Coop Progress

[aart]

I’ll check to feel of the paint feels tacky tomorrow. It was over 50 here today and it’s sooooo dry the paint was practically fully dry as I painted. I’m not worried about it. I paint a lot and I have more trouble with humidity than I do cold! The rest (trim and clapboard) is being painted in my garage so it should be fine!

To dry is one thing, to cure is another.
Products usually list ideal temps for best results.

 

[sals_chicks]

Sunday Update:

The paint feels good, not tacky at all. I decided to focus on painting trim and clapboard indoors today because there was some rain in the forecast. So it will have plenty of extra time to cure as I wont be able to get back to painting until next weekend. Luckily the clouds passed quickly so we were able to finish the plywood, and get started with the tyvek.

Good productive weekend... and I did settle on a coop color (see paint chip below!)

Here's the view from my back deck! It will be pretty fun to sit out there and watch them!

And the paint color!!

 

[sals_chicks]

Small update...

I spent the entire week painting trim and siding in my garage - we got most of the trim up, and started on siding... It's starting to take shape! We are not wood workers by any stretch, so its not perfect, but its better than a cheap coop off the internet, so that's what counts to me!

We had a lot of family stuff going on this weekend, so less progress than we had hoped for, but we did pick up a LOT of supplies to keep going. I've got the gable vents, the rest of the electrical supplies, hinges for the human doors, chicken doors, and those large "windows" which will flip up as extra ventilation is needed. We also ordered a 100ft roll of hardware cloth, and I picked up a little humidity/temp gadget which I will have in the coop that I can monitor from my phone... Pretty cool!

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

looks great so far. nice colour choice!

 

[sals_chicks]

We had a couple nice days, so we took advantage of the afternoons and finished up the trim and siding!

Electricity is complete - there are 2 outlets inside, and 2 outside - its all turned on and ready to go!

The gable vents just arrived in the mail today! This weekend we will get those drilled out and installed! Soffit vents are drilled and covered with screen!

What's left: Human doors, chicken door, and the flip up windows. Soffits on the back side need to be attached... The roof & ridge vent need to be finished. Oh, and I have a LOT of nails to patch and paint... ugh.

Then we start the run construction, but at least the main support posts are in and cemented! That should go a bit faster.

Are there any good resources here on the pros & cons of different run substrate options? I am really struggling to decide what we should use...

 

[3KillerBs]

Are there any good resources here on the pros & cons of different run substrate options? I am really struggling to decide what we should use...

This is a subject of endless discussion and debate -- starting with the sand vs. organic material issue and then into different types of organic materials.

I'm on the Deep Litter side of the debate and I believe that a mix of materials is better than any one material alone.

Coarse wood chips, the sort that you get from a tree-trimming service, are often considered the gold standard for a long-lasting material that drains well and holds down odor.

I use a lot of pine straw, which is not only abundant and FREE on my property, but which has the advantage of never packing/matting and drying out rapidly on top after even the heaviest rain.

Many people use fall leaves either seasonally or stored for year-round use. Straw is traditional -- having been used for as long as humans have raised both animals and grain. Both these, however, are subject to packing, matting, and developing anaerobic pockets -- which can be reduced by mixing them with wood chips.

Other areas have materials that are locally abundant and various people have the ability to source different things free or at a low cost.

 

[jthornton]

Are there any good resources here on the pros & cons of different run substrate options? I am really struggling to decide what we should use...

I use straw and even though it gets wet when it rains it dries pretty quick. We (the hens and I) have a game we play, I pile it up and they tear it down. They love destroying the hill of straw.

JT

 

[sals_chicks]

Thanks @jthornton @3KillerBs - good food for thought, I've been searching and reading through threads here on all different opinions, and I like the idea of a mix of things...

We were leaning toward wood chips or some sort of mulch-ey material because we like the look and the self composting element, but I think it would be easy to add some straw or even leaf debris seasonally in the fall from all of our maple trees. Love the idea of letting them spread the piles themselves too, how fun is that!! Put those chickens to work, hahaha....

 

[3KillerBs]

Thanks @jthornton @3KillerBs - good food for thought, I've been searching and reading through threads here on all different opinions, and I like the idea of a mix of things...

We were leaning toward wood chips or some sort of mulch-ey material because we like the look and the self composting element, but I think it would be easy to add some straw or even leaf debris seasonally in the fall from all of our maple trees. Love the idea of letting them spread the piles themselves too, how fun is that!! Put those chickens to work, hahaha....

They love nothing more than a pile of yard debris to tear up.

If they're confined in the winter a bale of straw with one tie cut makes a great boredom buster.

 

[sals_chicks]

Another weekend, another update...

It was cold and rainy here in the 'shire this weekend, so we had to get as much "indoor" work done as we could. Managed to get a couple of the smaller doors/windows hung after finishing those up. Obviously still need to install latches and hardware cloth. Started some of the nail touch up, and built several of the run trusses. We got one of the trusses up and temporarily fastened so we could get a visual of the run roof height.

I am very happy with everything so far!

I also ordered some window boxes and solar lanterns, because I needed to feel like I got *something* done.