our coop & run in North Texas

[ThreeOfSeven]

I (vaguely) remember the blizzard of '66, climbing up the snow banks near our 1-story school, walking across the school roof, and jumping into the snow drift on the other side. It took days before the roads were cleared off. Grew up with "lake effect snow" and snow totals for the season ranged about 160-inches. Lots of hills too.

Also was an expat and lived in the Middle East for a few years. Sweat dried and crystallized on your skin.

Now I enjoy mild, coastal winters, and I laugh when locals cancel everything when it "might" snow. (I use to have to drive home from work in 2-feet of snow ... uphill. LOL!)

 

[Mimi13]

Golly dang, @electrycmonk, your carpentry is exquisite and your coop/run is superb.

(Giggles) 5:49am?! On A Sunday?

And you are right! @aart is always up at the butt crack of dawn. I like to get up early as well. I get so much more done. And, since my latter years are speeding by so quickly, I can make my days seem much longer if I get up early.

 

[aart]

And you are right! @aart is always up at the butt crack of dawn. I like to get up early as well. I get so much more done. And, since my latter years are speeding by so quickly, I can make my days seem much longer if I get up early.

Indeed!
I used to get up at 4 to be at work by 6, so it's pretty ingrained.

 

[Mimi13]

Indeed!
I used to get up at 4 to be at work by 6, so it's pretty ingrained.

Yes, for sure. I can’t even sleep late if I had wanted to. That internal alarm never shuts off.

 

[electrycmonk]

Voyager.

(tee-hee)

Yes. I typed DS9 because of the name thought 7Of9 in my dylexic brain does stuff like this all the time.

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

Yes. I typed DS9 because of the name thought 7Of9 in my dylexic brain does stuff like this all the time.

No prob. I had to wiki it.

 

[electrycmonk]

Golly dang, @electrycmonk, your carpentry is exquisite and your coop/run is superb.

/Humbly bows in gratitude
Thanks but, I'm thankful to My Grampa & Uncle who taught me many skills as did the high school teachers for Wood shop, drafting & architectural drafting, stagecrafting; 'Cornflake U' & UNT I refined them in Theatre depts.
I must share that my Better-half was asking me to not make it "Human house detail" as it is a planned 'Coop' after all. I reassured her my back for details was not following the rabbit down 'that hole'. So it has many imperfections. Chiefly from wood warp!I was also building this with the future use in mind. I have it setup for future use as anything else, realistically as I have the chicken door the upper vent doors & the unfinished (below the North window) dual cleanout baseboard doors are all setup as easily sealable for making it a habitable human environment.


Those rafters are some of the last and most severe warpage... I set those planks aside knowing I could still "make them work" in this position and not as part of the coops structure so that I wasn't wasting materials or my time by going to swap out for straight 2x4x16'ers.

Here is my adaptation for the Coop being just about 1" askew from the fence row. Geez-o-pete that was nerve-racking to see that the anchor studs in the cinder block/cement frame we're about 1/2" askew when the skeleton was sat on them too. So you'll see the top 2x4x16' is not tapered to fit at the peak but actually outside it.

Before the outside plywood skin was installed up there I was able to trim a wedge in it and make it aestheticly pleasing to my eyes but, the rafter got some extra 2x4 ribs. Which obviously delayed, other delays.......


I am pleased with my big picture outcome as my ability with a massive loss in strength and stamina from the VA knee surgery last year has given me a methodically slow but, constant recovery as this build was also my Gym/physical therapy along the way.

As a side note My Better-half & kiddo's actually liked tasting my hydrating creations I came up with over the summer:
Kombucha-aide
Jolly-juice-aide
Kombucha-juice....
LoL

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Yes, for sure. I can’t even sleep late if I had wanted to. That internal alarm never shuts off.

AMEN to that! Now I just wake up and try to go back to sleep.

 

[Mimi13]

Those rafters are some of the last and most severe warpage... I set those planks aside knowing I could still "make them work" in this position and not as part of the coops structure so that I wasn't wasting materials or my time by going to swap out for straight 2x4x16'ers.

I definitely understand the warpage problem. Ninety-five percent of the wood I used was from the sawmill just up the road from me and another 2% was from store-bought wood that I’d repurposed from a deck that was 20 years old. The remaining 3% was newly purchased wood. My biggest aggravation was making the sawmill wood “fit” the purchased wood. True size is always a problem when combining the two woods. However, with a little ingenuity I persevered and love my chicken coop.

I must share that my Better-half was asking me to not make it "Human house detail" as it is a planned 'Coop' after all.

You know, anytime you invest so much money and time in building something, it is best that it can be repurposed or used in another way. Shoot, mine could be used as a human dwelling if my DH ever gets enough of me and “my chickens.” I hear that all the time. I would only need to seal the ventilation areas, put in structural flooring for a loft bedroom, and pipe in the water from directly outside. Bada bing, bada boom! I, for one, would LOVE it. Or I could turn it into a wood shop.

 

[electrycmonk]

I definitely understand the warpage problem.
{Edit\snipped}
You know, anytime you invest so much money and time in building something, it is best that it can be repurposed or used in another way. Shoot, mine could be used as a human dwelling if my DH ever gets enough of me and “my chickens.” I hear that all the time. I would only need to seal the ventilation areas, put in structural flooring for a loft bedroom, and pipe in the water from directly outside. Bada bing, bada boom! I, for one, would LOVE it. Or I could turn it into a wood shop.

Well, my Better-half is definitely NOT in that category of repsoce regarding the Coop-maj-hall as it is for 'Her chickens' (smirks) she was mearly helping me "stay on task." Which is in my eyes a bit different. Ya'see?

Here is where the idea started with this box & the instructions that I took and significantly modified.


This is the neighbors carport that Mother nature tossed about as well as part of our kids cedar swing set that flipped over in the same winds....



Take note of the greenish hazy line in one picture for that's the telltail sign for hail.




Lower right. Still intact....

A few moments later & 65-70+mph gusts....

That's just one of those month of Sunday storms that put my Mcgyver brain in Overdrive!(smirks)

Plus, I still have water line & conduit to trench to the coop in the coming months as well. So yeah. Human dweelling isn't that much of a upgrade when it's all said and done......

Is it ever really done?
(Edited for glaring typos, auto-correct baloney & forgot last paragraph.)