New Coop Project

[mccordsk]

So I started raising backyard chickens a little over a year ago. I had a simple store bought coop and designed my own watering and food system (took a lot of ideas from this very site!)
Well this past winter was devastating to my small flock of Rhode island reds. It was a cold winter here in southern ohio, so I had a big issues with predators, I also work off shift hours so must issues i came home to. I had some coyotes attack the coop getting 2 of my girls and wounding one, raccoons digging out a few more. I placed traps, motion lighting, even would bring the birds into the garage at night. But I lost the winter battle.
So... that being said the store bought coops are great for people that want to have a small flock and live in areas that the biggest predators are your neighbors yappy yorkie dog, I've decided to start construction on something a little more structurally suitable for the more rural area I live in.
This is not a budget build, but I will post deals and mods as I go, I hope to have it completed by July depending on weather and availability of materials well and of course cost... please feel free to drop tips and suggestions as this process develops! Thanks everyone!

the hole is dug and ready to be leveled, this spot has some underlying drainage already installed to keep my yard dry, so this will keep the coop area dry even during the wet season.

This is the overall concept of the design, most of you will find it familiar and have seen it before, the designer has plans available for 100 of coop designs, but you do have to pay for them, lucky I have a brother that is a contractor and carpenter so I didn't have to pay the $20 for the planes, just using it as a concept. But I will say that for 20 bucks getting a complete set of plans and material list is not a bad deal if you don't have the availability of knowing someone that can help you.

 

[IamRainey]

It looks wonderful and how fortunate are you to have a contractor brother! I wish you a lot of success. I know it will be just for being sturdy enough to keep out those predators. Make sure the hardware cloth goes either out or down enough to prevent digging attacks!

I'll look forward to following your progress.

 

[mccordsk]

It looks wonderful and how fortunate are you to have a contractor brother! I wish you a lot of success. I know it will be just for being sturdy enough to keep out those predators. Make sure the hardware cloth goes either out or down enough to prevent digging attacks!

I'll look forward to following your progress.

Thank you! There is a plan to have concrete runners that the coop will be built on to, so there will be 6 inches of concrete below ground to deter digging under the coop

 

[ClockRoach]

Building new coops is probably my favorite part of having chickens. I wish I could do it more often!

The design looks solid, but I think the most important thing to think about and plan well are access points. Think about where all the doors are. Where will their food and water be? Where are the nesting boxes? You'll need to be picking up eggs daily, checking their food and water regularly, going in and out to clean and check on them, etc.

If the coop in that picture plops straight onto your lot, it looks like the nesting boxes will be right along that back fence. Do you really want to be squeezing back there every day with a double handful of eggs? If that's your neighbor's lot, do you want them to be able to just reach across and grab breakfast?

It's pretty easy to remodel roosts and ventilation and even expand runs down the line, but changing where all the doors are can be tough.

Good luck on the build!

 

[mccordsk]

Update,

Found is level and concrete is poured, weather or work schedules has not meshed well, but finally making progress.

Instead of poring a complete slab it made more sense to just do footers, concrete is about 4 inches thick on the level side, but dips to almost 8 inches think on the low side, it's just over a yard of concrete all together or 67 80lb barges of mix for anyone that would like to get an idea of cost.

 

[mccordsk]

Chicks are already here, weather delays have made the time table a little tight, hopefully it will be done by the time they are ready to move out side

 

[townchicks]

That looks really nice, I'm looking forward to seeing it finished.

 

[jthornton]

You better hurry they grow like weeds lol.

That's one good looking foundation!

JT

 

[mccordsk]

Walls are up!

 

[aart]

That looks GREAT!