akchickenman
Chirping
After many months, I am nearly done with the coop! This is planned for only 3 hens, and I think it would be safe with up to 5, but it has been sized accordingly. The dimensions are as follows: Overall: 8'x4'x4', indoor area 4'x4', run area 4'x4' with another 4'x4' that has 12.5" of clearance (goes under the indoor area). The entire thing is completely covered and protected due to a lot of predatory birds and other animals in the area. Remaining work to be done is to: attach the nest boxes (will be external and protrude from the right side of the indoor area; attach roost pole (will be using 2x4 due to cold winters here); attach chicken door; add vent holes to indoor area; and finally to finish building a waterer (horizontal nipples) and feeder PVC pipe feeder.
The major modifications I made from the original plans are: Increased footprint from 7.5'x3' to 8'x4', added a hinged roof to allow easy access into coop to add food and water
Thoughts: I really like the increased coop area, but it did add cost to the design because the roof is no longer just throwing a sheet of plywood over top of it. That being said, it did allow me to add the hinged section of the roof which I feel will be a huge benefit in the long run. The coop was easy to build as someone without much experience with building stuff and the original plans (available for purchase from a BYC member) do a great job. It took me about 3 months to get to this point, but I was dealing with very cold alaskan weather so I was off to a slow start. As soon as I actually got my chickens ordered, it only took about 2 weekends to put together fully (this includes staining it and painting the indoor area with a couple of layers of Kilz white paint).
Pictures are not the best, but I will add a few more of the completed product over the next week or so!
The major modifications I made from the original plans are: Increased footprint from 7.5'x3' to 8'x4', added a hinged roof to allow easy access into coop to add food and water
Thoughts: I really like the increased coop area, but it did add cost to the design because the roof is no longer just throwing a sheet of plywood over top of it. That being said, it did allow me to add the hinged section of the roof which I feel will be a huge benefit in the long run. The coop was easy to build as someone without much experience with building stuff and the original plans (available for purchase from a BYC member) do a great job. It took me about 3 months to get to this point, but I was dealing with very cold alaskan weather so I was off to a slow start. As soon as I actually got my chickens ordered, it only took about 2 weekends to put together fully (this includes staining it and painting the indoor area with a couple of layers of Kilz white paint).
Pictures are not the best, but I will add a few more of the completed product over the next week or so!
