My 80% finished coop

[tomstephens]

This was quite the experiment for me. I only ended up with chickens because a rooster chose us as home back on New Years Day. I hadn't built anything since high school so it took a while to find my groove but I'm more or less happy with the way our coop came out.

It's about 10'x4' with an extra 4'x4' "add-on".

It's not quite finished -- got some more trim and securing I'll be doing. But it's mostly done.

 

[speckledhen]

That's really nice. A suggestion? Unless you have a dog in the backyard guarding the coop all the time, I'd shore up that chickenwire by adding 1/2" hardware cloth around it at least several feet up. That chickenwire will only keep the birds in, but no predators out, especially anything that chews or has teeth to pull with. You may already have plans for that, but thought I'd mention it.

 

[Jolyn]

Looks great!! I love the red!! It's such a nice finishing touch!!

 

[arlee453]

nice job! and Howdy neighbor from a cabarrus county-ian

 

[McGoo]

Nice job. How are they liking it?

ps. I second SH's comment about wire mesh. If you're inclined to get critters around ( and even if you haven't seen them yet), I'd suggest burying the wire mesh 1 foot into the ground and up and around the whole pen area. It's a pain to do, but I'll tell you we have sooo many animals digging around our pen that I know we'd have lost them all if we didn't have the good wire and buried deep.

 

[johnmayersquare]

Looks awesome! Way to go!

 

[tomstephens]

Thanks everyone.

I hadn't planned on wire mesh but I will now. Didn't realize anything could just rip through the chicken wire... We have lots of critters about so I have to make sure it's secure.

So far the chickens seem to like it. They spend plenty of time in there during the day.

 

[Davaroo]

Nice "fresh air" house. Good work with simple materials.
Can I make a suggestion or two?

Extend the eaves to overhang by 3 ft on a side to keep blowing rain out.
Add sand to the floor and eliminate the straw.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Love it! You did a fantastic job. It will be perfect once you add that wire like speckledhen suggested!

 

[tricia]

Very nice!