Hidden Forest Coop

[Jetpad]

To help with the water problem put a gutter on the back side of the run, with a downspout connected to a pipe leading the water away from the coop.

You could also catch the water that runs off the roof to minimize hauling water for the chickens.

Eventually I think I'll catch the water for the chickens but initially I'm going to try diverting the water to some evergreen plantings around the coop to try and get them established.

 

[Jetpad]

Here's the storage cabinet (on top) and where the nesting boxes (bottom) will go. The storage cabinet will have a door that swings up and the nesting boxes will have a door that swings down. I haven't divided it into individual nests yet. It doesn't look high enough in this picture but the nests will be about 14" tall.



And here is the chicken door and the clean out door on the inside of the run. I'm using T1-11 siding that I've stained a "transparent" redwood color. I liked the the redwood color sample at Home Depot and had the choice between transparent, opaque, and solid stains. I picked (what I thought was) the most subtle of the three. It is turning out to not be very subtle. I guess, if needed, I can repaint it something else later. I glued two pieces of the T1-11 together so that both sides of the chicken door looked the same. Maybe that's a little obsessive. I still need to stain the edge of it.


This is the door for the storage area. The T1-11 didn't feel very substantial and looked like it would easily warp so I'm gluing it to piece of the OSB plywood. It is going to be a very heavy door now.

 

[lightchick]

Awesome! How much is this costing you? I'm trying to build the biggest coop I can without paying a ton of money.

 

[vehve]

Looks good, I like the transparent stain. I would of gone with something similar if I wouldn't have needed to color co-ordinate with the house.

 

[Jetpad]

Awesome! How much is this costing you? I'm trying to build the biggest coop I can without paying a ton of money.

I'm reusing what I can but not really trying to do it as cheap as possible. I think it's going to end up somewhere between $1200 and $1500. The biggest cost is lumber and the hardware cloth is the next biggest at a little over $200.

 

[Jetpad]

The people door was next.

I used deck screws on just about everything on the coop and don't think I'll build anything ever again using nails. These joints on the doors were also glued and it came out very solid.


Here's the storage cabinet filled with junk. The (closed) egg door is below it. Somehow I bought a galvanized latch and black hinges. Details like that end up bugging me.

On the right side, I kind-of made shutters except they open to the top and bottom instead of on each side. I'm going to make a frame with hardware cloth on it and put it inside the opening for the "window". During the winter I'll keep the shutters shut and then when it warms up I'll open the top and/or bottom shutter. I haven't figured out yet how to lock or keep the shutters closed yet. And there will be a matching window on the other side of the coop. That should give it a lot of ventilation. There are also some pavers that I put down around the door to the coop. It was starting to get a little muddy without them. You can also see a little retaining wall next to the pavers but nothing is fixed in place at this point. I'll probably also put some pavers across the top of it to make a seat for chicken watching.


I picked up the black PVC coated hardware cloth. I think the black color will help it be a little more hidden.
I wrapped the coop with the hardware cloth by myself but it really is a job for two or more people (especially on this slope). One thing that helped is threading a hoe through the center of the roll of cloth with a rope tied to it and hung it from the rafters. That kept the cloth at the right height as I unrolled it.


The door's not attached yet but just sitting in the opening. I discovered my door frame isn't quite square so I'm going to have to modify the door and/or frame to get it to fit right.

 

[lightchick]

Loving it! How big is the inside part? I'm trying to make a coop that has enough room for at least 6 chickens, but i want enough room so that if I ever want more I can get more.

 

[Jetpad]

It's about 24 square feet in the coop part and 70 square feet in the run. I'm planning on putting 7 in it. I think it could hold up to 10 but would probably need to be expanded for any more than that.

 

[vehve]

It's about 24 square feet in the coop part and 70 square feet in the run. I'm planning on putting 7 in it. I think it could hold up to 10 but would probably need to be expanded for any more than that.

7 sounds about right. Our coop is about 28 sqft and the run about 70 sq ft, 9 was too much, but once we processed a rooster it feels a lot spacier. Still one extra roo in there, so come winter we'll have 7 left, which should be ok.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

If you are trying to keep this coop "below the radar" one of the best things you could do is have no Rooster. The crowing does carry quite a ways.

Another thing that can help is any neighbors that will be able to see the coop in the winter, free fresh eggs can go a long way for keeping it on the DL.