- Jul 24, 2013
- 5
- 0
- 9
I've been reading these forums for months while trying to coax my husband into building me a chicken coop, and it finally happened!
It took much longer than I thought it would. But that is mainly because all of our wood was scrape pieces given to me from my job. So we had to work with varying sizes and thicknesses but we made it work. This is the first coop for either of us, we know there is plenty of room for improvement, and we're not completely finished (as I'm sure you can tell) I'd like to add a little window on the east side and of course finish the tin roof...can't decide if I should just paint it, or my husband had the idea to side it...personally that sounds like too much work.
Here is the frame. (See recycled wood.)
The floor space ended up being 4x8.
Progress on the patch work. It was a full days' work to get three sides & the nesting boxes done.
All done! When the only cost that went into the coop was the price for the hooks (to close the doors), hinges, and the venting you see up there. That was my light bulb moment. We had this overhang piece that we knew we wanted to be a vent area but weren't sure how to do it...as we walked through Menards I caught sight of these gutter covers with screen over the holes, cheap and easy. Wall-la!
The chicken door slides open. My husband made this part. I think it's neat but am leary of it in cold weather because I do not want to be out there at 6am in the snow trying to pry the door open... (hoping the overhang will help protect it)
Nesting boxes.
The back of the coop.
Roost #1. I grabbed a branch and hung it.
Roost #2, an old 2x4... we'll see which one they like more.
A view of the nesting boxes from inside the coop.
The girls!
We are all very excited to start our backyard flock! The kids argue over who is going to feed them, and open the door in the morning. I'm sure this will be short lived, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts.
It took much longer than I thought it would. But that is mainly because all of our wood was scrape pieces given to me from my job. So we had to work with varying sizes and thicknesses but we made it work. This is the first coop for either of us, we know there is plenty of room for improvement, and we're not completely finished (as I'm sure you can tell) I'd like to add a little window on the east side and of course finish the tin roof...can't decide if I should just paint it, or my husband had the idea to side it...personally that sounds like too much work.
Here is the frame. (See recycled wood.)
The floor space ended up being 4x8.
Progress on the patch work. It was a full days' work to get three sides & the nesting boxes done.
All done! When the only cost that went into the coop was the price for the hooks (to close the doors), hinges, and the venting you see up there. That was my light bulb moment. We had this overhang piece that we knew we wanted to be a vent area but weren't sure how to do it...as we walked through Menards I caught sight of these gutter covers with screen over the holes, cheap and easy. Wall-la!
The chicken door slides open. My husband made this part. I think it's neat but am leary of it in cold weather because I do not want to be out there at 6am in the snow trying to pry the door open... (hoping the overhang will help protect it)
Nesting boxes.
The back of the coop.
Roost #1. I grabbed a branch and hung it.
Roost #2, an old 2x4... we'll see which one they like more.
A view of the nesting boxes from inside the coop.
The girls!
We are all very excited to start our backyard flock! The kids argue over who is going to feed them, and open the door in the morning. I'm sure this will be short lived, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts.
