- May 22, 2013
- 3
- 0
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I have been around birds all my life. From chickens,pheasants,quail,ducks,geese my dad had them all,(and still does). He was always raising birds and I did not see much interest in it while I was younger. Now, with children of my own I am wanting to add a chicken coop to start my own Lil farm. I have been looking at many different coops on BYC and decided to start building one for myself. I am about halfway done and wanted to get any input on what I should add or take out before I get finished with it. The coop is 5ft x 8ft with a raised underneath run. I will also be adding another run to the outside of the coop.
This is the base of the coop. I used stainless wire mesh I had leftover from a concrete project to use as hard wire. I knew I wanted the coop to be raised off the ground so I figured might as well close it in for them to use. The floor base is cedar paneling. I plan to put peel and stick tiles to it??? seems that is what most people recommend.
I then started the framing process. I knew I wanted a large door on the open (non run side) for easy cleaning. I lucked out and a friend had called me earlier that day and said he had some old barn doors. I chose this one since it had a glass window. I am going to place some hard wire on the back side of the glass to further secure it from critters. I cut the door down to limit how tall the coop will be.
I also used an old window frame on the back side to help use for ventilation. From what I had read more ventilation the better? the window is 30x30 inches. I plan on putting shutters on the window to close off in the cold/night? Any better ideas? Also in the bottom left corner (where you can see the saw) is my entry door for the feathered ones. It is 14x16.....too big, too small???
And last is my nesting boxes. They measure about 16w x 15 deep and there is 6 of them. I plan on using one by the (human) door for storage...just did some reading and someone mentioned storage so I determined one would be dedicated for me. The nesting boxes will accessed from the outside and are located on the front of the coop. I had a bunch of plywood siding samples from a local lumber yard that worked perfect to line the nest boxes. I had a piece of chair rail I was going to put in the front to help keep bedding material in the boxes. Any better ideas??
I plan on putting 2 16x16 windows on the front side of the coop to also aid in ventilation and looks. I also plan to use shutters for these to be able to close. Roosts will also be added later.
I know by now you are powerfully confused as what this is going to look like? Right now its one of those method behind the mayhem kinda things.....I would really love your input on what I should do to help make this coop efficient to clean and make my feathered friends happy. Also, how many birds do you think this coop could handle. I can make my outside run as large as it needs to be. I am semi knew to raising chickens and want to make this coop last for many years. Thanks, Charlie.......
This is the base of the coop. I used stainless wire mesh I had leftover from a concrete project to use as hard wire. I knew I wanted the coop to be raised off the ground so I figured might as well close it in for them to use. The floor base is cedar paneling. I plan to put peel and stick tiles to it??? seems that is what most people recommend.
I then started the framing process. I knew I wanted a large door on the open (non run side) for easy cleaning. I lucked out and a friend had called me earlier that day and said he had some old barn doors. I chose this one since it had a glass window. I am going to place some hard wire on the back side of the glass to further secure it from critters. I cut the door down to limit how tall the coop will be.
I also used an old window frame on the back side to help use for ventilation. From what I had read more ventilation the better? the window is 30x30 inches. I plan on putting shutters on the window to close off in the cold/night? Any better ideas? Also in the bottom left corner (where you can see the saw) is my entry door for the feathered ones. It is 14x16.....too big, too small???
And last is my nesting boxes. They measure about 16w x 15 deep and there is 6 of them. I plan on using one by the (human) door for storage...just did some reading and someone mentioned storage so I determined one would be dedicated for me. The nesting boxes will accessed from the outside and are located on the front of the coop. I had a bunch of plywood siding samples from a local lumber yard that worked perfect to line the nest boxes. I had a piece of chair rail I was going to put in the front to help keep bedding material in the boxes. Any better ideas??
I plan on putting 2 16x16 windows on the front side of the coop to also aid in ventilation and looks. I also plan to use shutters for these to be able to close. Roosts will also be added later.
I know by now you are powerfully confused as what this is going to look like? Right now its one of those method behind the mayhem kinda things.....I would really love your input on what I should do to help make this coop efficient to clean and make my feathered friends happy. Also, how many birds do you think this coop could handle. I can make my outside run as large as it needs to be. I am semi knew to raising chickens and want to make this coop last for many years. Thanks, Charlie.......
