Our chicken coop build

[chrislehr]

First time with chickens for me, but my SO had them when she was young.

The main box is 2x4x3 with an extra foot on the high part of the roof. There will be a plank down from the door and a 4x8 grazing area. The intent is to add wheels and handle to make this a more portable tractor eventually (albeit getting heavy now)

Been working on this a while and lurking here reading up.

Back (human access)

Front (chicken door - will be on a pulley/string/anchor - it closes with a mounted spring now)

Inside nesting area

The roof I finished this morning.

We ordered 10 chicks - some australorp and some buff orpington, and they should be here in about 2 weeks.

 

[Baymen Moe]

How long did it take you to gather your roofing material?

Does the roof have an overhang or a hangover?

 

[DonnaBelle]

Good Grief, are those beer cans?? Who did all the work cutting them out?

How enterprising of you.


DonnaBelle

 

[possumqueen]

Hey, I SWEAR BYC just keeps getting better and better!!!

That's a GREAT idea for a roof! But, yeah, it does look like a hefty thing to drag around as a tractor, unless you're going to pull it with a lawn tractor or something?

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Wow, great first post!!! Please keep posting pics as things progress.

 

[redstars]

Quote:

Never mind all the work cutting them out Imagine all the work emptying them out!
Looks good.

 

[Burbs]

Let me guess...........you must be from Texas????

 

[chrislehr]

Yes, about 125 beer cans for the roof. There is about an 8" overhang on the chicken side, and about a 1" on the human side. I am hoping to add a gutter that will collect water for the chicken feeder as well - might try using 2L bottles for that.

The beer cans are easy enough to empty, but cutting them up is a little time consuming.

Band saw to take off the ends and slice the can open (need gloves here, BIG time)
Wooden die to stamp the tin into a shingle shape
Staple them all down with some tar paper under it.

Would guess about 3-4 hours total time to cut them all, make the die, stamp them all and attach them all. Not too bad, but when you know a sheet of metal would be 30-40 bucks, I dunno - it was a fun experiment in sustainability and recycling.. even if the rest of the project was purchased wood.

 

[chrislehr]

Quote:
We dont have a tractor.. I am thinking some lag U bolts, a 5' iron rod and some 6" knobby tires should do the trick though.. She wont be able to move it, but I can

 

[dlfridie]

Very creative, I love it.