Hate building this coop!

[Royd]

The plumb bob, laser level, framing square and string are your friends.

Learn the 3. 4. 5. technique of determining a square......Measure down each 90 degree leg of the angle, from the corner...One leg, 3', the other leg, 4', and if the intersecting diagonal is 5' exactly, you have a perfect 90 degree corner...If not, adjust accordingly. Best done with two people. With one, it's tedious but doable.

When it's all done, pull a diagonal from corner to corner, across the building. If they match, you've done good...If not, shorten the long leg and lenghten the short leg until they are even.....Best done with batter boards, without corner posts in the ground.

Probably too late for you, but it's just good info, for anyone with minimal building skills.

 

[rancher hicks]

Well now I forgot to say I have a friend who did a "hoop coop" with Cattle Panels from TSC and she says it was plenty warm this winter so I figure that's good. It's cheap for one and relatively simple. I think if you google "hoop coop" you'll get some ideas.

Hope it helps.

Rancher

You can see my runs I built. 6' in the front and 5' in the back. I used 2x4's connected them with metal connectors from Home Depot. No nailing just screwed them together. Then bolted each section together. I covered them with chicken wire but they can easily be covered with T1- 11 siding easy enough. You just take four 2x4's and use corner brackets to secure them together. Home Depot will cut your 2x4's to size for you. Plus the plywood or what ever you use. Use a cordless 18 volt drill to screw every thing together. Not nails and if Home Depot cuts the lumber no cutting. Piece of Cake. Roof is of corrugated metal panels but you could use something else. Ceiling joists are held up by metal stringer screwed in. Home Depot has all kinds of metal attaching things for all angles.

 

[Kuvasz]

<---me and my sig other coop building last summer!!!!! Actually we did a 'remodel' job of an old 'coop' built from oak barn boards, had no windows, no floor, 'door' (?) wouldn't even open, was falling off hinges, bees nests, spiders..... and all the while my ever growing chickens in MY house, day after long day!! We thought it would NEVER end. However, now it's working wonderfullyBut, if I ever move, I would NEVER EVER EVER do it again!!! Next time, I will buy one ready-made or pay some crafty carpenter to do it for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I laughed so hard about you saying you're out of money and needing another 2x4 every day! LOL I can SO relate to that!!

 

[Life is Good!]

Been there, stilll HATE hardware cloth - and if I never see another zip tie, that'll be fine by me!

But, sitting and watching my 7wk old chicks 'forage' in their home - I tend to forget the agony - and enjoy the cheep therapy (pun intended).

Keep pressing onward - it's a coop, not something you have to be perfect over. Good enough is great for your flock! Keep 'em dry and away from winds is all they ever ask. (oh, and some yummy mealworms or some such treat!)

 

[Hoosierchickens]

I can so relate. The chickens are in the coop and one run is complete enough for them to be out in supervised but I have a long way to go still. As far as things not matching up, I just keep telling myself, "it's a chicken coop not a church."

 

[dbounds10]

Hang in there my chicken loving friend! I thought I was going to die, go broke and get divorced all at the same time! 8 weeks after we started we finally ended up with this.

Now I sit out there every day and watch them and give them treats and enjoy. You will get there!!

 

[Tovah]

Oh my, we just broke ground on Sunday for our coop. Building your own coop is a daunting task and there are about as many designs as there are personalities. My DH and I went back and forth if we should build ourselves or just buy one finished. Truly, the costs won out and I am lucky enough to have a very handy brother with some carpentry skills and tools

Good luck on the building and as soon as we make some good progress I will post some pics too.

 

[Carols Clucks]

boy I think we all know that feeling!

I was using the miter saw at my house and then bringing the cut wood up to moms. Then I had to leave it for FOUR months when work needed every second of my time (I think I got 4 afternoons free all summer and that includes weekends) I had cut one board for the nest box wrong by an inch and since it was about to rain and I had that big job project coming up, I wedged the nest box in as best I could with the plan of fixing it when I got back to in in a few months.....well you can guess what I forgot about and finished with the roof and the rest of the supports for it and then we went to cut the siding and did the measure 2x....oh no!!!! We could have cut it out and replaced the whole side, but in the end, we left it and it is just off an inch.

As my mom says, it is just a chicken house! I see all the faults, but others see a nice looking coop. I say don't worry about it too much. Besides, when you have a 100+ year old house, plum, level and straight are theories.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Here is my little coop I built with almost no skills and no plans:

There is not a square wall, I used trim to cover my oops and it seemed to take forever to build. Had to run and get wood a couple of times and creatively fix what wasnt working. I got tired, crabby, frustrated and annoyed but kept pushing through until I finished. My roofing job is still laughed at by my kids and husband. I know nothing about roofing. Paint color was picked by my daughter. It is now occupied by my silkies and they are very happy. It is dry (and we have had a lot of rain this week!) and well ventilated. I am now proud of what I accomplished with such limited skills. Just remember this as you are building: chickens dont care what their house looks like or if its perfectly built. They just want a warm, dry place to lay eggs, hang out, sleep and get out of weather. As long as your chickens are happy, you will be happy. I learned a lot and will be starting this whole annoying, long frustrating process again but this time I will have a little more knowledge to help me! Good luck and post pics when you are done!!!

 

[ginger c.]

you're going to get there! just remember chickens aren't going to point out the faults! we're starting on our coop this weekend, bought a tractor from a friend who said it would hold 4 standard chickens yeah right! only if they don't move around much!LOL!! anyway we are doing ours on the cheep salvaged old screen door ($20) have been snagging discarded pallets (free) bought a ($5) can of paint that was the wrong color and someone returned, so ours will probably look like a total hillbilly project run amuck! just keep telling yourself it's for the chickens!!!