"Chicken Central"... On the Cheep

Hello BYC faithful.

I'm a new face here, but I've been lurking for quite a while. Just haven't had the chance to post anything as of yet.

That is until this past weekend.

The Girl and I have been living in our new digs for about 5 months now, and the dream of owning my own flock has started to come to fruition.

This past weekend I started to actually assemble my re-cycled/re-claimed/up-cycled/whatever-you-want-to-call-it on the cheep (in chicken talk) poultry palace.

When we bought the place it came with a few boards scattered about from an old pole barn. Some metal roofing from the barn was scattered about as well..

Friends provided free used concrete masonry units (blocks) and plenty of questions about how the palace would be constructed.

I've procured the cheep chicken staple, pallets.

So, with most of my materials on hand, I started assembling what is to become "chicken central"

The aforementioned materials:







Let the construction begin.



-darrell

 

So, with a solid set of plans (by solid, I mean my head, because that's the only place the plans reside), and a knowledge of construction just honed enough to get myself into trouble, assembly began.

I had to buy screws, some decking material, concrete mix, and some vinyl to cover the decking, but hopefully that's going to be the only money spent on this project, besides fencing for the run.

After a trip to Lowes I came up $156 lighter in the wallet. Not bad, I think, for plans (currently) that call for an 8X10 coop.

So, the first order of business... location, location, location.

Not too many places to choose here. It can either be in the field, or, in the field.



***Not my tractor or implements, the farmer has just not moved all his eqipment from our piece.***

I think I'll end up putting Chicken Central pretty much where the seeder resides in that picture.

Now, here's where I screw the pooch a bit. I didn't take first day, or second day pictures. So I'll just fill you all in.

I moved the seeder, dug some shallow footings, poured two blocks solid and then set the legs of the coop on that. I fashoned the floor of the coop with 2X6's, 2X4's and one 2X8.

After two days, this is what we have:



The pieces of plywood are on the masonry just because the cement isn't fully dried. Once it does dry, the ply will be removed and the legs anchored to the masonry.

I consulted my plans and saw that this is where I need to decide what type of roof I want to use, A-frame or Lean-to. A quick consult with the boss and she confirms A-frame it will be...


-darrell

 

I got home from work on Monday and ran out the door, knowing rain and darkness were decending upon us.

Now, with all the wood I have, most of it is 2X8, 2X10 and 2X12's. This is a bit of overkill for the roof rafters, so I need to rip the pieces down. I end up using 2X10's because that's what I have the most of. The Girl gives a much needed helping hand and after a few hours, this is what we have:



The rains came last night and continued through the day today, so this is where it still sits. Tomorrow hopefully I'll get the legs anchored and maybe some tin on the roof. Time will tell. And those solid plans could change...


-darrell

 

Got to work as soon as I got home from work tonight. Doesn't look like much, but if you add in the planning, and bending of the ear by the farmer time, it took most the afternoon.

The roof is now ready for tin, but I want to get some stability in the frame first. I have to get some siding on there and anchor the frame to the block before I put the sail of a roof on. High winds around here will push the coop right over if I don't anchor it first.



Gonna be time to deconstruct some pallets soon...


-darrell