Our Coop is almost finished!!!

[LilyD]

No building today the forecast says rain all day long and I have our Easter get together at 2:00 this afternoon. Tomorrow is supposed to be warm and sunny so maybe my coop will be finished for my Easter present

 

[LilyD]

We took another look at our coop today and realized we had made a total mistake. We put the storage area on the wrong side of the coop so we need to move the wall with the door in it to the other side. So before we can start building tomorrow I will need to switch the two side walls so the door is on the side with the storage instead of the coop side. Hopefully weather providing we will be done tomorrow.

 

[miraclz5]

Bummer that you have to move a couple walls....but very cool that you are almost done! Woohoo! I haven't even started yet! LOL

 

[LilyD]

Yeah I figure if that's the biggest setback we have in the whole process then we are doing good considering that neither one of us are carpenters. Of course that will just get the coop built I will still have to dig post holes and set my fencing for them but little by little we will get there. And we still have one week before our delivery date

 

[LilyD]

A view of the inside of the coop with all the walls on and the roof. To the left is the hole for the nesting boxes. There are 5 nesting boxes. On the right is a 2 foot by 2 foot chicken door. Once the hardware opens we can put the door on

The back of the coop with the nesting box door open. It opens down and eventually DH wants to add a chain on each side so that it will only go 90degrees instead of all the way down.

The back of the coop. We made the roof pretty long in the back so it would overhang the nesting boxes and the snow wouldn't pile up there. The plywood on the side of the coop leaning against it will be my access door on the other side. We remembered to buy hinges but didn't have any screws big enough to attach them to the door and the coop. That's what we get for deciding to construct something on a holiday.

So other than attaching the chicken door and my door. The only other thing I will need to do is to add the mat to the bottom of the coop and put up perches. I am still not sure how high to put the perches and where would work so I am going to have to ponder this a bit I think. I still think for 2 days of work we did rather well.

 

[miraclz5]

Looks awesome! I have read several places that suggest placing roosts in a stair step fashion.....giving the chickens a choice....and maximizing space in your coop. That is what I plan to do in our coop. Good luck with the rest....looks great!!!!!

 

[LilyD]

That's what I was thinking with maybe having the first one at about 18 inches. I also want to make brackets in the walls kind of like cups so that when I need to clean the coop I can take out the roosts while the chickens are out in the field during the day. Also if the roosts get dirty I can scrub them and then put them back in. I just have to draw it out first so that I can set it up in the coop.

 

[Jessica_1285]

looks Great! can't wait to see it finished

 

[LilyD]

Thanks, I can't wait either we are now at 5 days and counting before the babies get here. I am going to run a light to the coop so I can use it for them as a brooder to start out with that way they get used to the coop from the start. Thank goodness it has warmed up enough that they will be warm with a light and a brooder in the coop rather than in the house.

 

[LilyD]

I picked up the screws today after the sheep shearer came for our sheep. I will be able to finish the doors and place the mats and perches and then I can take a final picture of the inside of the coop. Now the run area will be another matter but I will have a few weeks to get that done before they are ready to head to the great outdoors.