Dre
In the Brooder
- Feb 28, 2021
- 4
- 16
- 24
Decided to jump into raising chickens since I am teleworking due to covid. I reached out to the folks with the Wichita Cabin Coop Plan but never got a response. So, I looked at several of the coops you guys built here and came up with my version.
I built a coop and an adjoining storage space in the back of my existing vegetable garden.
Size — 16‘ x 5‘
Cost — $1500+. The cost of lumber has increased due to COVID. I also didn’t write down the cost of the individual items, I just spent until the cash was gone.
I started in September 2020. I’m not a builder and I didn’t have plans, so I just made decisions as I went along. I wouldn’t recommend doing that as you make more mistake, change too many things and spend more.
I bought 4 inch cinder blocks and laid them out at the perimeter as shown.
Next, I placed hardware cloth on the outside of the cinder blocks and left over chicken wire inside the bottom of the coop/run area then put a treated 2x4 sill plate on top of the cinder blocks. The sill plate was secured to the cinder blocks by filling a few blocks with concrete then driving 12“ rebar through the sill plate, into the cement and the ground.
I sectioned off 4‘ of the base for storage, filled it in with dirt, then covered everything with landscape fabric. I also backfilled on top of the Hardware cloth and sowed leftover grass seed to prevent the dirt washing away.
i built a 4‘x5‘ floor for the storage portion from treated plywood.
I then started building the structure. I used untreated 2x4 as I wanted to paint the whole thing. I started with the storage structure, then the coop and run.
For the roof, I used galvanized roofing sheets I had left over from another project.
I used t1-11 on the outside to reduce cost and it was easy to paint.
The coop is 4‘ wide x 5‘ deep, identical in size to the storage area. I put up the t1-11, then cut out the holes for the door and windows.
i tried hard to make the nest box outside the Coop to maximize the interior space but I couldn’t get the angles right and it didn’t look square. So, I went with the nest box inside. The egg door is bottom hinged and has a chain to hold it open.
I re-used the T1-11 cutouts along with 2x4s to make the door and windows. One window I made with 2x4 and clear Plexiglas for sunlight, as seen above.
i bought a cheap electric paint sprayer on Amazon. I have a compressed air sprayer but that was a pain to use. Paint was a 5 gal bucket of exterior latex I found on craigslist.
I used OSB for thr floor of the coop, as I had some left over from another project.
Here‘s me painting the structure.
After painting it, I applied 1x4 trim around the door and windows. The trim was painted white, then nailed into place.
I then used 1/2‘ hardware cloth to secure underneath the coop, the covered run and the run door.
Lastly, I covered the floor of the coop with linoleum and the floor of the run with pine needles. I have a lot of pine trees on my property, so I’ll see how that works out. If it fails, I’ll go with sand. I‘ll also use pine needles for the coop bedding. If that fails, I‘ll buy straw or pine shavings.
This is the finished product.
Next week I pick up my first pullets and the fun part begins, I hope. I’ll post an update and keep reading your posts to learn as I go. I‘ll try to answer any questions you may have as I left out a lot of details. I can also provide more detailed pics of what I did. I don’t know the specific individuals to give credit to, but everything I did was from pictures and postings on this website. Thanks a Million.
I built a coop and an adjoining storage space in the back of my existing vegetable garden.
Size — 16‘ x 5‘
Cost — $1500+. The cost of lumber has increased due to COVID. I also didn’t write down the cost of the individual items, I just spent until the cash was gone.
I started in September 2020. I’m not a builder and I didn’t have plans, so I just made decisions as I went along. I wouldn’t recommend doing that as you make more mistake, change too many things and spend more.
I bought 4 inch cinder blocks and laid them out at the perimeter as shown.
Next, I placed hardware cloth on the outside of the cinder blocks and left over chicken wire inside the bottom of the coop/run area then put a treated 2x4 sill plate on top of the cinder blocks. The sill plate was secured to the cinder blocks by filling a few blocks with concrete then driving 12“ rebar through the sill plate, into the cement and the ground.
I sectioned off 4‘ of the base for storage, filled it in with dirt, then covered everything with landscape fabric. I also backfilled on top of the Hardware cloth and sowed leftover grass seed to prevent the dirt washing away.
i built a 4‘x5‘ floor for the storage portion from treated plywood.
I then started building the structure. I used untreated 2x4 as I wanted to paint the whole thing. I started with the storage structure, then the coop and run.
For the roof, I used galvanized roofing sheets I had left over from another project.
I used t1-11 on the outside to reduce cost and it was easy to paint.
The coop is 4‘ wide x 5‘ deep, identical in size to the storage area. I put up the t1-11, then cut out the holes for the door and windows.
i tried hard to make the nest box outside the Coop to maximize the interior space but I couldn’t get the angles right and it didn’t look square. So, I went with the nest box inside. The egg door is bottom hinged and has a chain to hold it open.
I re-used the T1-11 cutouts along with 2x4s to make the door and windows. One window I made with 2x4 and clear Plexiglas for sunlight, as seen above.
i bought a cheap electric paint sprayer on Amazon. I have a compressed air sprayer but that was a pain to use. Paint was a 5 gal bucket of exterior latex I found on craigslist.
I used OSB for thr floor of the coop, as I had some left over from another project.
Here‘s me painting the structure.
After painting it, I applied 1x4 trim around the door and windows. The trim was painted white, then nailed into place.
I then used 1/2‘ hardware cloth to secure underneath the coop, the covered run and the run door.
Lastly, I covered the floor of the coop with linoleum and the floor of the run with pine needles. I have a lot of pine trees on my property, so I’ll see how that works out. If it fails, I’ll go with sand. I‘ll also use pine needles for the coop bedding. If that fails, I‘ll buy straw or pine shavings.
This is the finished product.
Next week I pick up my first pullets and the fun part begins, I hope. I’ll post an update and keep reading your posts to learn as I go. I‘ll try to answer any questions you may have as I left out a lot of details. I can also provide more detailed pics of what I did. I don’t know the specific individuals to give credit to, but everything I did was from pictures and postings on this website. Thanks a Million.
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