One winter done- time for an upgrade-HELP!

[prncssprplfrog]

Okay,
To say that I'm not happy with the coop that a friend's father built for me would be an understatement. It was supposed to be like the coop seen here: http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Chicken-Coop-Plans/Garden-Coop-Building-Plans-up-to-8-chickens-p535.aspx

While I'm kind of glad that he build it a bit "bigger" it's 7'x7' total, it's pretty shotty.

Here's pics:

The weight from the pine-shavings has bowed a cross member underneath that wasn't attached, the measurements are WAY off- like wonkie. BTW- he totally didn't follow the plans(totally forgot he was illiterate & pig-headed ta boot)- I guess you get what you pay for-as I gave him some $ & eggs for doing the work & my son helped too. The roof overhang isn't deep enough to cover the nest-boxes, so the bedding gets wet & nasty & they aren't nearly big enough. My poor cochin girls squish themselves in & lay eggs into the main house because of this. Poor dears.
Right now I'm down to 6 full grown birds, but I have 6 chicks with 14 more hatching this week. Since I live in central NY, I need to make sure that they don't get frost-bite.

Here's what I want to do: The birds weathered the winter well without insulation, but I want to insulate anyway.
I want to enclose the existing frame & make the whole thing the hen house. This half floor thing was a PITA, plus it's WAY too deep to clean. I have to unscrew the back where you can't see to rake out that side. BTW- that's the side where the roost is. Can you say "mess"!

This will give me 7'X7' of inside space for the winter. I want windows & a solid/screen door so that I can control ventilation better.

Next week is Spring-break & while I can wield a hammer, have been known to saw wood & know the common sense kind of building stuff, I don't have much experience building buildings. I am leery of asking for help again-seeing what I got for my trouble before. I think I can do this....

I drew up the floor plan of what I want & when I get home, will scan it & see what y'all think.

 

[Wildsky]

Please try change that chicken wire to hardware cloth as well, that chicken wire won't keep anything out!

 

[prncssprplfrog]

Quote:
Thanks for your concern....

 

[gordonburrito]

I think the design concept of it is great. The coop in the link is pretty uber. Yours just looks like a little structurally challenged.....maybe you just need to reinforce it

 

[rufus]

The question is did you pay for this project, or was it done gratis? Don't complain if it was free.

Chickens are not real critics of architecture. My coop is made of junk I found in the alley. It does the job.

Rufus

 

[prncssprplfrog]

As stated above, I did give him some money. Definitely not carpenter-per-hour money.

I chalk it up as a learning experience & since he didn't follow my plans, we found out what worked & what didn't. Without lifting up that front flap & throwing my 13 year old in there, we can't clean out the entire coop- which is a problem. Not to mention that dang flap had fallen on my head more times than not. Like I said- this is a case of trial & error.

Edited to add:
I want to take the chicken mesh off of the whole thing, completely enclose it to use as the hen-house, then add on a covered run.

I'm using this coop as a jumping off point:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=29740


Here's my rough plan:

I'd like to section off a corner as a "bachelor/brooder coop" That part is labeled "rooster keep". the the side by the door is the inside nest boxes & the food/water. in the opposite corner next to the rooster keep is the roosts. Ignore the dashed lines in the run, but the dashed lines outside the run are roof overhang.