My First Coop.

[coolcanoechic]

Do you plan to paint the inside? It will make cleaning easier. Use a good primer and two coats of tough washable paint.

 

[chickenbythesea]

Do you plan to paint the inside? It will make cleaning easier. Use a good primer and two coats of tough washable paint.

how does painting make it easier to clean?

 

[coolcanoechic]

how does painting make it easier to clean?

Unpainted wood will absorb oders and also the wet poop the chickens like to fling up on the walls.

 

[chickenbythesea]

wow... we must have very neat chickens... our have never flung poop on the wall.. and it's generally never wet. Maybe this stinkyness happens after years of having a coop? We haven't painted the inside and it doesn't smell at all. The only time there was a bit of odour was in the spring when we were cleaning out from doing deep litter for the winter.

 

[coolcanoechic]

wow... we must have very neat chickens... our have never flung poop on the wall.. and it's generally never wet. Maybe this stinkyness happens after years of having a coop? We haven't painted the inside and it doesn't smell at all. The only time there was a bit of odour was in the spring when we were cleaning out from doing deep litter for the

I notice a definate smell when they poop on the ramp that I have not painted yet, compared to my other ramp which is painted. I also have noticed that it takes twice as much scrubbing to get the poop off the unpainted ramp. And, yes, I don't know how they do it, but they get poop on the walls. I should set up a cam to see what they are doing in there.

 

[chickenbythesea]

to be perfectly honest, my chickens don't seem to be like what a lot of folks write about their chickens. Mine don't have a defined head hen... I know she's there but you'd never be able to pick her out. They all get along, they roost politely, they don't peck each other and they're very friendly. And other than when they were chicks, they're actually rather neat and tidy. Now, they are also hatchery chickens and I'm now raising a number of heritage breeds and they definitely seem different in all areas, so who knows.. maybe they'll fling poop on the walls

 

[sdsmowen]

Please post pictures of the roof once you get the grass going I think this is a fantastic design what a neat idea

 

[Almric]

I'll do my best to update the photos. Currently work has stopped until I can find a couple people to help me move it to its final location Too heavy for me to do myself, and I don't want to add to its weight by putting the sod on until after it's not going to be moved anymore. Just need to coordinate my brother and dad coming over......

 

[lukieseggs]

i used 1x2s for my ramp. when it snows the chickens slide a bit going down. they keep their balance pretty well. lol

 

[Almric]

Well, I wasn't able to find anyone to help move it, so I had to slowly seesaw it back and forth across the lawn and into the old raised garden bed.



The original plan had been for it to be under a lilac bush somewhere else, so if I had known it was to end up here, I would have put the nesting boxes on the outside instead of where they are now next to the fence I then went and bought some pressure treated wood so I could start making the frames for two outer edges of the coop. After cutting and screwing (and bleeding a few times) I ended up with these works of art.



A screwed them in under the support posts of the coop, and then used whatever left over lumber I could find in my garage to finish up the exposed areas as well as build a door. The final (for now) coop now looks like this:



There is still a lot I can do, but I think it's done to the point I can actually put some chickens in it My brother runs a small layer operation so he said I can steal a few of his birds to start out with while I try and track down what kind I want to have next spring

Good times!