Coop Castle Construction Started *pic heavy*

[Mrs MIA]

I'll second that!

Very nice... the girls will be happy there! But a turkey? They are huge! Is it going to fit in there with the chickens?

 

[brewmiss96]

Well construction's been halted because of rain. Phooey. I managed to get the roof slats on from the pallets we ripped down yesterday, but it's too cold to put the elastoflex on. Also started the dropping pit framing. I took out the door framing because I'm going to make the whole side open up for ease of cleaning. And I'm going to add a slide-in second level.

I got a 100 sqft roll of roofing 'elastoflex' for $20. They were clearing them out and the owner used it for his chicken coop roof. I have to get the siding tomorrow too, and the chicken wire is going to put us over the $100 mark.

I had to buy a new sawblade, so we are at: $10 OSB, $5 screws, $8 sawblade, $20 elastoflex = $43

Yes, I want to move it soon, just get the back wall done so we can finish the rest when it is place. I am going to draft strong burly men to move it tomorrow.

I did consider skids, but the way the weather's been I'm not sure when I'd get to start the second run, so I wanted to maximize the space for the primary run. Plus I've been making it with disassemble-able parts (the roof will unscrew in one piece from the wall framing and the walls will unscrew from the base, etc).

So overall I'll have 96 sqft for the primary run and 40 sqft for the coop (with 2nd lvl). The secondary run will be 4x 50 ft (2 sides of the garage). I do want to let them run around the yard, but right now they are small and we've had a Cooper's Hawk take up residence in the redwoods around our neighborhood. Last summer we had a Peregrine with a pigeon land and start to feed in the redwood on our fenceline. So I'm worried about avian predators.

Yeah... the turkey... he's so small right now I forget that he's going to get huge. I was told that he'll go in the coop until he gets big and then he'll probably stay outside. If I need to I'll keep him separate and build a little hut for him since I don't think he'll get predated once he's big.

So I guess the question now is do I have enough space to get 3 more chickens for a total of 6 chickens, 2 ducks, and a turkey. Still debating about getting a 2nd turkey...If he's buddies with the ducks do you think he really needs another turkey around?

Thanks for all the input guys, it keeps me motivated!

 

[SandraChick]

Well there I go- I put those darn (awesome) BYC magnets on my truck and I always talk about my chickens...and brewmiss96 tells me last night she came to BYC!!!! COOL! It's nice to see someone else on here from REALLY Northern California area!

It's time for you to get some more pics up. I got the quick tour of the coop and it looks good!

We talked about keeping the ducks and chickens in the coop together and how messy that would be. I was thinking an easy fix might be to use welded wire to close in Under the coop for a night-time duck area. They 'll be just fine in our weather. I'd just put pea gravel or something like that down so it doesn't turn into a mud pit. It could be left open all day so they can all use the space then.

Let me know if you need anything else- I have a lot of extra stuff (I collect it at garage sales, and auctions!)

Anyway- Have fun with your peeps! They sure were CUTE CUTE CUTE!

Sandra

 

[tiffanyh]

it does look great- I would think it would be okay for 8 critters, it the turkey is out. My girlfriend and her husband have turkeys--I would think only one or two turkeys could fit in there...without the others.....