My coop build

[cobra2411]

Well since I have a rain delay (actually thunder and lightning) I thought I'd share some pictures of my work in progress.

I wanted a small coop with shelter underneath that could use the deep litter method. It also had to be aesthetically pleasing to look at.

Here's my sketch of what I was looking for. I decided to reverse the location of the coop door. Also in this drawing I didn't have the nesting box location decided. Ignore the building in the background, that was to see how it looked with the roof turned 90 degrees.

The coop sits approximately 18" off the ground and has 12" of room inside for litter. There are two doors on the left-rear side of the coop. The upper door is going to house an 18x24 window and will swing out and will be used for normal access to the inside of the coop. The lower door will swing down like a tailgate and will be used for cleaning out the coop. I plan to put a rubbermaid tote under it and just rake the litter out. There will also be windows on the left side and the left side of the front of the coop. They will all be top hinged and I'll use some chain to hold them open.

The nesting box will be on the right side and will have 3-12" nesting boxes. It will mount in a hinged door to provide access to the inside of the coop to aid in cleaning. It will open at the front of the coop and swing rearward. I may also add an access door to the right rear of the coop depending on how I orient the food, water and roosts.

Here is the base.

I framed each wall and temporarily attached it to the base.

Once all 4 walls were framed I removed them and moved the base to it's permanent location. I then installed the walls.

After the walls were up I started working on the roof. Part of the reason I chose the 6 foot width was so I could use full width (4ft) plywood for sheeting and have an approximate 6" overhang. The roof is removable so that I can assemble and shingle it on the ground. Then 2 people can lift it on and it will be permanently attached. I did forget to add a window into the front.

Here's the start of the roof; it's got a 6/12 pitch.

And here's where I got to before the rain delay. I sheeted the roof on the ground and was able to lift it on the coop myself. It's still missing the first rafter. I'm going to finish framing then it will come down to be shingled. Then I'll need a second pair of hands to put it back on top as it's pretty heavy right now (100lbs or so). You can also see that I added the window and top and bottom supports for the coop door opening.

My little babies are just over a week old so I have only a couple more weeks before this has to be done. I'm going to paint it barn red with white trim and I'm going to make an enclosed 6x10 run off the left side.

 

[smarquis86]

I looks like your on your way I know the feeling about having to get the coop done. My ladies are 3 weeks old and im not even as far as you are. I had to wait for my wife to get done with school before I could start due to the fact someone has to watch the children. Good luck im sure it will be done in time.

 

[latebloomer]

looks great.

can't wait to see it develop.

 

[cobra2411]

Oh, I want to make sure that everyone knows that left and right is relative to the coop. So since you're looking at the front of the coop left and right are reversed.

Rain stopped and UPS came and delivered my D20 auto door motor so I installed the coop door and figured out the pulley system. Because the coop is so short there was no way to do it without using a pulley but it looks like it'll work fine. The pull is about 2.5-3lb which should be fine. The motor and pulley install on the roof section so I'm going to wait till I shingle it and reinstall it permanently before I finish installing the auto coop door motor.

Anyway here's a picture and video. In the video I'm raising the door by hand.

 

[cobra2411]

Well I've gotten more time to work on the coop, the girls still need to be inside but they are getting a little restless at almost 3 weeks old.

It's almost done.

I've got the siding (paneling) up - still need to cutout for the nesting boxes and front window. I've got the electric in and hooked up, I've got extra outlets for a water bowl heater and heat lamp for the winter as well as lights - both inside and out and the automatic coop door. The door and lights are on timers so I don't have to be a slave to the chickens... I'm already a slave to the dogs...

My neighbor's son (10) came over and begged and begged to paint so the coop got it's first coat of oops red ($5 at HD) paint before I had all the siding up. Looks good. I'm going to trim it out in white and probably just urethane the wood on the "porch".

The roof is fully shingled - I ended up doing it without removing the roof... Timing, my schedule and my helpers schedule weren't going to match up. It was nice that I didn't make the coop too tall.

A couple of things I would change... I would have cut the roof sheeting about 3" shorter so two full shingles would fit and overhang slightly. It would have made shingling a lot easier and it could have been done as there is still plenty of room on the "porch".

I also would have made the side walls 48" tall. I started at 36 and added a couple 2x3's to the top so they're about 42" tall. For DLM this is the shortest I would go... Because I went with a 6/12 A frame roof I'm not too worried but it would have been nice to make the coop door a little bigger. The problem I had is that I wanted an automatic guillotine type door and you have to have room for littler underneath and room for the door above. I was able to get a 13x13 opening for the coop door and my girls will just have to learn to duck when they go in and out. If you didn't want an automatic door you could make a side opening door and size wouldn't be as much of a problem. Also I probably could have done a top hinged door and swing it out but the D20 add a motor doesn't recommend that kind of installation.

The coop will have 3 large windows, vents in the peaks under the roof and soffit vents that I can block off in the winter. It's not insulated and I don't have plans to. My winter plans are to seal it as best as I can from drafts and use a heat lamp, or similar inside when it gets really cold. The birds I got are from the area so they should be cold hearty and winters here get into the average low 20's at night. We do occasionally have a cold spell to around 0 but it doesn't usually last long. Should I plan on adding some insulation?

 

[mcostas]

that's really nice! Good pictorial!

 

[cobra2411]

Well I got a lot more done since my last post. The coop is almost completely done. I still have some trim to do and make the side and rear windows and put the glass in them all but the chickens are in.

Here's the coop with the run doors open. You can open one and lay it on the other side or you can open both and either prop them up or tie them together. The sides are just low enough for me to straddle them to get in. I'm 6'2" though so smaller people would need a step of sorts on each side to be able to climb in.

Here you can see the one door fully open and on top of the other.

Here's the rear of the coop. You can see the rear window / access door and the power line going in.

Here's the rear access door open along with the cleanout hatch. The rear door is the main access to the coop for chores with the exception of egg collection. I'm using DLM so the cleanout hatch will be up till a cleanout, then I can just rake everything out into a container and into the compost pile / garden / trash - where ever I decide.

Here's the egg hatch into the nesting box. I can also reach the pop door in case there is a power outage or malfunction of the automatic door.

For better access to the pop door or for cleaning the nesting box is designed to swing out of the way. This is not planned as a common access to the coop. When it's closed it's supported well but when it's open I worry about the weight sagging the hinges.

Here's the view inside the coop from the open nesting box. You can see my temporary roost and temporary ramp to the pop door. You can also see the electrics, timers and heat lamp in case it gets cold.

And inside looking the other way

Lastly we have the front doors. The windows for the coop are going to be top hinged and I'll either use a prop rod or a chain to hold them open. This way if it rains it should deflect most if not all the rain away from the coop. I was generous with my overhangs on the roof and the coop has stayed dry in the last couple storms even without windows. The front doors give me access to the window, ramp and light as well as letting me get the hens out if they're in that area and letting me put them back in.

Overall I'm very happy with how everything turned out. It took a little longer and cost a little more then I thought but I suspect that's common. I have a DLM coop with shelter undeneath and a decent sized enclosed run. The run itself is 6x8 but there is also 6x6 available under the coop so I have more then 10sq/ft for each of my six hens. Inside is a little more then 3.5 x 5.5 for about 20 sq/ft usable which is just about 3.5sq/ft per bird, which is close to the 4sq/ft recommendation. The nesting box hangs off the side so I don't loose that interior space so I expect it should be just fine.

 

[animalpro24]

Quote:
Wow! it's very nice/beautiful. Great job.

 

[dcouette]

What a great coop and run!

 

[philandolivia]

looks like you have done a really good job.