When building your own coop, how do you make a homemade door and homemade nest box outside door waterproof? Pictures would help...I just don't see how we can do this. I'm not building it, but I'm the "expert" and he's just the handyman. How does a door have to be framed/weather stripped/insulated to keep rain out? Same with making an outside door to an inside nest box--I want to get to them from outside, but how do I keep water out? Any visual references are helpful---I'm a little challenged that way... Thanks! ETA: Our "prevailing winds" are from every darn direction--our lot is in a little valley, and here in Missouri, the wind can blow in circles even when it's NOT a tornado warning!
first of all, put the doors on the side of the coop opposite of the prevailing winds.. then build a porch type roof over them.. The roof does not have to stick out very far from the wall.. say, 6" to a foot, or so..
The easiest thing for your nest boxes would be to make the *access* from outside the coop, but the actual *nest boxes* inside the coop rather than sticking out. (Sticking-out nestboxes make no real sense except in a tiny coop anyhow, like 4x4ish or less) (Of course if that *is* the type of coop you're planning, nevermind ). FAR easier to build. If you do that, you can have the access hatch be a simple hinged door (weatherstripped and/or with a batten that covers the crack around 3 sides of it when it's closed), and just as Jim says build a little 'porch roof' type thing over top of it so it doesn't get rained directly on. Flash and/or caulk where the little porch roof joins the coop wall, so that water can't run down the wall behind that roof and into the nestbox access door. Good luck, have fun, Pat
I made a very simple outside nestbox by using old redwood fenceboard. I used one for the bottom, cut two with angled tops for the sides and used another for the lid. I used a smaller piece on top as well as the roof with the angle was longer than a single board, and hinged the 12 inch board to the smaller board. There was no front on the nestbox as I attached the whole thing with L-brackets to the outside of the coop. We placed it over part of a low window and voile' it was done. It's one long joint nest box, 1x12x12 by 4 feet long. Works wonderful! It sheds rain, but is on a protected side of a barn so doesn't get much rain.
