Coop to match the house.

[Angelfishie]

So, the hubs and I just retired and built a farmhouse on 8 acres. When it came time to build the coop, I wanted it to match the house and the barn/shop. (House/barn pics included for reference.)

Fortunately, my husband is a great carpenter, so I knew he could do what I wanted. He managed to build the coop mostly out of scrap from the house build (they waste SO much lumber!). We had to buy a little bit of roofing material, some screws and very little paint. Other than that, it was all scrap wood and leftover paint/material from the house.

I call it "The Chicken Palace" in lieu of Hotel Cacklefornia, which my son vetoed as too corny.

The skeleton. He built it on runners should we ever want to move it.

Almost finished!

Nesting boxes

The roost

The "escape hatch"

Coop & run. Nesting boxes open from the outside for easy egg retrieval. I still need to paint the door red to match the house.

North side of the coop. Drawers pull out from under the roost for easy cleaning.

Matching house and barn:

 

[DobieLover]

Beautiful!
I just painted my coop to match the house colors and that is as far as it went!

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! Really nice, but it needs more ventilation! How about a big opening in the door, covered in hardware cloth, and vents up high in the peaks?
Our run-in sheds are on skids, and they do work well, with serious diagonal bracing in the structure, and use a 4"x6" beam, at least, between the skids to brace them during a move.
Add ventilation, and shade plantings too.
Be ready to cope with nasty critters moving under this coop, unreachable; have a plan for them.
Mary

 

[TomZilla43]

Hiya AngelFishie, . You have a lovely home(Congrats on your new place!) and your coop is seriously outstanding. Glad you could join us.
PS. I love Hotel Cacklefornia ,

 

[Angelfishie]

Welcome! Really nice, but it needs more ventilation! How about a big opening in the door, covered in hardware cloth, and vents up high in the peaks?
Our run-in sheds are on skids, and they do work well, with serious diagonal bracing in the structure, and use a 4"x6" beam, at least, between the skids to brace them during a move.
Add ventilation, and shade plantings too.
Be ready to cope with nasty critters moving under this coop, unreachable; have a plan for them.
Mary

Hmm...it’s pretty breezy in there! With the windows placed on the north and south it seems well ventilated so far. We have an almost constant wind here with nothing to break it (no trees).

Good suggestion on dealing with critters. We buried brick and hardwire cloth up under it where it might be a desirable place to live. Buried brick around the run and buried the fence several inches deep. So far so good but definitely keeping an eye out for possible issues!

 

[Folly's place]

How about winter ventilation? If you cover the north windows to keep out blowing snow, it will get too tight in there, and dampness isn't good.
It is a beautiful coop, and house!
Mary

 

[imnukensc]

Nice coop! I don't know how many birds you have or will have, but they certainly won't have a lack of nest boxes!

 

[Angelfishie]

How about winter ventilation? If you cover the north windows to keep out blowing snow, it will get too tight in there, and dampness isn't good.
It is a beautiful coop, and house!
Mary

Thank you! The eaves on both north and south are ventilated and covered with hardware cloth. Hoping that’s enough for the winter.

 

[Angelfishie]

Nice coop! I don't know how many birds you have or will have, but they certainly won't have a lack of nest boxes!

We have 18 hens right now.

 

[rosemarythyme]

It's a lovely coop! Though as a lover of punny coop names I do like Hotel Cacklefornia...