lessons to pass on for you build a coop

[Buff Hooligans]

Quote:
Alright, who dropped it on you?

(VERY funny post!)

 

[mistylady]

This is great! Not that I wish any of this upon any one but I figure we're forewarning everyone who is going to build a coop!

CityGirlintheCountry and Heather J I totaly understood your posts! Escpecially the rocks where you are wishing you could put a post in the ground. Our fence is a bit artsy looking thanks to the flint rocks that dug under ground to live right where the posts needed to be. We have one hand dug hole for the gate post and the rest of the posts are t-posts. The hand dug hole had to be 24 inches deep. At 21 inches we hit rock. Dh hit it with a metal bar and it broke up. I was so happy! The rock wasn't the normal flint but some kind of white rock.

Need rain? Leave your radio outside overnight. Yes it will rain!

DH took time off work to build the coop. The second day we lost power. The third day still no power to run the saws. Fourth day dh goes to the next state looking for a generator. Fifth day power comes back on! But we have to cut up the trees that have fallen and have trapped the truck in the pature so we can take the truck to get more supplies because dh believes "Ohhhhh ... we don't need that just yet." And then a few days later we need it. And he has to drive an hour to the lumber store one way, spend three hours playing touchie feely with the boards to find just the right ones and then an hour drive home. Now he knows that knots make really pretty boards but they are hard to saw through and even harder to nail into! LOL In other words ..... if something can happen that will take your time away from coop building ........... it will!

Another thing I learned: Dark green paint looks very dark in the bucket but takes at least three coats to look that dark on light colored wood!

And the neighbor that loves to drop by and visit and says he'll be over the next day to help ..... do not count on him! The sound of a saw, hammers and people going "Ouch!", "Oops!" or "Oh no!" are the best way to keep neighbors away! It's amazing!

 

[Ms Ellen]

How about this one:

A good hand saw takes far less time in the end than a cheap battery powered saw that needs to charge.

Then there is the classic that can not be over stated:

Your coop will take FAR, FAR longer to build than you ever imagined it could.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Buff Hooligans- Sadly I dropped it on myself!

As Misty pointed out, the minute you start making plans to build everyone deserts you! I had to build the Annex all by myownself (although I had help on the original coop and run). You come up with some mighty creative ways to do carpentry when you are doing it with only one set of hands. (I was sorely wishing for a thrid arm to pop out of my side! It'd make finding clothes a pain, but it sure would come in handy!) I found that if I put a screw into one vertical post you could balance one end of a board while you attached the other. The downside is that they tend to fall off. Between the falling lumber and the chickenwire I looked battered for weeks! And then of course the screwy little chickens freaked out when I introduced them to the new coop/run and would have nothing to do with it for a while. Hateful little brats.

Thankfully it's all done except for the painting. The big girls love their new home and everyone has settled in nicely.
Now if I could only convince them to lay eggs I'd be all set.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Quote:
Funny ... we noticed this phenomenon too.

 

[Kesta]

have to add, if you already own the chickens and theyve been sleeping outside they will be scared out of there mind of the coop so be prepared to not see your chickens while building

 

[chicksalot]

Great Humor!!! and we all know, HUMOR is what we need to get us through some of this !

 

[BFeathered]

Uh... I'm DEFINITELY not letting DH read this thread! LMAO I'm getting up the nerve to sweet talk him into "helping" (he's a mechanical engineer with OCD wood-working skills) me build a slightly larger coop when the girls get to be all grown up. Fortunately, we're all slightly insane and blissfully bemused by the feathered family members! And yes, that Murphy fellow does seem to have an improbability drive to visit so many people at once ( don't panic!).

 

[Reinbeau]

Quote:
Oh dear....I wish I didn't read that. Mine are....16 weeks old and no, we haven't installed the nest boxes yet. Sheesh, they are 'fraidy cats, aren't they?

 

[MamaDragon]

build 6 nesting boxes for 8 hens... and they'll all end up using the same one, or none of them, and pick a different spot entirely!