crowber
Chirping
Hi everyone, thought I'd finally take a moment to share my progress on my coop!
I'm one of the ones who bought pandemic chickens. Chickens were always something I wanted to do, and this seemed like a good time to finally jump in.
We bought four chicks, with the idea that they would be inside for a while and I could build their coop and finish it in time for the move out. Well, maybe not the smartest way to go about things, but I like working with a deadline. The downside is that I have less time to play with the chicks because I'm so busy building their coop.
After googling everything about chickens and coops, I decided I like the idea of the Carolina Coops - the run is well-protected, so you don't have to worry about shutting them into their coop at night or letting them out in the morning. And the way the coop is meant to use the deep litter method. Both of those things appealed to me as a lazy person. So I stalked their website and deciphered their coops so I could build one of my own. It turns out they are very simple to build for the most part, as they are very modular and comprised of panels that are about 6'x6'. Everything is held together with a plethora of pocket screws. I have a Kreg jig already, so this was easy and familiar to work with. No posts to set.
Still, these coops are a lot of work to make! Definitely see where they get their price tag. So it's worth the cost if you just would like it built for you.
At first I wasn't sure if I'd make their American Coop or their Carolina Coop. In the end I chose American for simplicity (on a deadline remember) and also I prefer that the walls on the american coop are fastened to the inside - it means that the inside walls are smooth without a lot of framework surfaces that I would have to clean poop off of.
My plans didn't come out exactly right, I think mine is a bit taller because I wanted the run space under the coop to have a wee bit more headroom and so I had to make an adjustment to the chicken door side so that it wouldn't absurdly high off the ground. Also made the chicken door bigger since I have a couple of jersey giants.
I couldn't find any black pvc-coated hardware cloth. So I just bought regular and painted it black. Highly recommend taking the time to do this, it makes it invisible and you can see right through the coop. In the final pic below, the coop side has got it fastened on already and you can barely see it.
Got majority of it done but the roof is next! My chickens feathered out early and could've gone out at 5 weeks, so now they're still in my house for no reason. Hoping to be done within the week. Let me know if you have any questions!
I'm one of the ones who bought pandemic chickens. Chickens were always something I wanted to do, and this seemed like a good time to finally jump in.
We bought four chicks, with the idea that they would be inside for a while and I could build their coop and finish it in time for the move out. Well, maybe not the smartest way to go about things, but I like working with a deadline. The downside is that I have less time to play with the chicks because I'm so busy building their coop. After googling everything about chickens and coops, I decided I like the idea of the Carolina Coops - the run is well-protected, so you don't have to worry about shutting them into their coop at night or letting them out in the morning. And the way the coop is meant to use the deep litter method. Both of those things appealed to me as a lazy person. So I stalked their website and deciphered their coops so I could build one of my own. It turns out they are very simple to build for the most part, as they are very modular and comprised of panels that are about 6'x6'. Everything is held together with a plethora of pocket screws. I have a Kreg jig already, so this was easy and familiar to work with. No posts to set.
Still, these coops are a lot of work to make! Definitely see where they get their price tag. So it's worth the cost if you just would like it built for you.
At first I wasn't sure if I'd make their American Coop or their Carolina Coop. In the end I chose American for simplicity (on a deadline remember) and also I prefer that the walls on the american coop are fastened to the inside - it means that the inside walls are smooth without a lot of framework surfaces that I would have to clean poop off of.
My plans didn't come out exactly right, I think mine is a bit taller because I wanted the run space under the coop to have a wee bit more headroom and so I had to make an adjustment to the chicken door side so that it wouldn't absurdly high off the ground. Also made the chicken door bigger since I have a couple of jersey giants.
I couldn't find any black pvc-coated hardware cloth. So I just bought regular and painted it black. Highly recommend taking the time to do this, it makes it invisible and you can see right through the coop. In the final pic below, the coop side has got it fastened on already and you can barely see it.
Got majority of it done but the roof is next! My chickens feathered out early and could've gone out at 5 weeks, so now they're still in my house for no reason. Hoping to be done within the week. Let me know if you have any questions!
