electric ?

[pinguin]

Regardless of whether you run power yourself or have an electrician do it, or in conduit or not, *take pictures* and measurements and keep them in a safe place for future reference. If you decide to dig a footing or plant a tree a year or 10 from now, you don't want to cut into that line.

In addition, unless you're absolutely 100% sure you have no utility lines in the area where your electrical run will be, call JULIE (or whatever the joint utilities location corp is in your area). Phone, gas, power, water lines will all be marked; most of the time, you'll be scheduled in a week or two. Always a good idea to take pics & measure those lines, too.

jjparke, my dad was a journeyman electrician & a strong union man. Nevertheless, he was all for DIY for those who knew their stuff. (And he was rabid about helping non-profits, for example, a very large park complex in my area that was built by volunteers, many of them union trades people.) He wasn't about to hire a plumber to work on his plumbing when he could do the job himself!

 

[KimmiCoop]

Wow!

I have purchased about all of the materials for my coop, except the roofing materials. I put in a pea gravel and concrete block foundation and made the bottom wood frame out of pressure-treated lumber and that is sitting on the foundation. I am just starting to build the walls to put up when I finish them. I have been thinking that I would run electricity from my shop which is no more than 4 feet from the coop and the hen house is on that side so it is very close to the source I will be running the electric from. The cost of the coop keeps going up and I think it is going to end up around a thousand dollars, which I thought was a lot, but didn't let that stop me. I have thought that I need an electrician or someone who is trained to do it and make it correct (to code I guess). I am overwhelmed to think that the electricity might cost me another thousand. My plan, at this point, is to call a few people, including electricians, and ask if they will give me a free estimate and go from there. I will ask them what work that I can do to save money. I don't know when the best time would be to put electricity in: right now before I do any more building, or what till later. I originally thought it would be best to have the roof on before putting in the electricity. Any thoughts and ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Overwhelmed, but not giving up,
Harlan

 

[Hokum Coco]

You will have to put you electrical wiring in place before you insulate and finish the inside of your coop by the sounds of things.

I live in Canada one of my buildings that I have been keeping my birds in for decades has never been insulated 1/4inch of plywood is all the separates my flock from the outside elements.

I have a second chicken coop that is insulated with 2 inch Styrofoam mainly because it is a metal shed. I have been experiencing Double Digit Frigid temperatures as of late -14F and wind chill of -37F. I raise cold hearty Golden Comet hens (sex link) No heat or electricity in either building..


You have to pay attention to your particular coop for ammonia and vapour in the form of condensation.Ventalation is key. Good luck on your build. KimmiCoop.