My new Hen House - from bare ground to roof peak

[Sledrock]

Hello all!

On August the 5th I received 20 day-old chicks in the mail. Then I started on their new hen house. It's 95 percent complete. I will build them an outside pen in the near future - after my bones and muscles get back to normal....

One thing I forgot to add to the website that also still needs doing - build some frames and inclose them with hardware cloth and screw the frames to the front of the windows - to keep critters out...

Here is the link to the project: http://smittyshens.homestead.com/home.html

Thanks in advance for taking a look!

 

[Mahonri]

Handsome son and GREAT CHICKEN COOP

Now you just need to build your run and make certain that it's secure.

 

[Carols Clucks]

Very nice!

and Lester is Lucky

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Very nice house and brooder! I think you're going to be really pleased with the results of all your hard work once your birds start their lives in the coop. Good luck with the run!

 

[Arcnadius]

Wow! Awesome coop...Where were you when I was building mine? Yours looks like you knew what you were doing while mine looks like it was built by a woman who knows nothing about carpentry. Oh, wait. It was!

I envy your birds.

 

[drumstick diva]

Great coop how many chickens can it hold?? Waiting to see pictures when you build their pen.

 

[EMAW]

Amazing coop!!!!!!!!

 

[AllAlaskan]

makes me want to build a new one now lol, looks really good

 

[Sledrock]

Thanks for the kind and encouraging replys, everyone!

I am pretty proud of how it turned out, despite some mistakes I made while building it, and the fact that the biggest thing I've ever built before was a doghouse

I spent a lot of time reading about framing, roofing, building window and door headers and window sills, etc, etc... I even got some carpentry ideas from some kind folks on this board back in August - thanks again for those!

I did 95 percent of it by myself. A buddy and neighbor did help me get the OSB boards up on the roof, and the OSB boards on the ceiling, and my wife was kind enough to strip the paint off the old door and paint it. Other than that, I was on my own...

It cost more than I originally figured (probably about $2300.), but that includes R11 insulation in the ceiling and R13 in the walls. And the trip to Iowa for the windows (the exact kind/size I was looking for) cost $100 for the windows (I have 2 left over to sell) and another $107. in gas. (I got 5 windows for $100. and they are Big, vinal, insulated and double-pane) I really fretted over driving all the way up there to get them, but I couldn't find anything close to what I wanted around here and at that price, and I couldn't start framing walls until I knew what size the holes would be for the windows... The thing that really kept me going on this project was the chicks were growing fast, fast, fast...

I gave the interior walls (OSB) about 3 coats of Kilz (was going to paint over that with some old paint left over from the house, but I ran out of time and motivation to do that.) Figured, what the heck, it's only a hen house - lol

Under the roosts, I put down 2 2x4s on edge and layed down a super-thin piece of real slick paneling (which I let overhang about 6 inches on the one side. I can remove the side paneling board when it's time clean out under there and just use a hoe to rake all the poop into a container. (Figured I'll get one of those long plastic planters that will fit under the edge to collect the 'fertilizer' in)

On the outside, chicken run, door, I hinged it at the Bottom so that when it's lowered it makes a ramp for the birds to walk in and out on. (Wish I had one of those super-dooper auto closing doors - maybe get one later after I get 'rich' selling all those extra eggs

I was So Glad when I was able to Move the young chickens out of the brooder. It was almost inhumane how big they were for that thing. They sure seem to enjoy their new home!

To the person who asked about how many chickens the new house will accomadate - I'd say up to 36 - which would give them about 4 sq foot each - I have 20, so I'm confident they have plenty of space...

After I enclose the soffit and bury hardware cloth around the outside of house and them start thinking about building them an outside run. I may even wait till spring to start on that...

I figured I'll make it about 20 x 25. I have a roll of 2x4 wire with about 90 feet left on it (might have to buy a little more) that's 6 feet high. I'll probably use treated 6x6s for the corners and 8 foot landscaping timbers for the other posts. Will bury the posts 2 feet deep and put concrete around them and probably attach hardware cloth to the bottom of fence and bury it under ground to keep out any digging varmints. I have to Make Sure I remember to close the hen house access door at night - we have lots of coons around here! I had chcickens before and the one time I forgot to close their door, a coon got in there and killed 15 of my 25 RIRs in one night! I was sick about that!

I have a little dog that needs a new house, and I have enough materials left over to build him a nice one, complete with shingles for a roof

Now I have to get busy and clean out the 2 garage bays where I was cutting boards on one bay and painting trim board and facia boards on the other. (My wife wants her garage parking spot back!)

Now, I'm counting the weeks until the nice, brown eggs start showing up The chicks were born on August 4th, so I figure they'll start laying around the 3rd or 4th week in December. (Wonder if I can name them all and claim them on my income taxes?

I will post some pics of the run when I get it done...

Thanks again for the kind words!

 

[joebryant]

I only see one thing that you did that I would have done differently.
I would have built a shed for the chickens on the side of that house.
Then I'd've put some furniture in the house for someone to live in for free and take care of my chickens for me.