Cheryl's Hen House...

[TerryH]

From this morning.... Pardon the conversation going on. We were discussing that #7 and one of her sisters are smaller than their 3rd Austrolorp sister. I posted this in my thread on the emergency section and I had to laugh that I'm having to point out which one she is now. She's in the food dish and runs out around the log and jumps on top. Pretty amazing how far she has come in a very short period of time.

 

[TerryH]

What a crazy week of ups and downs. #7 appears to be continuing to improve. Still not sure that she's gonna be "right" though. Giving it a few more days to see what happens. I visited the 2 Wyandottes at Mom's today. 90% sure that the blue one is a roo. I'll be totally surprised if at least one of the Black Maran's is not a roo also. Not a huge deal I suppose. Just a smaller flock. Chickens...how did I get into this again???

 

[TLWR]

Chickens...how did I get into this again???

Something along the lines of your wife saying she'd like some chickens and you like your wife and like to see her happy, so you built her a chicken house as any good husband would do

 

[TerryH]

Something along the lines of your wife saying she'd like some chickens and you like your wife and like to see her happy, so you built her a chicken house as any good husband would do

Lol...yes. That was it. I haven't been happily married for 32 years on accident.

 

[TerryH]

Ok, car show over...back to work.

After the usual Sunday things were done I stole some time to make some progress on the coop. My first order of business was to get the wiring done. Not my forte' but it's done and it works so I have lights. At least I can work on it in the dark now. I used a 4' LED fixture from Sam's. I have some of them in my shop and they are awesome.

Light switch and plug in by the door.

This plug is for the heater for the waterer.

Switched plug in the ceiling for the light.

I do love these Sam's LED fixtures.

I moved on to the pop door. I decided that I did not want to use any wood for the door or the slides. I made the door itself out of some left over 1/16" aluminum tread plate. The door slides are made from a sheet of HDPE left over from another project. HDPE is a very dense and super slick plastic. It's perfect for this application. I cut 2 pieces 2" x 38" from the HDPE sheet.

I used my table saw to cut a single saw kerf 3/4" deep 1/2" from the edge of the 1" thick sheet. The tread plate slides perfectly in the kerf cut.

I mounted the HDPE sides to the coop with countersunk deck screws and closed the off the top and bottom of the opening with more HDPE cut to 1/2" thick.

I rounded the corners of the door and mounted another piece of 1/2" thick HDPE to the top of the door to serve as a stop and to seal the opening when the door is closed. I mounted a wooden drawer pull to the top of the door so it can be operated manually if there is ever a need. I have an add a motor and timer so the door will normally operate automatically.

Appears that it's going to work.

Here's a shot showing the plug in for the motor and timer.

The door itself is 13" x 18". The pop door opening is 12" x 12". I cut the door extra long for added security if a predator ever did get into the run. The outside of the door is very slick. I don't think there is any way that a predator could slide it up enough to get under it to actually open it.

Thanks for looking!!

Terry

 

[aart]

SWEET!!

Spec'ed HDPE on a lot of projects in the past, it's good stuff.
Takes skill and sharp tools to machine it smooth tho.

You probably don't need a lock on it, or a pulley system to open and close....but how will you keep it open?
Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

 

[TerryH]

SWEET!!

Spec'ed HDPE on a lot of projects in the past, it's good stuff.
Takes skill and sharp tools to machine it smooth tho.

You probably don't need a lock on it, or a pulley system to open and close....but how will you keep it open?
Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Thanks! I love HDPE. Super stuff for jigs, fences and the like in wood working. Seemed the perfect thing for this application and I already had it on hand. The add a motor will keep it open in normal operation. I'm going to rig some sort of pin or latch to hold it open if it has to be operated manually for whatever reason.

 

[aart]

Quote: Of course your'e going to motorize it....hahaha!

 

[TerryH]

Of course your'e going to motorize it....hahaha!

Of course.

 

[beautifulpirate]

Looking fantastic as always!