I am SO HAPPY to get our 12 chickens and 2 ducks OUT of my workshop!!!! What a mess they were. Especially after the girls learned to get up onto the rafters overshead before we could get them into their Brooder crate. Is was a bit crowded in there, so I don't REALLY blame them, but we couldn't get some of them down each night, so you know the results we got...
Our original plan was to build about a 6' x 10' coop in an area we have on our property. As a friend and Chicken Mentor came by, he asked me why I wasn't just converting the existing shed next to my shop into a coop instead of building a whole new one.... What a great idea. Just lost a little storage space - no big deal.
So this is what we started with:
As you can see, I had some work to do. Replacing the doors on the front
and actually moving the shed over to the right about 6' so we have access to the gate behind it. We live in a flood zone and that gate might come in handy some day.
We moved it on some steel beams I had using my neighbor's tractor!!
The floor inside was a bit iffy. I had to replace some flooring on the right side because my foot went through it.... The turbine will go on the roof where there is a hole that has been shingled over is now.
New 1/2" OSB decking
Started building the new door frames out of 2x4s. Used lap joints for the corners. My table saw was a bit crowded, so I used a circular saw and a chisel to make the lap joints.
Had a slight set back when the chisel slipped. Ouch!! And down a week...
Got them done and hung them on the coop. Don't mind the mess!!
I laid cheap linoleum on the floor to make it easier to clean up in the future. It worked well for the brooding crate.
Roost bar and poop trays. I am SOLD on the poop trays!!
Assist for the ladies to get up there.... Not that they use the ladder for anything...
Time for ventilation
Cut the holes with my sawz-all and nailed 1/2" hardware cloth over the holes front and back
Almost done!!!
Built these in a rain storm.... Kinda like a ramp into the Ark..... Since I put the 2x6 in, I needed the inside ramp for our clumsy Ducks.
We have about 4-6 inches of pine shavings inside now and the girls LOVE LOVE LOVE their new Taj-Mahal!!
We have three 6' x 12' Dog run fence panels right now for a SMall run in front of the coop. This will expand to about a 24' x 30' run as $$ and materials come available. We do let the girls free range on our property. They are usually in the coop by sun down or at least in the run, so we can coax them into the coop and tuck them in forthe night.
Thanks for getting this far in my long post!!
Our original plan was to build about a 6' x 10' coop in an area we have on our property. As a friend and Chicken Mentor came by, he asked me why I wasn't just converting the existing shed next to my shop into a coop instead of building a whole new one.... What a great idea. Just lost a little storage space - no big deal.
So this is what we started with:
As you can see, I had some work to do. Replacing the doors on the front
and actually moving the shed over to the right about 6' so we have access to the gate behind it. We live in a flood zone and that gate might come in handy some day.
We moved it on some steel beams I had using my neighbor's tractor!!
The floor inside was a bit iffy. I had to replace some flooring on the right side because my foot went through it.... The turbine will go on the roof where there is a hole that has been shingled over is now.
New 1/2" OSB decking
Started building the new door frames out of 2x4s. Used lap joints for the corners. My table saw was a bit crowded, so I used a circular saw and a chisel to make the lap joints.
Had a slight set back when the chisel slipped. Ouch!! And down a week...
Got them done and hung them on the coop. Don't mind the mess!!
I laid cheap linoleum on the floor to make it easier to clean up in the future. It worked well for the brooding crate.
Roost bar and poop trays. I am SOLD on the poop trays!!
Assist for the ladies to get up there.... Not that they use the ladder for anything...
Time for ventilation
Cut the holes with my sawz-all and nailed 1/2" hardware cloth over the holes front and back
Almost done!!!
Built these in a rain storm.... Kinda like a ramp into the Ark..... Since I put the 2x6 in, I needed the inside ramp for our clumsy Ducks.
We have about 4-6 inches of pine shavings inside now and the girls LOVE LOVE LOVE their new Taj-Mahal!!
We have three 6' x 12' Dog run fence panels right now for a SMall run in front of the coop. This will expand to about a 24' x 30' run as $$ and materials come available. We do let the girls free range on our property. They are usually in the coop by sun down or at least in the run, so we can coax them into the coop and tuck them in forthe night.
Thanks for getting this far in my long post!!
