rather have $1000 worth of chicken coop in my yard than $1000 in gold instead. I can't have a Kruggerrand for breakfast, and gold ingots don't cook well no matter how much white wine you braise them in...

 

[Chieftain]

Quote:
I want the happiest, healthiest RIRs around, because that means they lay lots of big brown eggs for our extended family. We have done a bit of "prepping" over the years and I believe that if things ever went seriously south with the economy, for any number of plausible and very serious reasons including a collapse of the Dollar, a secure chicken coop is an excellent asset to have if it comes to a barter economy.

I'll be glad to trade you an egg for five .45 ACP rounds...

 

[Chieftain]

What a great day! As is often the case up here in the Pacifist Northwest, late January and February often have beautiful weather that is conducive to outdoor projects. Today was no exception.

First, I took my hand tamper and packed the sand we put in the base. I had to use a length of 4x4 to pack down underneath the coop, but it worked quite well. I spent about an hour out there really tamping it down, and then I took the hose and drenched it with lots of water to really settle the sand in. It packed down a good 1 1/2 inches and was really firm.

I went to Home Depot and grabbed 6 of the sand tubes they sell, and started laying in another layer of sand, this time leveling it with a cut cedar board. (It's awesome!! You can see actual SUNLIGHT in these pictures!!

)

I'll pack that down firmly and probably water it into place as well. I wanted to get the sand in there in preparation for fencing.

But in the meantime, the weather was beautiful today, nice and sunny and in the fifties. I talked to the Missus the other night about what color she wanted the coop to be. She recommended I paint it to match the house, off white with dark green trim. Not a bad choice and I even have some green trim paint to boot.

But last night we got to talking again, and she changed her mind, (which being a woman, she is perfectly entitled to do, with little or no notice to me...) and decided she wants a yellow henhouse. I figured that might look pretty good, and I could still stain the rest of the woodwork that isn't henhouse and it would blend in well. So...........

While I was at Home depot getting sand, i got a quart of good semi-gloss housepaint, and a quart of good gloss trim paint. I used almost the whole quart doing the first coat, and it will need a second, but it looks pretty good so far...

The trim is in the same shade of yellow only much brighter. I am still considering painting the tops of the nestboxes dark green; the trim paint I have is very close to the same color as the roofing. (I'm open to comments and suggestions about that...)

Once I finish leveling and packing the sand, I have some material to put over it so i can walk on it and finsih building the framing and get it stained. Once that's dry It will be ready for fencing.

One aspect that has arisen that is of concern, is that I have created a nice alley behind the henhouse and in front of the fence. the passage back there is only 3 feet wide and is a great place for a pred to hide out and work at breaking in.

What would be the wisdom of installing the 1/2" hardware cloth on the entire enclosure, and then covering over that in the back only, with some other heavier gage fencing with a larger opening?? i would need a single piece of fencing that's roughly 6x6 and a smaller piece for the bottom that is 4x2. It's not that much more material, but if installed properly, it would certainly help protect the back of the coop. Comments?? Suggestions??

If the weather holds I will shoot to get the second quart of paint tomorrow and get it applied ASAP. It's never too soon to protect bare plywood and good paint is always in order. Still a lot to do, but this is fun work and it's coming together very well. My wife and I agree that a deluxe henhouse makes for happy hens, and happy hens lay lots of big eggs. The hatch is imminent, and we may have chooks this week!

Cheers everyone!! Be safe, stay warm, eat an omelet!!

 

[teach1rusl]

It's really looking great! And I was especially envious of the bit of sunlight I saw splashed on the coop in that last shot! It's been so long since I've seen it, I'd forgotten it was yellow (or was that just your coop...lol). Anyhow, IMO if you're using hardware cloth all the way around, I don't see a need for welded wire (or whatever) along the back. Once the work materials are gone and that area is clutter free, I don't see any critters "hiding" back there. I think even with your wire added to the frame, it'll still feel pretty open back there. But if it makes you feel better, then go for it.

 

[j3707]

Fine looking coop Chieftain...sunny side out! Nice to see bright colors when it's gray and wet outside.

We had a small flock of Rhodies growing up. We did get some BIG ol' eggs...double, even triple yolkers.

 

[Chieftain]

Quote:
One of our friends who got us started on the road to chickens talks about the triple yolk eggs her RIRs pop out all the time. She gets eggs from hers that won't fit in a standard egg carton.

The brown egg yolks have a higher fat content than white eggs, so anything you make with the yolks of brown eggs is just outstanding. Anything from cakes to mayonnaise is just better, and an omelet with two RIR eggs is equal to three store bought white eggs...

I'm at a dead standstill today. As nice as it was yesterday, it is miserable, windy, cold and wet today. It's 42 degrees, there's a fire in the woodstove, and the NFL playoffs are about to start. If I can't be making big pieces of wood into little pieces of wood, watching football is an acceptable substitute...

Cheers!

 

[PandoraTaylor]

Your coop is awesome. Thanks for taking us along for the veiw & great Pictures!

 

[j3707]

Quote:
One of our friends who got us started on the road to chickens talks about the triple yolk eggs her RIRs pop out all the time. She gets eggs from hers that won't fit in a standard egg carton.

The brown egg yolks have a higher fat content than white eggs, so anything you make with the yolks of brown eggs is just outstanding. Anything from cakes to mayonnaise is just better, and an omelet with two RIR eggs is equal to three store bought white eggs...

I'm at a dead standstill today. As nice as it was yesterday, it is miserable, windy, cold and wet today. It's 42 degrees, there's a fire in the woodstove, and the NFL playoffs are about to start. If I can't be making big pieces of wood into little pieces of wood, watching football is an acceptable substitute...

Cheers!

Back at ya Chief... and yeah, we've had a couple of really nice days lately. Enough to give a guy spring fever.

Mostly chores around the house for me today...

 

[3goodeggs]

 

[Chieftain]

Quote:
Thanks! My goal was to demonstrate that it isn't that hard to build something like this with some basic tools and common materials. I lurked here at BYC for a while and read about some of the more common "Gee I wish I woulda..." ideas and tried to incorporate those into the design. It's an urban coop in a real backyard, and my fussy neighbors won't put up with anything that looks bad, smells or is noisy (nor should they, nor would I...).

We're lucky we already have a "Chicken Ordinance" here, a couple of towns over in Oregon do not, and recently the one town that did decide to allow chickens made it very restrictive, and they charge you an annual license fee for each bird! That's ridiculous in the extreme, but it is where some localities are going.

But raising chickens is a long term goal of ours, it's going to be a lot of fun and to say it's merely rewarding doesn't cover it.