New Coop being Built at MoonShadows Farm

[aart]

No. I actually bought the moon about a year or so ago at a craft show in New Jersey. It is copper. I've been looking for a place to display it ever since I bought it.

Ahhh, it *is* real metal.....didn't think copper, as it looks more yellow than orange in the pic. Nice piece of artwork.

 

[MoonShadows]

Thanks, Scooter!

aart...Guess it is highly polished, might even have a protective coating. It's been in the box since I bought it over a year ago. I guess, with time, it will get a nice green patina....at least I hope so.

 

[Eileen 1930]

I love seeing all these new coops and I am happy for you all but I am retired and don't need that kind of work.

I have just enough to keep me happy and I can brag on my eggs and pretty chickens. But I love this website

it has a lot of information to help those who have more land and are young LOL

Go fr it

Eileen 1930

 

[Eileen 1930]

Wow that is a dream coop for me. I could be very happy with it.

You go Guys

 

[MoonShadows]

Hi Eileen,

We each have our own "wants" and "needs". We decided to go with all purchased materials after we got a whopping tax check back this year, otherwise we never could have afforded the money we put into our coop and run, and maybe we should have used it for something else....but, we have not taken a vacation in 18 years, so we decided to "treat" ourselves.

We have a good amount of land, but we're not so "very young" at 57 years old. We'd like to get some milk goats next year.

We're glad you liked our coop.

Thanks.
Jim

 

[Eileen 1930]

Hi Jim that's a good name my son is James goes by Jim. well I am 83 yr old and I can not complain everything is good. I
have been so good health wise so I am outside alot fresh Florida sunshine. LOL A friend of mine raises goats and makes cheese and lots of good stuff. Makes good money too so that would be good if you had some goats to clean up your yard and they are fun so tame...

Good Luck and God Bless you both

Eileen

 

[MoonShadows]

Hi Eileen,

I want to start with two milk goats. As I grow older, I find my interests turning to simpler ways of living and self-sufficiency. I want to learn how to make cheese. If I like having the goats, who knows, maybe I'll get more. I'm also thinking of raising a few pot belly pigs. I would love to raise Alpacas, but I can't convince family members. Where do you live in Florida? I lived in Brandon, a little west of Tampa back in 1984-85. What a beautiful area that was back then. For a guy who doesn't really like the winter, I often wonder how I wound up living in the Pocono Mountains. I see you raise ducks, too.

Jim

 

[Eileen 1930]

Hi Jim, Thanks for your reply. Yes I love my runners they are so much to watch. I am 40 miles south of Brandon and we do like Florida. But I am pleased with the ducks and chickens I have and also when we raised tropical birds I had a African Grey pair gave me 4 Babies so I kept one and he talks all the time and I think he has stopped are house from being broke into, as we found the screen cut on windows.

Oh you will like the goats and the cheese is so good, you will need to grow herbs to add to the cheese. Basil and rosemary, oregano, parsley, and what ever else you like. I think you are on to some thing you will have a great success. You are the age we were when got into the birds. So I think you are on the right track and should do very well. You are very smart after seeing you Coop my husband wasn't a carpenter like you.

So good luck

Eileen

 

[Ray~Ray]

I'm new to this but do you have a list of all the materials you used for this Coop?

​

MoonShadows Farm Chicken Coop and Run
​

​

Originally from the city, we moved to the suburbs and eventually to the country here in Stroudsburg, PA 18 years ago. We have 16 acres, mostly wooded, and we always talked about raising chickens. Finally, this year, we decided to make it a reality. Sixteen chicks arrived in early April and were placed in our homemade brooder. Next task was to build a coop for them. We poured over the coop designs and coop posts on BYC in addition to buying Chicken Coops for Dummies. Our coop design began to take shape.

The coop is 10' x 8' with 6' 6" walls and a gabled roof. The run will be 32' x 10'. The coop has 5 windows, an automatic chicken door, a human door, a bump out nesting area with 5 nesting boxes, 2 rows of roosts over galvanized pans, two gable vents, an enclosed storage area for food and cleaning supplies, and room for a future brooder/hospital area. The interior floor is coated with a rubber roof coating (Blackjack 57), the exterior walls are of 1" rough cut Eastern Yellow Pine (for an older look), and the roof is architectural asphalt shingles.

The Plans



Front
​

Back​

North Side



South Side​

The Construction​

The coop is about 50 feet behind our house on what used to be a hill going down to the back field. Last year we brought in about 25 dump trucks of fill to extend the yard by about another 18 feet, and it is on this "extension" that we decided to put the coop. As you can see, the area is still slightly slopped towards the field, so each pier is a different height. We decided to use concrete blocks placed on gravel for footings.


The base is built of 2x6s and pressure treated wood "plates" in each corner to rest on the concrete blocks.
Joists are hung using joist holders for extra strength.


The floor is 5/8 OSB. (I thought that would be sufficient, and it is just for chickens, but with joists on 24" centers,
there was a lot of give to the floor for us humans. I later added another 1/2" of plywood to the floor.)​

 

[breakawaystar212]

We completed the run.



And just have to enclose the nesting boxes.



But, it looks like we might be rained out today and tomorrow.

If you want to see the slide show version of the complete build to date (only 2 minutes) go to www.Farm-Fresh-Eggs.com/coop

Hey by any chance do you remember the dimensions for your nesting boxes. The coop and run came out awesome