Chicken Coop for the wife

[Bullcreek417]

My wife decided a couple of weeks ago that she would like to have a few chickens. I found this website while I was researching chicken coop designs. I have decided on the Wichita Cabin style coop. I have increased the size a little. It is going to be 14' x 6'. We are going to keep 4 to 5 hens. I figured I would do a build a long on the coop as I go and if any of you have any pointers along the way feel free to chime in.

We have 5 acres and there isn't a level spot on it. The first thing I am doing is pouring a foundation wall for the coop. I have it formed up and we will pour the foundation this weekend if the weather warms up enough. Here is the progress I have made so far.
Once the foundation is poured and the concrete has cured we will fill it with gravel. I figured I would put a few inches of sand on top of the gravel.

 

[Bullcreek417]

On the uphill side we will have pavers outside the foundation. I am not worried about the other 3 sides with the concrete and all of the fill that will be in the foundation a predator would have a hard time getting in from under the foundation. As far as wire is concerned I will be using 1/2" hardware cloth. Its funny you ask about predators. We have a family of grey foxes that live in the woods behind the house. My wife actually throws out the scraps for them several times a week. I'm sure they will spend a lot of time investigating the chickens which is why I will not cut any corners when it comes to the safety of the hens.

 

[Bullcreek417]

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[Bullcreek417]

I feel like I am on the home stretch now. The girls helped this weekend with staining while I was putting on the siding and building the nest box. We had beautiful weather this weekend but it looks like old man winter is returning tomorrow.

The only regret I have about what I did this weekend is on the chicken door. I wish I would have raised it up 4" above the coop floor so the litter would stay in.

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[Bullcreek417]

The siding is called 8" channel rustic siding. It is a white pine lap style siding that has a rough saw finish on the face to make it look more rustic. It is the same siding we have on our house and the wife wanted the coup to match the house. I buy it locally here at a supplier that specializes in wood siding. It costs 95 cents a foot for the siding and I used 126'. I also used the 1" x 4" rough finish pine trim they sell for 60 cents a foot. I ripped it on the table saw for the window trim and left it 4" for the corners. The total bill for the siding was around $175 and the exterior 4x8 plywood siding was about the same price at Lowes.

 

[LPeaslee]

Sometimes I wish I had a coop to put my wife in! Let me know how it works out, if it works out OK, I'm going to try it.

 

[tadaen sylverma]

Sometimes I wish I had a coop to put my wife in! Let me know how it works out, if it works out OK, I'm going to try it.

You like to live dangerously. You win the internet today.

 

[shannondee12]

That looks like a great start! Welcome to BYC. Can't wait to see how it progresses.

 

[WoodenCoyote]

Make sure to post lots of in-progress pictures, it looks like a great build. What are you planning to do about predators?

 

[JanetS]

Your wife should maybe think about not feeding the foxes anymore. Predators are a BIG problem with chickens. I had no idea until we got ours. We have bobcats and hawks in our area.
We can't free range our chickens.

Your coop is looking good so far. Hardware cloth is a great choice.