My First Coop! (lots of pictures)

[larsocam]

I just finished building my first coop to start a small flock of chickens. It took me a little longer than I had planned for, but was able to finish the big stuff over the weekend, and have slowly been adding little features the rest of the week. My biggest concern was size since I had to build it at my parents house, then drive it 70 miles to where I live. To accomplish this I kept it small, 3'x3' floor plan, and all the walls are in panel form so it can be taken apart easily (less than 15 minutes). Unless something falls through I will be getting 3 pullets tomorrow off Craigslist. Let me know what you all think and if you have any suggestions for things to modify/future coop designs. Thanks!

Mostly assembled at my parents house (my dad has all the nice power tools)




Tried to get some good use out of my jigsaw



All loaded up in the car (including my dog up in the front seat)





All afternoon adding the chicken wire and setting up the pen





Roost with Poop Board



Watering System (found a water jug free of craigslist, some PVC and a few chicken nipples later and they have water inside and outside of the coop)







Feed Station (more PVC)



The Final Product

 

[Mindychick]

Wow this is great!!! I realy like the food and water system. How did you build it?

Mindychick

 

[NovaAman]

Lovely! One suggestion, invest in hardware cloth. Chicken wire keeps chickens in. That's it. I will not keep out a dog or a raccoon. Raccoons are the worst. Smart and dangerous. Otherwise, it is very very nice!

 

[Mr Hoot]

Big fan of the food and water system.

I never even thought of that

 

[PeepsAreForMe]

Lovely! One suggestion, invest in hardware cloth. Chicken wire keeps chickens in. That's it. I will not keep out a dog or a raccoon. Raccoons are the worst. Smart and dangerous. Otherwise, it is very very nice!

I agree - hardware cloth is the way to go. But this is adorable! You won't be able to fit more than three chickens in there (I know this because mine is not much bigger and I have 3 girls and one very large roo, thats why we are building a bigger one), so what happens when Chicken Math strikes???

 

[larsocam]

Quote:
I only used chicken wire since I had a bunch of it around and didn't really want to spend the money on hardware cloth. I used that for the actual coop so I can lock them in there at night if predators start to become a problem. My yard is all fenced in so the only dog I have to worry about is my own, and if anything looks like it is making an attempt to get in there I will definitely take the pen down and redo it with hardware cloth (anyone have any links to some at a good price?)


Quote:
The waterer was pretty simple actually once I found the right fittings after staring at the wall of all the different connectors at Home Depot for about a half hour. I pretty much just took out the regular spout on the water cooler thing, replaced that with some PVC then used a bunch of 1" pipe I had laying around and a few chicken nipples. After a lot of aquarium sealant it no longer leaks and hopefully will stay that way.

The feeder is also just some 4" PVC pipe I had, a 45 degree elbow at the top to make filling easier and then a piece called a Wye at the bottom so they have room to stick there heads in there and get some food.

As of about 7:30 this morning I am now the proud owner of three pullets. A Barred Rock (Peggy), a Sagitta (Joan) and a Barnevelder/? Cross (Betty) - the previous owner wasn't entirely sure which chicken she came from. Sorry the pictures aren't so great, my cell phone kept trying to focus on the chicken wire instead of the chickens.





Anyone know what this Barnevelder might be crossed with?

 

[just me]

I really like the use you made of the jigsaw!!

 

[Roxannemc]

For a very first coop or 5th WONDERFUL JOB and yes feeder & waterer so innovative. First time i have seen this idea.Let us know how they do eaitng out of the pipe.I might try it myself!!

 

[Roxannemc]

Oh and you can always put the hardware cloth over the chicken wire. or on the opposite side of the 2x4 .Gives a little air space keeping critters out.For my dogs i left the bottom loose not stapled so if they dig at it their claws will get caught and they wont try it again. Works.
Dont know about critters though

 

[TTeddy]

I don't have photo's, but for mine...A similar idea you can do using the pipe as you have with the water and feeder.. Same concept, but have an elbow in it with an end. Drill some holes (by about one inch) along the top of the horizontal pipe (as many as you see like). That's it. This can be used for water and grain, for chooks or quail.