Coop Windows

[SandyK]

For those who have bought their coop windows and don't want the hardware cloth showing on the outside, what did you do on the inside to secure the window from animals coming in the coop? I really don't want the hardware cloth showing on the outside.

 

[elmo]

Buy the black vinyl coated hardware cloth, or paint the regular galvanized hardware cloth black. When it's black, you can hardly see it.

 

[SandyK]

Thanks Elmo, I didn't know they made it in black. Good idea.

 

[elmo]

I buy my vinyl coated wire from these folks:

http://www.wadavidson.com/

I don't know if they sell by the foot, though. I've only bought full rolls.

These folks do sell wire by the foot:

http://www.klubertanz.com/

 

[Pineywoods Peepers]

I wanted to leave the screens on my coop windows to keep bugs out of the chicken house, but I also wanted to be able to access them easily to clean them when they got cruddy, so I didn't want to screw hardware cloth directly into the window trim. And I couldn't put the hardware cloth on the inside because I needed to be able to access the windows to open and close them. But I knew I wanted (and needed) hardware cloth to keep out predators.

Here's the solution we came up with. My husband built a frame that would fit over the bottom half of window, and we attached the hardware cloth to that frame. We then took the hardware cloth frame and attached it with hinges to the interior frame of the windows and put a latch the opposite side for secure closure. I probably haven't explained that very well, so I'm including a picture:

Screen when it is closed.

Screen when it is open.

After I took these pictures we screwed a small 1X2 into the window frame behind the top of the hardware cloth screen to prevent any critters that tear through the regular window screen from squeezing into the coop.

We had thought about attaching these screens to the exterior of the windows, but we were concerned about moisture trapped between the screen and the trim deteriorating the wood.

Rachel

PS When I say "we" did something it really means "he" did it.

I'm more of an "idea man".

 

[SandyK]

Thanks so much Rachael, pictures were great. DH and I were discussing this last night and it is exactly what we came up with also. I wanted to leave the window screens in also, but just know that if a critter attempts to get in, they are history. Been there on another coop years ago.

 

[Pineywoods Peepers]

My husband used a Kreg pocket screw jig to make the frames. He loves using it, and it makes for a very sturdy frame too.

Yeah, I figure my screens will eventually bite it when a predator attempts to get in, but at least it'll keep the skeeters out for now....

Rachel

 

[moetrout]

When I get to that point I plan on putting my hardware cloth between the stud wall and the siding. This way it is outside, but not screwed to the trim and you can still get to the window inside and open/close or remove the screen.

 

[jomercer]

Very nice. Did he already have the Kreg setup, or was that his good excuse to buy one?

 

[Pineywoods Peepers]

LOL

He had been wanting one for a while (like a year or two, but I kept finding excuses not for him to spend the $), but he had to buy one a couple of weeks before when a friend of ours was going to pay him to build cabinet doors for some open shelves. I have to say it came in very handy on the chicken house - he built the 4 window screens and the screen door for the coop with his new jig.

He's quite enamored with that little doohickey. I wish I'd let him buy it sooner.

Rachel