Finally starting my walk in coop. Want to follow?

[aart]

Whew. What a journey!

Indeed!!
Congrats!

 

[Cryss]

Indeed!!
Congrats!

Thank you @aart . And thank you for all of your advice. I've learned so much on this site and hope to be able to share my experience to help other newbies who are as clueless as I was.
I'm not done learning. I never will be. If you're not learning you're not living!

 

[blackdog043]

The plywood pop door warped and won't slide up and down now. I think I'm going to look into plexiglass. Any suggestions?

I used a white plastic cutting board.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXE0PBV/?tag=backy-20

 

[Cryss]

I used a white plastic cutting board.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXE0PBV/?tag=backy-20

I think I saw that and that's where I got the idea for plexiglass. Great idea! Love it. The only problem with the cutting board is I couldn't find one big enough. Chris (sil) made the opening a 12 inch square. He built the frame 18X26, bigger than I had imagined but, hey, it's strong!
Meanwhile I went yesterday to Lowe's. I got a 24x48x.25 sheet of plexiglass, has them cut the size, and Chris installed it immidiatly. Works great so far. I'm torn between leaving it clear for a window feature and buying contact paper to block light. That might get pecked at if I applied it inside. Might provide a grip to a critter if I apply it outside. Maybe just leave it as a window.

 

[hispoptart]

Thank you. My girls didn't even seem to notice they weren't going outdoors for the first 2.5 weeks while we built the popway. I guess that means they like it.
I started on this coop in the beginning of March, 16 months after starting to raise chickens. This took 8 months to complete. Don't worry, it doesn't usually take that long. My son in law Chris built it taking his time due to bad back. You now have 4 months, all winter, to research, ask questions, and plan out the details of your coop, so you're actually starting your coop now.

Sure sounds like they are very happy with their new home. I pretty much have it all planned out and have started working on the coop part. It's an old 8x8 shed we have. I removed the plexiglass from the windows and add hardware cloth. The popway is cut out and roosts in place. The problem with finishing it all is that I won't move the girls in there until I have electricity ran to the shed. That's where hubby needs to come into play. He has not done that yet and to be honest I'm not sure if it will happen next year either. I need to be able to keep the water from freezing.

 

[Cryss]

Sure sounds like they are very happy with their new home. I pretty much have it all planned out and have started working on the coop part. It's an old 8x8 shed we have. I removed the plexiglass from the windows and add hardware cloth. The popway is cut out and roosts in place. The problem with finishing it all is that I won't move the girls in there until I have electricity ran to the shed. That's where hubby needs to come into play. He has not done that yet and to be honest I'm not sure if it will happen next year either. I need to be able to keep the water from freezing.

I love that you used my new word "popway"! I needed a word to describe the hallway fence that connects the pop door opening to the run opening. My coop does not connect to the run as it was built after the chain link run was already in place covered in hardware cloth. I was dreading removing the HC from the end of the run and then removing the entire end chain link panel, then try to figure out how to build the coop into that all while the girls were in the run. I couldn't lock them in the little coop they were using, it took almost 8 months to complete the coop! SO...I built a hallway between them! I didn't want just a 3 foot tunnel in case I needed to reach a chicken inside it. We built it full size so it accommodates a human. I didn't like calling it a hallway. It didn't fit. So I made up the word "popway" by combining the chicken access door name "pop door" with "hallway". Now that you have used popway as a word maybe it will become a thing.

Oooh a shed! Yes, I almost went with a shed but didn't have the finances. This coop definitely cost as much!, but I bought materials a paycheck at a time. Starting in March was wise cuz I had all spring and summer to spread that out. A shed would have been so much faster. Excellent that you have a used shed already!

I don't have my coop wired. I am already maxed for power allowance for my home with 2 fuse boxes. I have a 100 foot long All Weather extension cord for my heated waterer which stays in the run, not the coop. I don't want water (or food) inside for fear of spills. Ah, but now I have my rooster in the original small coop/run unit, perfect size for 1 chicken. He's mean. I need to work out how to run 2 heated waterers now, and his needs to be smaller due to his run size. There's always something needing solving!
Good luck with your shed coop! If you don't already have one you should make a thread here so we can follow your progress!

 

[Cryss]

Painted some primer today. Need to do some brushwork still. Not crazy about the white color but that's how it will stay till spring to protect the wood. I preferred the look of the wood but it needed protection. In spring if all goes well my grandson has some ideas for a paint design he'd like to do for me.

I miss the wood.

 

[Cryss]

Grandson walks his dog at night and turns on the spotlight. I’m concerned it disturbs the chickens sleep. We nailed these up this afternoon. Ladybugs design on windows, an old Continental Airlines blanket for the door. Should do the trick, right?