New coop, small, street legal :P

[sailtexas186548]

The girls are full time in the coop/run now. I made a few more changes like adding more secure latches on the coop and run doors. I also added a block on the ramp so it is less steep and they are using it without difficulty.

Installed a hanging feeder, still using a basic watering unit, need to get the automatic one put together...

here are the girls, the 2 polish were not in the best health when we got them, one is doing great now the other is slowly improving, have her in isolation taking some Tylan in her water (started having respiratory symptoms), I think she will survive.

Easter egger:

austrawhite (who is getting more black/grey feathers as she gets older), and the silkie

we had a late cold front so I put the heat lamp in the coop, it was fine for a couple days but I guess I knocked it loose when I shut the door and it almost burned the coop down! Lucky the fire put it self out, and no one was harmed. I guess I won’t rely On the clamp anymore and will screw The light to the rafters if I need it again.

Now to teach them to sleep in the coop instead of the run...

 

[sailtexas186548]

First “free ranging” attempt!

 

[sailtexas186548]

Well no luck with the new waterer, it’s too hot to pull the one they are using to force them to learn. We will try in the fall when it cools down.

Everyone is healthy and roosting together at night, I guess the coop is Ok for 5 chickens.

they have free run of the yard without supervision these days as long as we are home. We put them In The run when at work, they haven’t strayed too far down the street yet but I’m sure they would

 

[sailtexas186548]

Well we got a second identical egg today, and caught the austrawhite “Popeye” in the nest box just before hand, so I think she laid the first one too

 

[hayley3]

The coop reminds me of a Victorian home...very cute! Love the Polish chickens...they are easily picked up by hawks because they can't see well. I lost my polish hen, Ivy because of that in November of last year, when the hawks were passing through migrating. But she got out while I was not home and flew over the fence.

I've been wanting to make a trailer that I could haul plywood on, and since you can haul an entire coop, surely I could make something that will work.

 

[sailtexas186548]

Just need to add the hardware cloth and a ramp to the coop from the run, and paint. Should be done in another evening or two

 

[Fluffyflufffluff]

The wife has four chicks coming on Saturday so over the last few weekends I threw a coop together. Like all good projects it got out of hand quick!

We live on Clear Lake (south of Houston), our yard is 5 or 6 feet above sea level so every few years we get a foot or two of water in the yard, and hurricane evacuations are all too frequent. Obviously a coop/run on the ground would be an issue, and chickens in the house or car doesn’t sound great. I have a garage (metal building) on high Ground a few miles away, so the natural solution was a coop I could move easily.

We only want a few chickens (for now! ha), so a small 4’x4’ coop and an 8x10 run, on a trailer, with max height less than 12’ fit the bill.

I was going to start with a 7x10 low-boy trailer, but that was really too much trailer for how little it will be moved around, and not cheap. Instead I picked up a 1200lb capacity trailer from harbor freight for a few hundred bucks

I built a pressure treated wood platform to serve as a run floor, started
some 2x6 and 2x10 boards lagged down to the trailer frame.

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from there I threw some concepts together

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used the model to get a materials list together then started building. I used 1/2 PT CDX for the run floor, and t25 drive 3” coated deck screws and 2x4 studs for 99% of the rest of the wood structure.

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then I put three sides on the coop (4’x4’x4’) using LP SmartSide to match my house, and some roof framing for a hip roof at a 12:12 pitch

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I continued with the lower roof framing, not really following proper framing techniques but I was trying to keep it as light weight as possible and minimize the areas I would have to seal up from predators

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i was going to put external nest boxes on, but in the process of building a poop board support I ended up with some 12”x14”x12” boxes, I figured why not see if they like/use them, if not I can add some external boxes pretty easily.

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Added the roost and poop board, also cut a pop door in. The run is going to be built very secure, and it is very warm here so no closable pop door yet, probably add one in the fall

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Built a door and a simple latch:

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Also added a ramp from the run to the coop, just some scrap LP SmartSide and plywood cleats:

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since the run isn’t tall enough to walk in, I added doors running the full length on both 10’ sides, again with simple block latches:

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Then the lengthy and irritating process that is installing hardware cloth.I used galvanized 19ga. 1/2 stuff. I secured it with Coated 1” deck screws and 1.25” fender washers every 6” or less. Since it is so hot here I put 8 square feet of soffit venting on the coop that will be hidden under the eaves

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I started putting 29ga galvanized roofing panels on, made my own hip caps with extra panel, and the cap vent (four, 4” holes up top with hardware cloth, there is also venting under the length of the hip caps to let more heat out).

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started on the lower roof but ran out of screws

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a few more roof screws, trim, ramp down to the yard, some paint, dirt/sand in the run and bedding in the coop and it’s done and functional for now. I also intend to build some gravity auto feeders, and put Gutters into a rain barrel for some chicken nipples over the next few weeks. The area below the coop door will house those things, and a bin directly below the door to scrape/clean the coop into and then compost or trash the waste.

The final thing to do is put the trailer lights on , and get a license plate! Of course the coop will get some 6x6 or 8x8 blocks at the corners and under the Axle so it isn’t supported by the tires, but it will be ready to roll up into the garage at the house for minor floods or tropical storms, and up to the big garage for a major storm.

I will update this thread as I put the finishing touches on the coop, hopefully it is tight enough to kee the raccoons, gators, and other predators out!

This means that we are still lucky here in the Philippines, They really don't mind how small or how big your coop here. They just built it.

 

[aart]

Like all good projects it got out of hand quick!

Ya think?!?
Pretty clever with skills all around!
Let us know how it works out.

 

[Folly's place]

Love it! Very impressive!
It does need more ventilation though, closer to four sq. feet for your four birds in the coop area.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

That looks good!
I have wood strips screwed in over the edges of the hardware cloth here too.
How about adding a hardware cloth covered window? It is still dark in there!
Mary