So last spring my wife said: "We're getting chickens." And I was like: "Ok...?" Fast forward some weeks her finding out how to mail order some day-old chicks, picking which breeds, doing reading about the coop, how to take care of them, etc. I did grow up on a farm and we had few chickens but now I had to really know what I was doing. Well yeah, I can make it up as we go. How hard can it be?
Sooner than I realized the box arrived and we had newly hatched chicks in the bath tub. I guess I should start building the coop.
Next few days I read all possible articles and forums and any plans I could scour what kind of coop, how big, what kind of run, anything at all people had done with their setup. But none really caught my attention and as with most of my projects, I was going to build it from scratch and just see what comes out of it at the end. Couple things were certain, there was going to be some sawdust and several trips to hardware stores. I was ok with that. And I already missed the timeline of having the coop ready before you get the chicks.
First the location. I first thought of a free-standing, somewhere within the acre of a yard we have. Our property is completely surrounded by forest, so any place is as good as the other. My wife suggested why not just attach it to the shed, which I had built a while ago. After careful pondering I could not come up with anything better.
Next, material list. What list, I didn't even know what I was going to build. It needs floor, walls and a roof. And maybe a door. Oh and nesting boxes. And maybe some kind of a light, chickens need light for 15-16 hrs a day to lay eggs. The shed has it's own 20Amp circuit in it with a breaker box, that should make it easy.
So lets begin with the floor. Rough measurements of the space available is 6' X 11' and I want to make it raised off the ground, making the space underneath available for the chickens at any time. The soil drains extremely well and gently slopes towards the shed and the front of it, so I don't need to worry muddy conditions too much. I did put a layer of coarse sand underneath already and will do within the run once that's complete.
The shed is 12'x16' and the actual floor of the coop came to 6'3"x11'7" as I didn't want to remove the window. I've since replaced that chickenwire with 1/2" hardware cloth along the edge of the shed, buried about 1.5'.
And then everything leveled, floor boards in place and seams caulked.
Then the walls. Ok, I had no clue how to proceed. I did want to make use of some 4x6's which I've had for years. So I measured the slope of the roof and how high I could make the long side and raised the beams on top of 2x8's at the end and shorter 4x6 in the middle.
In my haste I forgot to take pictures of the side wall construction. They were really simple framed with 2x4's along the edge, so those walls are just 2" thick with the siding. I'll explain more about them further down.
The two large openings I planned for nesting boxes, but I also wanted to be able to open them completely. So I made two of these, one with 5 nesting boxes, another framed exactly the same but without boxes in it.
Nesting boxes are 12"x12"x15" in size with the 1x4 keeping the bedding in.
For the roofing I'm using just off the shelf shingles. Right side extends 3' and left side 4' over to give more rain cover. The wall with nesting boxes and the one next to it are both mounted onto the 4x6 beams with 4" hinges, so they can be raised upwards all the way to the roof. Maximum clearance for spring cleaning.
If you wondered what was the plexiglass thing up there for? It's for the skylight of course! And if I made one, might as well make 2 of them. Why? Because I've had some 1/4" Acrylite sitting around with no better use for it.
Sideview of the door and access hatch for the girls. The roof is supported by 2x6x10' beams, giving nice overhang. I also got some 1/8" sheeting and covered all the framing with it. This leaves no flat surfaces for the dust to gather and it frankly looks much better.
All the vents have 1/4" aluminum mesh on the outside and bug screen on the inside. Located above both doors and along long wall between each 2x6's.
And the view from the door opening on the other side. The girls are definitely wondering if this things is ever getting finished.
The floor is fully covered in linoleum. Just couple remnants I had leftovers and put to good use. Already have been praising how easy it is to scrape things off the floor when cleaning.
As soon as I saw those bulkhead lights, I knew there were perfect for the coop. I have LED bulbs in them so they will never get hot to harm the girls, one being within reach from the perch. It also allows them easy access to any flying bugs in the evenings if any get inside the coop. Timer switch is located inside the shed, where I store the feed and bedding. Just a note, I framed this wall exactly mirroring the other, so that I can easily open another access hatch to this end if I need to.
Closer view of the nesting boxes.
The perch structure is just simple pine 2x4's, which I routed with 1/2" radius on all edges. I might modify this or make something totally different but they loved it right away.
Perhaps the longest time I spent on figuring what the final watering system should be. These drink cups are amazing and the girls learned them in just couple of days. They are glued onto regular PVC pipe which I painted black. You can also see how close the bulkhead light is to the perch and attracts any flies or mosquitoes to their quick doom. Both corners have 15Amp outlets and on this one I have a dimmable LED nightlight. Yeah I know, we spoil them.
Last thing I added is steps. Left side leg is about 5" lower than the other. The ramp has hinges, which allows me to lift it out of the way when I need to take a wheelbarrow to the other side of the coop. I got couple of those LED strings on after Christmas sale and it lets the girls roam in the run at dusk if they want to.
The steps are free standing for easy removal. It is supported by flat bars with a slot that the 1/8" bar slides into. You can see how I mis-measured at first and had to weld another piece to extend it.
