Sefi's Shoop Progress

[Sefirothe]

This was Friday's progress. Some more of the top of the frame plus vertical bracing is done. We also leveled out the dirt inside of the run and around the outside in preparation for laying the hardware cloth apron.

Then as we were close to finishing up, this metal stud that Dad likes to use as a level or straight edge dropped off the top of the frame and whacked him in the leg. He got a pretty nasty cut and his knee swelled up. He ended up going to get it checked saturday morning. Nothing broken just a nasty scrape and hematoma.

So no progress made since then since Dad is taking it easy and this has become more Dad's project than mine at this point! I'm just the beneficiary of his expertise.

Except yesterday Dad did go and order metal roof panels for the run. No where local had the right length or color in stock.

 

[Sefirothe]

How does one say "over engineered" with out making the over engineer-er upset? Next time Dad grumbles about the cost of adding furring strips over the hardware cloth, I'm going to point out that we probably really didnt need to use quite this much lumber for the run itself.

Most of the roof structure and rafters are up. Still need to get the metal roof panels, finish bracing the sides, attach hardware cloth and build/hang the door.

The run itself is not attached to the shed and is lacking a lot of cross bracing yet, but dang its solid. I think if we were to put welded wire over the hardware cloth, not even the occasional adolescent bear we get knocking over trash cans in the neighborhood wouldn't be able to get in.

The sunset was also pretty spectacular.

 

[Sefirothe]

9/10 of the roof is done. The last panel needed to have a bit cut out so the overhang wasnt crazy long. Need to put some silicone caulk between the cut edges that will be overlapping then screw it down.

Then finish bracing the walls, attach hardware cloth on the walls and apron, frame up the run door. Put the flooring down in the shed, build the dividing wall, poop board and roost. If the ground isnt frozen by then, finish digging the trench for electric, run the line over and wire the shed for a light and a couple receptacles. Worst comes to worst, we skip that until spring and I run an extension cord for the heated waterer this winter.

The girls will have a nice view in the winter time. I hope we're able to get them moved in before the snow flies. The silly things insist on roosting on top of the little coop instead of inside out of the wind currently.

I'm thinking of putting a tarp or something on the short sides of their temp pen.

 

[Sefirothe]

The weather hasnt cooperated much for working outside lately. Today was gorgeous tho! We put in a solid day's work today.

With the recent rain, freeze, thaw cycles we've had, the ground around the run became a muddy bog. I hauled a couple wheelbarrow loads of wood chips from the pile left by the tree trimmers (pile is on the opposite corner of our lot from the coop of course). Meanwhile Dad got the last of the bracing done on the run walls.

Then we got the wire up. Finally! Currently mostly only held up by T50 staples, but I started going back over it with the crown stapler and bigger staples. And then we'll add furring strips, but they might wait until spring. I doubt we'll have many more days warm enough to stain more lumber.

Last thing we got done before sunset was getting the conduit placed to run electric out to the shoop. Thank god for the bulldozer. Dad was able to use it to dig most of the rest of the trench. Good thing too because there was a boulder buried in the way that was the size of a healthy toddler.

More rain is forecast for all day tomorrow so not sure when we'll be able to work some more on it. I did also end up putting some more tarps on the current temporary pen's short sides to try to cut down on the wind driving thru. Even tho they are so close to the "construction" zone, the girls are totally unfazed by it all. "Hey humans, gots treats for us??"

 

[Sefirothe]

Today I reinforced all the weak staples holding the wire up using the crown stapler. That thing is amazing! I just wish it were lighter so puny me could have used it one handed.

Then I started working on the apron. I bought a roll of 2 foot wide 1/2 inch hardware cloth. I should have had a few feet extra. Instead I was about 2 feet short. Hard to see because the wire is black:

We had a small cut off from making the pen door that I used to bridge the gap. It's about 4 inches shorter than the rest. Hopefully it isn't a problem that comes back to haunt me.

The door is also made and hung. We repurposed some tongue and grove floor boards to make it. We're also going to use the floor boards as furring strips. I missed getting a pic of the door since it was getting too dark as we were finishing up.

 

[Evadig]

Where did you get the black hardware cloth? I’ve been looking for some and can’t find it anywhere.

 

[Sefirothe]

Where did you get the black hardware cloth? I’ve been looking for some and can’t find it anywhere.

Amazon, the prices were much better for Prime Day tho. I specifically looked for galvanized and PVC coated.

This was the 2 ft wide roll for the apron:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C5QS1VDM/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

This was the 4 ft wide roll for the walls. The packaging was much better with this vendor, the ends of the roll had plastic discs held on with multiple wide binding strips to keep the roll from being damaged at the ends. The cardboard box was heavier duty too.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRBYYJXK?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

[Evadig]

Thank you!

 

[Penpal]

Chickens like their nest boxes on the ground, or close to the ground. The nest boxes need to be lower than the roost because chickens go to the highest perch.

Your current coop does not offer shelter from the wind if it is coming from the door side.

 

[Sefirothe]

Chickens like their nest boxes on the ground, or close to the ground. The nest boxes need to be lower than the roost because chickens go to the highest perch.

Your current coop does not offer shelter from the wind if it is coming from the door side.

The temporary coop? I'm aware it's not ideal and they should have been out of it by now. There's a pile of dirt and a cargo van parked in front of it to act as a bit of a wind break from the front. The back of the pen is shelter by the back porch. I have tarps on the top and sides.

if you are talking about the pen we are building, half of the shed it joins to will be the coop. The nest boxes on the shed were built in pretty high, but we are planning to build a poop board at the same height as the nest box with the roost above that. I'll probably also include a nest box or two on the floor in case they'd prefer to use that.