Coop design advice needed

[Lithiayardbirds]

Oops forgot! Get the anchors with the solid loops bent into the and place them close to where your foundation will be. That way you can use lag bolt and washers to attach them to the base of the coop.

 

[ottbmom]

stay away from pressure treated wood for exposed framing. It will twist and crack when exposed to the elements.

BTW, I have been a carpenter for 30 plus years and have learned plenty from my own mistakes, experiments and shortcuts. Paying it forward.

Does that include if it's painted? We had some treated wood that was starting to rot, which was the biggest reason the coop collapsed when it hit the ground after being flipped back over. I was told that it was rotting because I hadn't sealed it up well enough. If that's the case, what do you recommend?

Thanks for the advice!

 

[beccaisfirst]

So much info here thanks to all who answered... Got a prob with chick now w crop issue... So had to quick make isolation brooder for treatment and recovery as well as argue w do about why chicks can't get too cold

 

[Lithiayardbirds]

Yes, pressure treated will twist and crack even if you paint it. you are better off using yellow pine and sealing it. Yellow pine is resin heavy and will last a long time if you keep it off the ground. BTW if you had pressure treated wood that was rotting, it was staying wet and getting the chance to dry out occasionally.
I have decided that when I do my build, I'm going to do it much like a house. I am going to level the bottom perimeter with concrete block and use pressure treated as my bottom plates, on top of the concrete. yellow pine will be the frame.
I'm going to side my build with cedar. It will resist bugs and is very element resistant. I even went the extra mile and ordered a tongue and groove router bit set so I can make my siding from regular planks.
Like I said from the start...this will get out of hand. ROFLMAO!

 

[rottlady]

until this post it never occurred to me coops would blow over no clue why. My mother never anchored hers...

I live at just shy of 1800' on a mountain and it is really windy. My coops will be on wheels. Is there a best way to anchor these on days when it will be really windy?

 

[makadiwal]

Hey guys, I found a readlly useful article on the different roof types
http://www.roofcalc.net/top-15-roof-types-and-their-pros-cons/

According to this, Pyramid/Hip roof is the best for windy conditions, although it is a more complicated build. I wasn't sure what it would look like so I knocked a model up in sketchup. Check it out and compare to the original plan. It doesn't look too bad actually. I am considering leaving most of the run open if I go this route. What do you guys think?



I forgot to mention, there is a 5' fence that will be 4' behind the coop so that should provide some cover from the wind too. This plan is not making the roofed walls 6' tall with the run at 5' to keep under the fence line. The height of the roof is 8' in this plan but maybe I should make it 9' to give it more of a slope?
Quote: 8' is approx 27 degrees (2 foot rise) whereas 9' would be around 37 degrees (3 foot rise):



Looks like it will be much smaller though side by side:

 

[makadiwal]

Found this similar coop. Love the name.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/navychicks-page

 

[Lithiayardbirds]

You could do what we do at work with our portable tents/shade covers. @ 5 gal. buckets filled with sand or concrete and a piece of rope. Just ad more buckets if you need to. Not very ascetic
but, portable and effective.

 

[makadiwal]

Thanks for all the advice. I've decided to stick with the Lean-to roof and will be moving the coop from the fence to the tree line. This should provide a little more wind exposure (I hope) and I will be placing the coop frame on top of concrete slabs. Starting digging the foundation, what back breaking work that is! leveling a 16' path is hard work.

 

[Chad Duncan]

My small coop was built 3 years ago. It is made of typical 2x4 and 2x6 pine. The 2x6 is the bottom perimeter board and I keep the bottom full of sand up to the height of the 2x6. None of the coop is painted or stained and the bottom 3' is only covered in hardware cloth so the sand gets wet if the rain blows in. The birds roost about 4 feet from the ground. The sand is now very packed in and there is no way that I can move this 'movable coop' anymore. The roof is a single sheet of construction grade 3/8 plywood. No shingles, no metal, no paint. It gets wet and it dries. Three years into this roof and the only problem is an aesthetic one: the roof edges are wavy and warped. The roof still overhangs and the birds are still dry but the roof line is slightly imperfect. In a few more years I will no doubt need to replace the plywood. I suspect a new sheet of plywood every 6 years ($15) is less than the cost of metal or asphalt roofing.