My coop design and build blog

[Rancid Crbtree]

And so it begins. Ive designed the coop I want to build and I have begun construction. I will post the build pics here as I progress.

We plan on 10 meat birds and 6 eggers. This will be a new addition to our new homestead. The focus will be on predator control (since we lots of them. After talking to a few folks up here who raise or have raised chickens, Predator considerations are pretty important. Coon, skunk, bobcat, all the members of the weasel family, fox, feral cats, coyote, bear and even a rouge mountain lion (passing through) and more will have a desire to get a free chicken dinner wile I sleep. I aim to prevent that from happening by building a coop that is safe for them at night.

This is not my first coop nor is it my first time raising chickens. I bought the run but have plans to improve it.

Im a designer by trade (medical devices not chicken coops) and using 3D CAD for building projects is something Ive done for many decades.

Here is the design.

 

[Rancid Crbtree]

 

[Penpal]

On your nest boxes, I would have the door open on the opposite side so that it drops down, not up. This way, you don't have to hold up the lid when you get the eggs.

 

[LaurelC]

On your nest boxes, I would have the door open on the opposite side so that it drops down, not up. This way, you don't have to hold up the lid when you get the eggs.

that complicates weatherproofing the seam between the top of the nest box and the wall of the coop. Depending on the OP's plans, having the back wall hinged on the bottom may be an easier way to go. The "seam" can be tucked under the overhang from the nest box roof and the wall doubles as a shelf to set an egg basket down if you need both hands to deal with a broody hen or anything. It's easy enough to add a hinged 2x4 to act as a prop too if they're worried about putting extra stress on the hinged area.

 

[Sefirothe]

If that’s a typical pipe and chicken wire run from some place like Amazon or Wayfair, consider:

1.Bracing the hell out of it. It will collapse under a snow load of a couple inches.

2. Ditch the crappy chicken wire it came with and use hardware cloth. The chicken wire will keep chickens in but no predators out.

 

[jreardon1918]

that complicates weatherproofing the seam between the top of the nest box and the wall of the coop. Depending on the OP's plans, having the back wall hinged on the bottom may be an easier way to go. The "seam" can be tucked under the overhang from the nest box roof and the wall doubles as a shelf to set an egg basket down if you need both hands to deal with a broody hen or anything. It's easy enough to add a hinged 2x4 to act as a prop too if they're worried about putting extra stress on the hinged area.

I have a rather heavy egg door that opens the way you show. I ended up adding gas pistons. Still I wish I had done a front door. You could consider a front door. Maybe a sliding door. If the overhang is large enough I think it would be watertight. This type door would also allow easier access to the eggs. Especially if you might have little ones collecting the eggs. I added my 2 cents to the suggestions jar.

 

[Rancid Crbtree]

 

[homesteading101]

Looks great so far

 

[jreardon1918]

Nice large overhangs.

 

[Rancid Crbtree]

Im creating a lot of closed off ventilation (so pests cant get in from the roof portion) and to give it a finished look so that all the buildings on the homestead have the same colors and materials.