Colorado

[Chook Chick]

Looking good, great decision to build your own!
We bought a kit online and were a dismayed at the quality. I wound up building an addition with roosts, reinforcing the whole thing with leftover cement board from our house, another layer of roofing from ReSource Yard, new latches and various other materials I had laying around.

That's exactly what I am looking to avoid. I even looked at the ones at my local feed store and they were nice looking but built with very poor quality. One thing I can say to anyone who is wanting to use re-used building materials (2 x 4's, OSB, etc) take your time to pick out these materials yourself. Reused is great for the environment and lessens your carbon footprint, but sometimes the boards are warped and don't lie flat, they're full of old nails and staples and are sometimes a bit chewed up. Same with the OSB. All in all, it's still worth it to me though.

 

[Chook Chick]

Questions... Did you put in floor joists / floor supports under the sheathing? How sturdy is your frame? If it wobbles at all, you might want to consider adding some diagonal braces on the legs. Can't wait to see the finished coop!

I ran out of lumber so progress on my feed shed has come to a sudden stop. That and the upcoming weather. I think that for next year I will build a couple of small walk-in coops for my breeding groups, and possibly a dedicated turkey coop/run.....

Yes I did frame with floor supports under the sheathing. The frame is very solid and doesn't budge. I am going to put small trusses/diagonal braces on the legs as well; I know with our Colorado weather the way the wood will expand and contract, and if I didn't the frame may eventually get wobbly! Our current weather has held up my progress as well, and it doesn't look good for the weekend either. A little cold I can handle, but not snow!!
I was sure hoping for some sunny days!

 

[Chook Chick]

Looking good so far!

If you haven't bought the peel and stick linoleum yet, don't. I used them in my first coop and they haven't stayed down very well. I would recommend using sheet linoleum instead that way there are no edges that the chickens can catch with their claws.

I thought of using sheet linoleum, but really didn't want to have to cut it. I was planning on sealing the corners with builder's adhesive however, and hopefully that will take care of any possible edge problems. We'll see.....thanks for the idea.

 

[Chook Chick]

How do you guys secure your chicken wire on the ground? Has anyone tried using metal landscaping stakes, or do you guys bury it in the ground. That's about all I have left to do and I can move chicks from new temp home in the garage to new home in the coop

I intend on building a 'pen' of sorts, instead of a 'run'. I'm going to dig a small trench around the perimeter of the pen then put up the basic frame. I will sink about 4 inches of hardware cloth into that trench and quikcrete it in; then attach that to the outside of the framework all the way around, securing with bolts to 2 x 4's. This will hopefully keep the "digging" predators at bay. From the inside of the pen, I will use full length hardware cloth, secured with bolts and staples, and across the top as well. We have many predators around here!
I also use the smaller square hardware cloth; my sister told me horror stories of how she found chicken heads missing and bodies pulled half way through the bigger square hardware cloth....ugh. No way.
Then I was thinking on rounding up bigger rocks and placing them around the pen too....that might look interesting and may be effective too!
If I can save up some extra funds, I may get small electric fencing for the perimeter as well, but that's a long way off into the future, if ever.

Good luck!!

 

[krcchickens]

I intend on building a 'pen' of sorts, instead of a 'run'. I'm going to dig a small trench around the perimeter of the pen then put up the basic frame. I will sink about 4 inches of hardware cloth into that trench and quikcrete it in; then attach that to the outside of the framework all the way around, securing with bolts to 2 x 4's. This will hopefully keep the "digging" predators at bay. From the inside of the pen, I will use full length hardware cloth, secured with bolts and staples, and across the top as well. We have many predators around here!
I also use the smaller square hardware cloth; my sister told me horror stories of how she found chicken heads missing and bodies pulled half way through the bigger square hardware cloth....ugh. No way.
Then I was thinking on rounding up bigger rocks and placing them around the pen too....that might look interesting and may be effective too!
If I can save up some extra funds, I may get small electric fencing for the perimeter as well, but that's a long way off into the future, if ever.

Good luck!!

Quickcrete? Is that bagged concrete?

 

[Chook Chick]

Yes. It's very quick setting and works really well. You can get it at places like Home Depot and Lowes.
I've used it often....last time I set an umbrella clothesline in the ground

 

[wsmith]

Yes. It's very quick setting and works really well. You can get it at places like Home Depot and Lowes.
I've used it often....last time I set an umbrella clothesline in the ground

I've used a few bags.......Over 100 in the past 12 months......

 

[Pozees]

Wanted to share a couple of pictures of the shed, with its pretty new coat of paint



Taken from the North side with the house in the background to the left. The South side is identical, door in center and window to the left of the door.



Inside, showing doubled hurricane ties on each roof joist. The roof shingles are approved by Miami-Dade for hurricane resistance. Can you tell we worry about the wind here? LOL

Today we built the frame for the first of 4 4x6 pens that will go in each corner, leaving 4' walkway across the center from door to door, and 4' walkway across the middle as well. The pens are framed with 2x4s and the walls will be pegboard, allowing for maximum air circulation. They will be dividable into 2 4x3 each for breeding specific pairs/trios/quads. We are pretty sure this design will work, so tomorrow we will go get the materials for the other three and hopefully at least finish the frames for them and get the frames painted. I should be able to move chicks out of the crawl space by next weekend

Still have to put up and paint trim and finish the cupola, and run electricity to it, but at least it's a building now instead of a will-be-a-shed-some-day

 

[P-Funk]

WooHoo! How long did it take you to find the paper this morning? 6 inches of snow - so far - here

Bring on that stuff that makes grass grow! Pozees, do you do house calls to make coops???

 

[kaylaC6500]

I am going to be in Denver next weekend and wondering if there is a good feed store in that area?