My visit to Lowe's

[trooper]

I have wood flooring in mine and it seems to do fine.1 of them has treated with horse mats on it and it does good.I remove the liter then drag out the mats wash them let them dry and then put then back in.I'm building 2 other coops and I am using tongue and groove maple flooring.I will put some kind of finish on that to protect it.I use the deep liter method and I have found that I really don't have a problem with the poop sticking to my flooring.i keep plenty of shavings on the floor and they keep it turned over.

 

[CESpeed]

I have made my second trip to Lowe's! The gentleman who was lucky enough to help this time was very grateful to the posters on this forum who posted their pics and gave me direction.

It was a much easier trip. I think I've cut my cost in half. I've decided to go with the plywood with vinyl overlay. Which came to $ 30 which compared to $300 for a cement floor I think I've got a pretty good handle on the cost of my chicken coop now.

I'm using a lot of what I saw in those pictures particuarly that ceiling fan. With Arkansas heat I think that's going to be a must.

Thank you all for your input and kind assistance. The fun begins as I start to build this thing. There will be no blackmail material such as video but I will post pics of the finished product.

 

[Jakoda]

celia, no my chickens don't peck or bug the floor mats at all.. They have held up great..I got them pretty cheap last spring at a an XMas tree shop here, 4 boards that are 2' x 2' for 10.00.. However, A friend turned me on to BJ' Wholesale (like Sams, costco)...I got the same size but 8 mats for 17.00...Just picked them up for my new coop to add to what I have..


CES, good choice! I think you'll like it,,I got so many good ideas from this forum and now that I'm rebuilding, I have more ideas that I can implement.

OK I went to Lowes today and spent 500$ few tools the hubby needed, and the stuff to make my new poop board/nesting boxes, paint, etc,,which I can do over the winter in my basement..OOps ordered two new HUGE windows, screen door, so that added up...Thank goodness the boys at lowes cut all the wood for me, now I just have to put it together...I LOVE lowes
Diane

 

[CESpeed]

It looks like my tab will come to around $ 700. That's for a 6 x 12 coop and a 30 x 27 yard. Since that is more han I planned to spend (for only 1 chicken house) I need to rethink my plan. Or is this not unreasonable?

I can make the yard smaller but I want to encourage at least one or two broody hens and from what I understand they have to have a separate coop and the chicks they hatch need to have their own coop when they are big enough to fend for themselves.

What am I missing? Or overdoing? A lot these seemed to have been much cheaper so I'm experiencing sticker shock).

I'm planning to initially buy 12 hens and one rooster. I'm toying with the idea of a turkey and goose as well.

 

[fisherlady]

CESpeed... I don't think your cost is too high for the sizes you will be working with. Although you can always cut things by a little bit I have found that you rarely save much by doing so unless you make a significant change to better fit the 'normal' sizes that building materials come in. I planned our coop to be 12x12 with a 4' porch that actually made the structure 12x16. Inside is divided into 2 coops of 8x6 and as you walk in there is a 4 foot 'people area to use for storage of feed and necessities.
Construction materials usually come in 4x8 sheets for plywood and siding/T111.... 2x4's are usually either 'stud length' at 92" or a true 8ft. going smaller rarely saves money because you just end up spending the same on materials even if you have to cut it down to size, you just end up with more waste. Now if you go bigger you end up with extra expense because any boards over 8ft tend to rise sharply in cost.

So a coop made as a 6ft by 10 ft really isn't a whole lot cheaper than one built as an 8x12 because you don't buy a lot more in materials, you just don't have to cut things down as much and have the extra waste. Does that make sense?
Where you may save money is by planning ahead and gathering materials when they are on clearance or even better if you can find them at auctions or by watching sale papers/want ads for your area. There is often a lot of construction materials available in small quantities that folks have as 'left overs' from their own projects and you can find very cheap. You won't get it all in one pretty pile, and it takes more time, but it can save a lot of money. My windows were all gotten from yard sales or auctions, as were my doors. My interior walls were a discontinued panel board that my local lumber store wanted to get rid of and cut the price in half so they could empty the bin all at once.

Keep the outside run as large as you possibly can, you will be thankful in the long run!
Good luck and look forward to seeing your progress!

 

[Jakoda]

I agree with fisherlady My run is 12 x 20+ , I figured do it the way I wanted to the first time because I didn't want to rebuild..the money spent was well worth it.

I also agree with the size/length of wood, since normally you'd get 8 footers / 4x 8 pieces of whatever, I try to use all of it ..I'm rebuilding , my coop section in my 12 x 18 barn will be half that 12 x 9..the other side for storage,, I started in the spring with sectioning 4 x 12, and tho I didn't want my barn destroyed by a storm, in a way it's a good thing, as I can build a bigger inside area for the chickens..

It's fun to plan and get all the wonderful ideas from posts on this board
Diane

 

[backyardcelia]

BYC really is a fabulous place for fact finding and inspiration making! you are all inspiring!!
i have those foam sq.s in my cat liter area...what a great thought for the chickens too.

 

[CESpeed]

I just wanted to make sure this wasn't a case of me going overboard (I have a tendency to do that

). I definitely want to build it right the first time and I agree it will be well worth the investment in 10 years when my coop is still standing and looks like it when I first built it.

I'm very grateful for this forum and all of the information I'm getting from it. I'll be even happier when I'm able to share my experiences and help people like soooo many of y'all do.

THANKS!

 

[chicken dude]

I read that hens like to sit on their eggs when they get a clutch which is about 10 -12 eggs. Most of the time they lay in the same box but if I had 6-12 chickens I would make about 3 or 4 nesting boxes. I would make sure the house has an outside part where the chickens can scratch the ground freely and on the inside part I would use half inch square metal wire from a hardware store. I am not sure if this works but I read that you can substitute golf balls to make a clutch of eggs to help the chicken sit on her eggs. Be aware that the chicken will not lay eggs when she is sitting on her clutch.

 

[chicken dude]

I read that hens like to sit on their eggs when they get a clutch which is about 10 -12 eggs. Most of the time they lay in the same box but if I had 6-12 chickens I would make about 3 or 4 nesting boxes. I would make sure the house has an outside part where the chickens can scratch the ground freely and on the inside part I would use half inch square metal wire from a hardware store. I am not sure if this works but I read that you can substitute golf balls to make a clutch of eggs to help the chicken sit on her eggs. Be aware that the chicken will not lay eggs when she is sitting on her clutch.