sailtexas186548
Chirping
- Apr 12, 2020
- 45
- 201
- 79
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.
from there I threw some concepts together
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.
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
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
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.
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
Built a door and a simple latch:
Also added a ramp from the run to the coop, just some scrap LP SmartSide and plywood cleats:
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:
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
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).
started on the lower roof but ran out of screws
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!
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.
from there I threw some concepts together
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.
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
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
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.
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
Built a door and a simple latch:
Also added a ramp from the run to the coop, just some scrap LP SmartSide and plywood cleats:
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:
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
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).
started on the lower roof but ran out of screws
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!
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