My husband and i are about to start construction on a new coop for our 6 Redstars. We need help coming up with a design that is simple with few complicated cuts because my husband and i don't have access to a lot of tools though I'm sure we could borrow what is absolutely necessary.What type of materials would be best? Thanks for helping!
IMO, I think an old run down camper is they ultimate way to go!
1. already insulated
2 windows and roof thingy for ventilation
3. cupboards make great nesting boxes
4. storage in cabnits for food, and other nessescity
5. portable can be moved later
we picked up a 26' bumper pull (granted we live out of town and plan on having 20 chickens) for $400..... great condition and were selling some stuff out of it we dont need like the power inverter an air conditioner to make some money back.
ive seen give aways that are already gutted that some people just want off there land.
I'm sure no expert in coop building - there are lots of them on the forum though and their advice would be invaluable. Ken and I are not carpenters! I always say between us we couldn't stack a straight sandwich!
But one of the things we found helpful was to buy dimensional materials. If you were to plan a coop 8x8 feet, you're halfway home! Sheets of plywood, for instance, are usually 4'x8'. Two per wall gives you that 8x8 footprint without a lot of cutting for fit. Whack off 2 feet at the top for a coop 6x high (so that you can walk upright in it) and you are good to go. Then use what you cut off to make nest boxes. That's way oversimplified, of course, but you get the idea.
For the run we just used 3 cattle panels....we arched them between 8 steel fence posts dug into the ground, covered them in chicken wire against overhead predators, then added hardware cloth at the bottom 2 feet, folded outward at the bottom for an apron, which deters diggers. We were going to put flat rock over that, but the grass grew so beautifully right up through the hardware cloth that we mow right over it, right up to the very edge of the run. No hiding places for smaller pests that way. Since we live in town, and at the time I was on the town council, we put up a white vinyl lattice fence in front of the run. We didn't want it to be an eyesore when people drove by, since it's visible from the street. Details of our coop build can be found by clicking on "My Coop" under my avatar, but there are loads of plans and photos and builds on the forum under "Coops" in the banner. Best of luck to you! And try to have fun with the planning and build!
