My coop

[Laura78]

We've decided to build our coop as soon as the rain lets up a little. I'm using an old shelf from a machine shop (is very strong use to hold lots of metal, had a piece of linolium on it). The floor plan will be 4x8 feet. I'm hoping that will be big enough, if not I'll either add on to it or build another. I've chosen to do a lean-to style of roof, and at this point I'm not doing shingles, but a fiberglass waved thingy (not sure of the name). The frame work will be done with 2x4s, and the walls will be OSB. I figured out cost of materials to be about $125 at Lowes, I picked up 2 gallons of paint at Lowes for $5 each, they were rejects, I'm hoping it'll be enough. One gallon is a rusty red color and the other a light grey. The door will be 2 feet wide, (about the same as our bathroom door). I'm adding 2 windows, they won't have glass in them but wire to let air in, I'll have window covers too. We're using a lot of cheap materials since only one person is working and we've got kids.

As for the run, we're not sure of the over all size yet. We're going to build it with field fencing and 6 feet high so we can clean it easier. At the bottom of the run I'll also be adding chicken wire about 4 feet high, right now I've got a roll of 2 foot high 150 ft long chicken wire. The fencing frame is going to be 4x4s that we've got laying around and 2x4s.

 

[timbofarms]

That sounds good you'll have to post pictures we want to see. The dang rain is never going to stop. I'm going to have to start buying life jackets for my birds.LOL

 

[Laura78]

That's exactly how I feel Tim, lol. We went to Lowes and looked at other fencing posts and decided to get the 7 foot tall metal posts that are used for pasters, they'll go about a foot into the ground too. Still going to do the double fencing. And once summer kicks in I'll probably do the add on to the coop, making it 4x16 feet, 7 feet tall in the middle and 6 feet tall on the sides.

 

[Laura78]

Ok, so run will be 8x12x6 feet with the option to expand as needed. The cover will be netting and the posts will be the kind used for pasters, fencing will be down into the ground.

The coop will orginally be 4x8 feet to get the birds into it, I will start adding on to it once summer hits, the final over all size will be 8x8 feet. And if we ever want to make it even larger I can just add onto the back and knock the back wall out.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Instead of fencing down into the ground, have you looked at laying an apron horizontally? Could be a lot less digging for you. Take hardware cloth 18 to 24 " wide, attach it to the bottom of your fence and bury it about 2 " deep. That's the depth of the sod. Some people just lay it on top of the ground and let the grass grow through it to hold it down. The idea is that the predator comes up to the fence, starts digging, hits the fence and can't get through.

 

[Laura78]

Quote:
That's basicly what we were going to do with the utility fencing, just a few inches down. Was also thinking of putting bushes around the fence once we get the final size figured out.

 

[Laura78]

Hope it's ok to keep a thread as a coop/run diary.......

So I talked to a contractor today and he doesn't think it's a good idea to use OSB cause I'll be replacing it every year. He said I should go with stuff rated for outside, so after figuring the cost of the 4'x8' panels, primer, and paint, I found out it's cheaper to go with concret panels. Those panels wouldn't even need painting, but I'll eventually paint them. The wall that I plan to tear down when I expand the run will be made of OSB though.

I picked up my posts for the run and tried to locate some netting for the top, looks like I'll have to go to a garden place to get that though. Couldn't stay out long, I picked up 2 little Polish chicks from a BYC member while out.

 

[Carolina Chicken Man]

I was reading downt through your thread and I'm glad to see you're not using OSB. It is not made for exterior use.

What kind of concrete panels are you talking about? Do you mean fiber cement? I can't imagine that would be cheaper than the T-111 siding. That's what I have on mine.

 

[Laura78]

Quote:
I'm not sure exactly what it's made of but it's about $25 for a 4'x8' board. The T-111 is about $25-30ish (depending on the thinkness and style), then primer is no less than $55 for 5 gal and paint is no less than $55 for 5 gal when I'm finally done (8'x8') coop we're talking 10 gal of each, so I think the concrete panels would be cheaper.

 

[Laura78]

I've also been tossing around the idea of adding a second floor on the sides (you know, so the birds can use it but so we don't hit our heads on it).