A tarp probably could! Watch out for snow load.

If you keep them warm all winter, they won’t develop the feathers and down they’ll need to be chickens in Colorado. Read up here on when chicks can be outdoors, and cool them gradually (an open window in the brooder room for increasing hours, for example). Hens have raised chicks from time immemorial outdoors.

You might want to go more slowly, though. Building in the snow is difficult, and having everything built before you have chicks is better in the long run. I wish I did.

I’m not good at going slowly so I’ll just want to figure things out hahaha

And yep, you’re totally right. I just read up on the heating situation and I’ll just slowly get them used to the cold. They are all cold hardy breeds so it’ll surely be fine.
 
Are you planning to lock the chickens in their coop at night? If so, then personally I wouldn't spend that much money to wrap the run in hardware cloth. I don't have hardware cloth on my run, we made our run out of 6 foot tall fencing with 2"x4" openings. It is strong enough to keep out most predators - my predators are neighbor dogs, foxes, coyotes, and raccoons.
If you leave the chicken wire up and put the fencing material over it, the chicken wire will provide the small opening limitation for raccoons reaching in to grab chickens and the fence will provide enough strength to keep out most other predators.

I do plan to lock them in the coop at night. You don’t think a brazen raccoon would come bother them during the day while I’m not home?
 
I don't see coon out during the day, maybe early evening before sundown, but not during the day.
I don't know if a coon can reach through the 1" holes of chicken wire, but if you make sure to have hiding places in the run away from the perimeter fence, the chickens won't huddle at the fence to hide. Chickens are killed by coons when they huddle in the corner of the fenceline to hide and the coon can reach in and grab them.
 
I've seen raccoons out during the day, too. Don't bet on them behaving. All it takes is one and it can wipe out your entire flock in one go just for fun.

a driver to run screws in....I like an impact driver.

The drill and impact driver are the higher cost tools.
Why buy two separate tools? A drill can drive the screws in just as well. Save yourself the extra expense and buy just a drill, it can do both jobs. Corded is better than cordless. Also, look into tool rentals. Home Depot rents out tools, and so do other smaller specialized stores (we have a separate tool rental service in my neighborhood, for example). If it's something big and expensive that you're only going to use once, it may make more sense to rent. Or borrow from a friend or neighbor. In your situation, I think a good drill and a jigsaw would be the only power tools you'd need.

On DIY with a toddler: I'm sort of in your situation. I have a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old and am building a coop from scratch by myself. I do like to take things slow though ;) so I gave myself the whole summer and fall to do it, little by little. I mostly work in the evening after the kids have gone to bed. Now that it's getting dark, I got myself a headlamp - best purchase ever! - so I can keep working in the dark. Little chunks at a time, an hour here and there, and it's almost done. So it's totally doable. Your timeline is shorter, if you want to get your chicks now (I'm getting mine in the spring to make sure everything is set and ready by then), but also, you're not building an entire new coop. For just those additions and fix-ups, I think it can be done, if you're willing to invest a bunch of evenings into it.
 
I've seen raccoons out during the day, too. Don't bet on them behaving. All it takes is one and it can wipe out your entire flock in one go just for fun.


Why buy two separate tools? A drill can drive the screws in just as well. Save yourself the extra expense and buy just a drill, it can do both jobs. Corded is better than cordless. Also, look into tool rentals. Home Depot rents out tools, and so do other smaller specialized stores (we have a separate tool rental service in my neighborhood, for example). If it's something big and expensive that you're only going to use once, it may make more sense to rent. Or borrow from a friend or neighbor. In your situation, I think a good drill and a jigsaw would be the only power tools you'd need.

On DIY with a toddler: I'm sort of in your situation. I have a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old and am building a coop from scratch by myself. I do like to take things slow though ;) so I gave myself the whole summer and fall to do it, little by little. I mostly work in the evening after the kids have gone to bed. Now that it's getting dark, I got myself a headlamp - best purchase ever! - so I can keep working in the dark. Little chunks at a time, an hour here and there, and it's almost done. So it's totally doable. Your timeline is shorter, if you want to get your chicks now (I'm getting mine in the spring to make sure everything is set and ready by then), but also, you're not building an entire new coop. For just those additions and fix-ups, I think it can be done, if you're willing to invest a bunch of evenings into it.

Why but the set?
Because I have seen/fixed more stripped screw heads caused by people running screws in with a drill than I care to count.

Nothing more time consuming/frustrating than trying to remove a messed up screw.

Maybe I spent to many decades in quality control. :confused:

A good set of battery powered drill/driver is worth the investment.....even for a novice to have.
 
Why but the set?
Because I have seen/fixed more stripped screw heads caused by people running screws in with a drill than I care to count.

Nothing more time consuming/frustrating than trying to remove a messed up screw.

Maybe I spent to many decades in quality control. :confused:

A good set of battery powered drill/driver is worth the investment.....even for a novice to have.
If we're talking ideal case scenario, then of course having all the tools is optimal. But for somebody who doesn't use them often, and may be on a tight budget, it's not worth it. Just a drill is better than nothing if the combo is out of your price range.

In my experience I've found that screw quality varies greatly by brand, specifically in how easily they go in and how prone they are to stripping. These are my favorite outdoor screws:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VBGMVE/?tag=backy-20
They go in amazingly smoothly, and I've never stripped one. Identical looking screws by another brand would cause the drill to jump and they'd get stripped to some extent, but these go in nice and smooth without any jumping and are a pleasure to work with. The design on the heads is slightly different, maybe that's why. I built my coop with them and only used a drill, and it was fine.
 
If we're talking ideal case scenario, then of course having all the tools is optimal. But for somebody who doesn't use them often, and may be on a tight budget, it's not worth it. Just a drill is better than nothing if the combo is out of your price range.

In my experience I've found that screw quality varies greatly by brand, specifically in how easily they go in and how prone they are to stripping. These are my favorite outdoor screws:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VBGMVE/?tag=backy-20
They go in amazingly smoothly, and I've never stripped one. Identical looking screws by another brand would cause the drill to jump and they'd get stripped to some extent, but these go in nice and smooth without any jumping and are a pleasure to work with. The design on the heads is slightly different, maybe that's why. I built my coop with them and only used a drill, and it was fine.

:confused:

OP asked WWYD so that is how I answered.

If just a drill worked for you GREAT. :thumbsup
 
:confused:

OP asked WWYD so that is how I answered.

If just a drill worked for you GREAT. :thumbsup
Of course. I'm just also being context aware, since s/he mentioned wondering whether they could afford it or not, so I was just suggesting to trim unnecessary expenses as a way of reducing the total cost. And a driver is nice, but not necessary. That's all.
 
And I ended up talking to someone local and am getting the chicks this Thursday
So much for fixing up the coop before getting birds :gig

So I’ve got a couple months to get this all done now! Maybe longer if it’s a cold winter and I end up keeping them in a smaller coop in our heated workshop.
Oh boy, having chickens in the house for a few weeks let alone a few months is....an experience!

Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!
upload_2019-10-15_15-52-2.png
 
So much for fixing up the coop before getting birds :gig


Oh boy, having chickens in the house for a few weeks let alone a few months is....an experience!

Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!
View attachment 1935710[/QUOTE

They are here in Colorado near Longmont.

Post one near the bottom.....

I agree having location listed with the avatar REALLY helps.

So they are East of the Rocky Mountains just enough to get a little protection from super heavy snows.......at least until very early spring when it dumps on us. :rolleyes:
 

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