First chicken coop - going Barn style!

[benandbobbi]

Well, we ended up going chicken thanks to Grandpa! He brought home a couple chicks for our 2 kids, then another granddaughter wanted one - it gets to stay at our house. After deciding to keep them, i said that if i was going through the trouble to build a coop for them, it should be for more than 3 birds. Well, the next night i come home from work and school to 6 chicks and told that 2 more are coming back from the niece, so they can all be together! We were originally told they were Americauna, but now not sure.

So away i go, reading and reading, trying to figure out what chickens need.

Long story short, i decided to design and build my own "tractor" ......


pictures will be added once i find the camera!

 

[benandbobbi]

ok, so you didn't come to this thread just to see chickens, so here is the barn design!

this one shows the design so far, the 2 sides will be for 3-4 nests, and feeding areas, along with some blocked off storage. Both sides will have hinged roofs for access to eggs and storage. The main center is 4x8 (well almost!). I plan to have a run area under the main part for them to play in, while not running the yard. I am still deciding on the roosts, looking at trimming some sturdy branches from our tree to be more nature (plenty of trees on our lot), or just 2x4. I have seen posting to place the 2x4 both ways, so not sure which is better.

here you might be able to see my plans to the slide out bottom panels. i am planning 2 seperate pieces, so they are better to handle. the pulls will be in the white trim around the base of the barn. I am planning to leave the bottom open when the panels have been removed, the birds can just hang out till the cleaning is finished.

the open areas at the bottom of the main roof along the sides, will be screened for ventilation.

the run will be pretty basic, 2x4 legs, 1/2' square fencing, and 2x2 framing to fill in the rest.

i need to finish designing the interior structure and start raising the barn!

 

[benandbobbi]

please feel free to offer recommendations or precautions. like i said, we are very new!

 

[ClairedeLune]

Very nice plans!

Keep up the good work!

 

[peeplessinNC]

You might want to re-think the tree limbs for their roost. Most folks here recommend a 2x4 board with the wide side up so when the chickens roost at night their feet are flat on the board and in winter their bodies and feathers can keep their feet warmer.

 

[benandbobbi]

Went looking at the hardware store and came across the cement fiber board. for about $1 more than plywood, you get pre-primered, rot free, warp free paneling. only thing, it had to be cut with a masonary blade and pre drill holes. After talking to some guys in the store about how it worked, i was sold. This means a few changes to the design to account for the thinner paneling!

made a little progress this weekend.

starting getting wood to build the base of the coop, ended up getting everything to build the run area too. I didnt have the plans ready for that part, but, some quick thinking and it worked out pretty good. the back side has the full gate. right now it is screwed shut until i get some hinges, till them, the kids can climb over and play.

as soon as we put the last wire nail in, grandpa wanted to see how the chicks liked it - you would think they didn't have enough room!

just dug out the receipt.
The brown birds (according to the receipt) are Arucauna pullets. However, i found this, and i believe the are possibly Ameraucanas, becuase they already puff up their tail feathers.
"The true Araucana chicken is rumpless (tailless) and has a small curling tuft of feathers next to each ear. The Easter Egg Chicken (Ameraucanas) are different because they have a full beard under the beak and have a tail."

The black birds with yellow spots on their heads were sold as Barred Rock, this looks correct from other images of chicks and adult Barred rock birds.

 

[benandbobbi]

Got a few more pics of the camera. Here is what we finished Sunday. The grey boards in the real picture are the same yellow boards in the design images. They slide in and out nicely, just need to figure out how to attach handles to get ahold of them.

Basic construction so far -

1) bottom of "run" is 2x2 all the way around.
2) each leg (6) is 2x4 cut at 26.5" - this allowed us to hide about 1.5" of the 24" screen behind the wood, looking cleaner from the outside.
3) top of screen is a 2x4 frame, with single 2x4 divider down long middle, and doubled divider across the short middle. We put 2x2 inside the 2x4 to support the grey boards.
4) next row is 1x2 layed on 2" side. this gave me the spacing for the boards to slide in and out. 3 sides and middle have a strip, 1 long side left open for the boards.
5) top row is another 2x4 frame. the middle brace is layed down (3.5" side down) to hold the middle of the trays down.

 

[benandbobbi]

I did a little more designing on the inside, and i plan to take peeplessinNC's advice on the roost. Decided to go with the red water nipples and still deciding on the feeder idea, but i like the PVC designs. i will post a couple question though in a new thread.


here is a little more work on the inside. Still planning 3 nest boxes on the one side, and putting feed and water on other. The boards are either 2x4 or 2x2, and the roof panels will most likely still be the cement paneling.

may take your eyes a few seconds to adjust if you aren't used to looking at this stuff!

 

[newchicksnducks]

Looking good! Your "Ameraucana" are probably like mine - hatchery grade EE or Easter Eggers. They are actually a mix-breed, with some Ameraucana or Aurcana mixed with an unknown breed. Your eggs may or may not be blue, green, tan, brown, cream, or white in color. But they taste just as good no matter what the color, and the girls are really cute!

The above photos were two pic's of our three EE when they were little... below is after they were about 6 months old. The darker girls lay green/blue eggs, and the white EE layed a cream colored egg. (Sadly, the white was a hawks snack last Christmas!

)

 

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
You're going to think I'm one party pooper here

but I tend to look at projects like these with a critical (not negative) view.

Have you thought about how easily the boards will slide out once there is litter and poop covering it? I would think you would want the slot in the side to be deeper so that you can remove the boards with litter/poop intact. A wider slot with a door over it?

Are you planning on extending the run area? I'm sure you've read the minimum recommendations using the 4'/10' "rule" (it's really not a rule but it seems to work well for people) is to have 4 sq ft per large fowl chicken in the coop and 10 sq ft per large fowl chicken in the run. It looks like with your 8 proposed chickens that you are sitting on 4 sq ft of space per chicken inside your coop, but if the area below the coop is intended to be the entire run area it is going to be the same square footage as your coop space and will be too small.

It appears that you attached the hardware cloth with staples. You're not gonna want to here this but if there is a chance of having any predators as big as a small raccoon or small dog then you need you need to go back over the wire and fasten it using screws and fender washers. A determined predator will pull/push the staples loose fairly easily.

You stated in an earlier message that you were building a "tractor", thus, you intend on moving the structure around, correct? Do you think the bottom of the structure might need some more bracing/framing to make it more rigid? And maybe some wider runners under the long side pieces to keep it from digging into the ground too much? It would also be a good time to design in a couple of places to attach a tow rope. Remember, too, that if it gets too heavy then you'll definitely need motorized assistance to move it.

Your building a nice coop and I like the use of the cement board (might have to consider using some of that). With what I've written please don't think that I'm bashing your coop...just wanted to point out some things early into the project for you.

Best wishes,
Ed

ETA: I caught the part about the coop being a "tractor" late in my response to you, so the 4'/10' "rule" is kind of moot in regards to a tractor that is moved every day...still, more room the better!