That's all the pics I have for the coop, I'll make another post for the run and its fencing. If you would like more details about any of the features I came up with, please request it below or send me a note.
Sooner than I realized the box arrived and we had newly hatched chicks in the bath tub. I guess I should start building the coop.
Next few days I read all possible articles and forums and any plans I could scour what kind of coop, how big, what kind of run, anything at all people had done with their setup. But none really caught my attention and as with most of my projects, I was going to build it from scratch and just see what comes out of it at the end. Couple things were certain, there was going to be some sawdust and several trips to hardware stores. I was ok with that. And I already missed the timeline of having the coop ready before you get the chicks.
First the location. I first thought of a free-standing, somewhere within the acre of a yard we have. Our property is completely surrounded by forest, so any place is as good as the other. My wife suggested why not just attach it to the shed, which I had built a while ago. After careful pondering I could not come up with anything better.
Next, material list. What list, I didn't even know what I was going to build. It needs floor, walls and a roof. And maybe a door. Oh and nesting boxes. And maybe some kind of a light, chickens need light for 15-16 hrs a day to lay eggs. The shed has it's own 20Amp circuit in it with a breaker box, that should make it easy.
So lets begin with the floor. Rough measurements of the space available is 6' X 11' and I want to make it raised off the ground, making the space underneath available for the chickens at any time. The soil drains extremely well and gently slopes towards the shed and the front of it, so I don't need to worry muddy conditions too much. I did put a layer of coarse sand underneath already and will do within the run once that's complete.
The shed is 12'x16' and the actual floor of the coop came to 6'3"x11'7" as I didn't want to remove the window. I've since replaced that chickenwire with 1/2" hardware cloth along the edge of the shed, buried about 1.5'.
And then everything leveled, floor boards in place and seams caulked.
Then the walls. Ok, I had no clue how to proceed. I did want to make use of some 4x6's which I've had for years. So I measured the slope of the roof and how high I could make the long side and raised the beams on top of 2x8's at the end and shorter 4x6 in the middle.
In my haste I forgot to take pictures of the side wall construction. They were really simple framed with 2x4's along the edge, so those walls are just 2" thick with the siding. I'll explain more about them further down.
The two large openings I planned for nesting boxes, but I also wanted to be able to open them completely. So I made two of these, one with 5 nesting boxes, another framed exactly the same but without boxes in it.
Nesting boxes are 12"x12"x15" in size with the 1x4 keeping the bedding in.
For the roofing I'm using just off the shelf shingles. Right side extends 3' and left side 4' over to give more rain cover. The wall with nesting boxes and the one next to it are both mounted onto the 4x6 beams with 4" hinges, so they can be raised upwards all the way to the roof. Maximum clearance for spring cleaning.
If you wondered what was the plexiglass thing up there for? It's for the skylight of course! And if I made one, might as well make 2 of them. Why? Because I've had some 1/4" Acrylite sitting around with no better use for it.
Sideview of the door and access hatch for the girls. The roof is supported by 2x6x10' beams, giving nice overhang. I also got some 1/8" sheeting and covered all the framing with it. This leaves no flat surfaces for the dust to gather and it frankly looks much better.
All the vents have 1/4" aluminum mesh on the outside and bug screen on the inside. Located above both doors and along long wall between each 2x6's.
And the view from the door opening on the other side. The girls are definitely wondering if this things is ever getting finished.
The floor is fully covered in linoleum. Just couple remnants I had leftovers and put to good use. Already have been praising how easy it is to scrape things off the floor when cleaning.
As soon as I saw those bulkhead lights, I knew there were perfect for the coop. I have LED bulbs in them so they will never get hot to harm the girls, one being within reach from the perch. It also allows them easy access to any flying bugs in the evenings if any get inside the coop. Timer switch is located inside the shed, where I store the feed and bedding. Just a note, I framed this wall exactly mirroring the other, so that I can easily open another access hatch to this end if I need to.
Closer view of the nesting boxes.
The perch structure is just simple pine 2x4's, which I routed with 1/2" radius on all edges. I might modify this or make something totally different but they loved it right away.
Perhaps the longest time I spent on figuring what the final watering system should be. These drink cups are amazing and the girls learned them in just couple of days. They are glued onto regular PVC pipe which I painted black. You can also see how close the bulkhead light is to the perch and attracts any flies or mosquitoes to their quick doom. Both corners have 15Amp outlets and on this one I have a dimmable LED nightlight. Yeah I know, we spoil them.
Last thing I added is steps. Left side leg is about 5" lower than the other. The ramp has hinges, which allows me to lift it out of the way when I need to take a wheelbarrow to the other side of the coop. I got couple of those LED strings on after Christmas sale and it lets the girls roam in the run at dusk if they want to.
The steps are free standing for easy removal. It is supported by flat bars with a slot that the 1/8" bar slides into. You can see how I mis-measured at first and had to weld another piece to extend it.
That's all the pics I have for the coop, I'll make another post for the run and its fencing. If you would like more details about any of the features I came up with, please request it below or send me a note.
