Finally the Grand Opening

[Runawaylobster]

I spent the last 2 weeks working on the new house for my chickees... they moved out to the coop last night and I didn't sleep at all. All night i was freaking out that some critter was trying to get in and eat them. I got up several times with the flashlight to go check. Anyway, now that they are installed they just don't want to come out of the coop into the run, they just look out of the door at me. Hoping they decide to come out today.

Framing started with double layer chicken wire floor. 8 x 16 footprint

Dance floor is installed!

Move in day!!

Nobody wants to go outside!

That is my Fayoumi on the right. I think she is a he! in the middle is buffy and sparkle

These guys moved in downstairs but eventually I had to go in and put them to bed cause they didn't know
how to get up the ladder.

They are 5 weeks old give or take a couple of days.

 

[Runawaylobster]

I just checked... 2 are out Nosey 1 (a buttercup) and Desdemona (a dominique).... problem is my dogs are going nuts it's awful the dogs ignored the
birds for 5 weeks while they were in the house how come now they want to go crazy ....

 

[canesisters]

That is a WONDERFUL coop! You shoudl be very proud.

 

[sceggs]

Great job! I like the A-frame style coops.

 

[Izzymoon]

The ramp looks a bit steep for them, they are pretty small. My coop has a small ramp, and the first 2 days they were terrified of it, they still come down it carefully

 

[peckaboo]

Nice job....coop looks great!

 

[canesisters]

Can you give us the dimensions of your coop? How long did it take to build? How big is the little house? And how many birds can you have in there?

I got some chicks 3 weeks ago and need to start my coop ASAP. A neighbor has a big shed (8' X 8') that they were going to give me to use as my coop. But that appears to either have fallen through or to be very much delayed. Your plan looks like something that I could do with the run materials that I have (lots of posts and wire) and only have to add a couple of sheets of plywood.
Any details of your build that you could offer would be MUCH appreciated.

 

[Jersey Jon]

That's a great coop!!.... I wish I would have thought of it before spending too much money on mine.

 

[Runawaylobster]

I ended up spending more than i wanted but it worked out ok. the footprint is 8 x 16, i used all standard lumber sizes. the rafters are all 8ft 2x4's.
The dance floor is 4x8 so that it would pretty much fit one sheet of plywood. i used 3 rolls of hardware cloth, the cutting angle was 31 deg (about)
I used 4 sheets of 1/2 inch plywood sheathing in total. It's not such a good idea to use the sheathing as it's not that weather proof but the PT sheets
are about $35 and weigh a ton. So I am going to have to paint seal caulk etc:.to make sure it lasts Under the peak of the roof the wood doesn't go to
the top there is a 4" gap each side covered with hardware cloth, underneath the aluminum flashing (i just got a roll of if from the store). This is for a
place for the hot air to go out, just like in the old cracker houses. I am more worried about rain and critters than keeping out the cold since i'm in S. Florida.

good point about the steep ramp, i'm going to put the lower end on a 5 gall bucket to change the angle and see if that works better.


glad you liked it....


edit: forgot to mention, the plan is to have enough space for 25 chickens.

 

[Whittni]

nice!