fightingbunny
Songster
We stalled out on our coop progress over the summer and finally got back to it this weekend! Between the heat, humidity, mosquitoes and disagreement on how the walls and floors should attach, we just avoided any work on the coop. Our marriage was stronger for this 
I solved our disagreement by hiring some guys to attach the walls and floor, as that is the part we didn't agree on. I did all the hardware, but they got the basics done, like cutting the panels and attaching the non moving parts. They also did the first window so I would have a template to follow. My husband and I then had fun together figuring out the nest boxes and poop tray. My lessen learned from all that is to not let the fear of screwing up leave you paralyzed. Once we just dug in, it all went fine. Also, that it is okay to hire help if you are really stuck.
If you see anything messed up with what has been done so far, please let me know! I hate working on things once chickens have pooped all over everything.
Today, I plan on redoing the egg door as it has tiny gaps and looks lame without the nice trim to match the window. I also want to make two more windows and hang them on the left side and cut out all the remaining hardware cloth. As it is supposed to rain more later, I am not sure if the hardware cloth is doable without a mess. The nice thing of the roof is that I can work under it when it is raining! Unfortunately, I think I can not do the hardware cloth on my own as I can not fathom how to hold it, stretch it, and attach it at the same time with just two hands.
Overview from the front. The nest box doors are going to be way better hopefully by the end of today with nice trim around them. Once the hardware cloth is on and the apron on, I can fill in some dirt and make the bottom area a bit nicer too. I put bricks in so that later, the material inside the run will not be pushed into/through the hardware cloth. I absolutely hate that one cinder block on its side, but my husband refuses to help me turn it.
The back of the coop and run. I screwed up cutting the acrylic sheet and one of the panels cracked too badly to use. I put the plain window in the back where I won't have to see it Maybe in the future I can come back and replace the siding with the plexiglass.
The door to the coop from inside the run. I still need to do something about the chicken entry door...not exactly sure how to do that cool trim that allows the panel to slide up and down...
So this is my happiest picture. I am really proud of how the interior of the coop has come together. It is also the only part that is actually finished! My drawings of this baffled my husband until the very end when it was all assembled. All the pieces inside can come out if needed. I managed to have the full length of the coop for the perch and the nest boxes inside the coop! Win/Win. The chickens can also have a decent amount of space for walking around if I ever have to lock them into he coop. We are zoned for 8 chickens and that is 8 feet of roost.
A picture to show how the interior on the back part of the coop is setup. The poop tray will have PDZ sand/gravel in it and has legs on the one end and middle. The other end rests on the nest boxes.
The nest boxes were totally winged together from whatever was handy. I had a 14" piece of plywood leftover from the sheet that we cut the ramp and poop tray bottom from. So the nest boxes ended up being roughly 13 inches deep, 13 inches wide, and 14.5 inches high. I decided to not try to make 4 very skinny nesting areas and instead left myself a nifty storage area on one side. I think this will be a perfect place to store treats and grit. There is also a small storage area under the blocker panel.
I am not sure what material the blocker panel is made from. It was a scrap pulled from the depths of our basement. It did not feel that sturdy, maybe cardboard? so I can see later replacing that with something better if it warps. The chickens will be able to sit on the roost bar and look out. Everyone says that their chickens prefer the areas that have windows, so I gave them a lot of windows! I plan on adding hardware cloth at some point to the inside of the windows, but don't need to open them until next year, so that is no rush. The ceiling of the coop is hardware cloth, so plenty of ventilation without them.
The egg doors open from the sides because I have a small child that needs to be able to open them. She doesn't do any of the cleaning chores, but she will go get eggs
I am so proud of the roost bar! We used the circular saw at 45 degrees to cut off the edges and then rasped down the edges so that it is mostly rounded. Does it need to be perfectly round?
If you made it this far through all the rambling, congrats!
Jenn
I solved our disagreement by hiring some guys to attach the walls and floor, as that is the part we didn't agree on. I did all the hardware, but they got the basics done, like cutting the panels and attaching the non moving parts. They also did the first window so I would have a template to follow. My husband and I then had fun together figuring out the nest boxes and poop tray. My lessen learned from all that is to not let the fear of screwing up leave you paralyzed. Once we just dug in, it all went fine. Also, that it is okay to hire help if you are really stuck.If you see anything messed up with what has been done so far, please let me know! I hate working on things once chickens have pooped all over everything.
Today, I plan on redoing the egg door as it has tiny gaps and looks lame without the nice trim to match the window. I also want to make two more windows and hang them on the left side and cut out all the remaining hardware cloth. As it is supposed to rain more later, I am not sure if the hardware cloth is doable without a mess. The nice thing of the roof is that I can work under it when it is raining! Unfortunately, I think I can not do the hardware cloth on my own as I can not fathom how to hold it, stretch it, and attach it at the same time with just two hands.
Overview from the front. The nest box doors are going to be way better hopefully by the end of today with nice trim around them. Once the hardware cloth is on and the apron on, I can fill in some dirt and make the bottom area a bit nicer too. I put bricks in so that later, the material inside the run will not be pushed into/through the hardware cloth. I absolutely hate that one cinder block on its side, but my husband refuses to help me turn it.
The back of the coop and run. I screwed up cutting the acrylic sheet and one of the panels cracked too badly to use. I put the plain window in the back where I won't have to see it
Maybe in the future I can come back and replace the siding with the plexiglass.The door to the coop from inside the run. I still need to do something about the chicken entry door...not exactly sure how to do that cool trim that allows the panel to slide up and down...
So this is my happiest picture. I am really proud of how the interior of the coop has come together. It is also the only part that is actually finished! My drawings of this baffled my husband until the very end when it was all assembled. All the pieces inside can come out if needed. I managed to have the full length of the coop for the perch and the nest boxes inside the coop! Win/Win. The chickens can also have a decent amount of space for walking around if I ever have to lock them into he coop. We are zoned for 8 chickens and that is 8 feet of roost.
A picture to show how the interior on the back part of the coop is setup. The poop tray will have PDZ sand/gravel in it and has legs on the one end and middle. The other end rests on the nest boxes.
The nest boxes were totally winged together from whatever was handy. I had a 14" piece of plywood leftover from the sheet that we cut the ramp and poop tray bottom from. So the nest boxes ended up being roughly 13 inches deep, 13 inches wide, and 14.5 inches high. I decided to not try to make 4 very skinny nesting areas and instead left myself a nifty storage area on one side. I think this will be a perfect place to store treats and grit. There is also a small storage area under the blocker panel.
I am not sure what material the blocker panel is made from. It was a scrap pulled from the depths of our basement. It did not feel that sturdy, maybe cardboard? so I can see later replacing that with something better if it warps. The chickens will be able to sit on the roost bar and look out. Everyone says that their chickens prefer the areas that have windows, so I gave them a lot of windows! I plan on adding hardware cloth at some point to the inside of the windows, but don't need to open them until next year, so that is no rush. The ceiling of the coop is hardware cloth, so plenty of ventilation without them.
The egg doors open from the sides because I have a small child that needs to be able to open them. She doesn't do any of the cleaning chores, but she will go get eggs
I am so proud of the roost bar! We used the circular saw at 45 degrees to cut off the edges and then rasped down the edges so that it is mostly rounded. Does it need to be perfectly round?
If you made it this far through all the rambling, congrats!
Jenn
