New Coop going up in Florida!

[Daolin]

Well I started my coop yesterday and figured I could post a few pics of the framing. I want to say thank you to all of you for the posts you make on these forums and all of the information you have on this website, I couldn't have designed the coop with all of the necessities without you

My wife and I have decided we only want a max of 4 hens, just enough eggs for a family of 4 for a week, although I must admit after reading these forums I have already thought about having more, but I already built the coop so I can't yet

My design is a 4'x4'x4' coop with nesting boxes hanging outside. I plan on using hardi board for the exterior from scraps a contractor friend of mine will give me. I also started on and will finish the entire inside of the coop with hardi siding as well so I can wash the whole coop down without worrying about any rot to the wood. We also are building a drawer style floor that we can completely pull out to clean.

The best part..thus far the coop has only cost me out of pocket $60 for the interior hardi board. All of the lumber for the frame is from left over wood from other projects, mostly 2x6's that I ripped in half on a table saw. THe tin roof is left over tin from a roof I did 8+years ago. I even used thermax for insulation that I had left over as well, so not only did I clean up a lot of old materials I am getting a nice coop out of it.

So, here are the pictures. And I will update this post when I am finished. This is 2 days of work.

Using a canopy to keep cool in the Florida sun

The first 2 walls, famosa tree going across and a leg of the canopy I had over the works site (kept me nice and cool)

View from back side with nesting box area. The chicken door in center on right, door to open and clean opposite side where sawzall lays. Vent windows on back above nesting box and opposite side wall. Drawer floor underneath where you see the orange level.

That's it for now. I did start hardie board on the inside walls, but didn't take pictures yet. Hopefully I will be finished the coop next weekend as I have to work during the week.

Thanks for looking, any tips/suggestions are certainly appreciated.

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

I started mine yesterday too! Where in Florida are you? Looks like you wont have to shovel in sand

Looking good so far!

 

[welasharon]

Need to make sure you have lots and lots of shade/ventilation or you'll be baking chicken!
sharon

 

[Daolin]

St. Augustine, Florida.

I have 2 spaces at the top 6" x 42" long that I plan on making permanently open with chicken wire or whatever across it, will that be enough? They will be across from each other for cross ventilation. It is somewhat under oak trees, so I think the afternoon sun will be shaded. Should I not use the thermax for insulation?

Thanks
Todd

 

[melloladies]

hello and

Just wanted to chime in that I just peeked on my girls- their coop is completely hw cloth on top, plus two vents on the upper wall, and a window- and my big blue girl is panting... no breeze tonight. Sooooo- maynot not the insulation. It got to like 18 degrees here over the winter and they were fine (we threw blankets up over the hw cloth and blocked the window...)
Looking good though!

 

[welasharon]

I have an open air pen and I am in North FL near Tallahassee. Mine faired well this winter with nothing but one solid wood wall and some plastic covering the hardware cloth. This past summer there were days when they were quite warm and the whole pen is covered and is under growing vines. I put sand in and would wet areas down for them in the mornings to help cool. I would be surprised if you needed insulation for the winter unless you have seramas or something like that. Chickens tend to handle cold much better than heat.
Here you can see the partial wall that is connected to the back wall. The rest are just hardward cloth. You can see how the vines cover it.

Here you can see the front with the two connected pens. TIP: build much bigger than you think you need....The solid wall is in the left side addition and you can see how open it is.

Basically I have a run and pen built together.

 

[Daolin]

Wow thanks for the help. Should I maybe enclose the nesting boxes with the hardware cloth then instead of hardie siding it or do the nesting boxes need to be more secure to comfort them? I do not plan on breeding, just hens for egg laying.

That would give extra ventilation and should I make the door opening just hardware cloth as well? That sounds like what I should do, I was just concerned in the rare times it does drop down to 30's in the winter it would be quite cold for them.

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

I am building something close to this coop
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=64832-chicken-coop

So yeah...more hardwire the better plus shade
I even thought of putting awnings on mine

But found a good shady spot so I shouldnt have to do that.

 

[Daolin]

That's a nice endeavor on that coop, challenging to build I'm sure, but it is a nice one.

 

[welasharon]

The more hardware cloth I would think the better but mine like hidey holes to lay in so not sure about the cloth there. You can always put plastic or plexi or even panels of plywood over the sides since it isn't so big for winter time. I worried about mine before the winter but they did just fine. The summer heat is just so much worse on them. They have high body temperatures already and can't sweat so they pant and hold their wings away from their body. I have read on here where more people have lost birds to heat than cold.
Also with the inside being not tall the heat is held in closer to the chickens. I have a serama pen that is only four foot tall and I will be raising it in a couple weeks. I was in there this weekend and it was so hot near the top and it is all hardward cloth too with a panel roof.

sharon