Chickens are in the coop

[catsew]

Well the coop is done enough that the chickens went out there last night. I still have a few finishing touches and some painting on the inside. And of course put up their roost. But I need more pine shavings so I will get those today. So for last night we just put down some cardboard. I figure if I clean it up today it won't be too bad. I still need to build the ramp too. But the important parts are done, hardware cloth over the openings, locks on the doors, etc.
Its been 1 month to get this far. I figure the siding and shingles can be put on after the chickens are inside. I needed to get them out of the house.

Chickens inside for their first night. They look so small compared to all the space.

 

[chicmom]

Wow, I wish I could build things like that.....Beautiful job! Lucky chickens!

 

[catsew]

It wasn't too too hard. Mostly trial and error and what didn't work we made it work.
We actually had most of the supplies already too from a building we had built in the backyard. So all we really bought was 4 pieces of plywood and a couple 2x4's. I have siding and shingles left to do, but those are all leftovers as well.

 

[claudicles]

That looks great. Can you show off even more and show us a photo of the outside finished? It looks like it will be impressive.

 

[auto5man]

That is looking awesome! Know what you mean about needing to "get them out of the house", my wife has been very tolerant but today made some pointed comments. My progress has been fairly deliberate so far and I had grand plans of painting all the framing before siding, hardware cloth, doing this first, that first before this.....etc., etc., LOL. After her comments today I started hurriedly thinking..."Dang, maybe I just shouldn't worry about painting right now. lemme slap some playwood walls on , hdwre cloth on the window areas, and throw down some OSB on the roof trusses" ( I want a tin roof but never have done it before so I was reading up on it, you see)...."I can slap the rest together in about 4 hours and those chickens will be in by nightfall, the other niceties can wait a bit". And here is how devilish I am, my other chicken buddy and I are planning a drive tomorrow to SEE SOME MORE CHICKENS at a farm that has breeds we want but don't have. Sigh, I'm terrible....and I think, incurable.

 

[Hopper]

Auto5 you crack me up! Be a good hubby and get the chickens out of the house, if the wife is happy then she won't mind a few more. I'm the wife and I don't mind my hubby buying or building another rc plane as long as the one on the dining room table is done and moved out to the garage.... Just sayin' lol

 

[Chemguy]

Congratulations! Mine are moving out today. As they get older, they start peeping earlier and earlier each day. Then they wake the dog up, who wakes me up.....and all throughout the house. No mess, no smell, just noise. The time has come.

 

[catsew]

Here is the ramp I built yesterday and a picture from the front.

You can't tell in the picture but I have started the hardware cloth around the bottom of the coop. The fence will extend from the wall with ramp outward and then they will still be able to go underneath for shade and I will keep some food there so it doesn't get too wet.
We have dreams to side it, but not sure how that will actually work. And if the rain holds off, we are doing the shingles today.

 

[catsew]

Quote:
I had the same type of plans. I was going to paint the trim to put over the siding around the openings, etc. But due to time constraints, its just going to be what it is for right now. The chickens don't care if its level or sided or looks great, they just want to be safe.
I wish we could get more chickens. We only have those 2 and 1 baby and I'm fairly certain those 2 are both roosters. At least 1 is for sure. So getting the coop ready kind of lost its luster once we realized it was pretty much for nothing this year. We're going to start again with more babies in the spring.

 

[catsew]

Well the chickens seem to be doing great so far. I have now got the tyvek on (still need to trim it) and part of the shingles. This is where I ran out, so I will try to get some more today. I also have some siding to get started but will need more of that too.