adamthomas
Chirping
I've been working off an on an hour or two at a time on building a coop I designed for my new chicks and thought I would share some pictures. I drew a number of design influences and features from existing designs but mostly from Carolina Coops American Coop and the Palace Chicken Coop. It's not finished yet but I will add more pics as I get closer.
The coop's is based on a 6x12 footprint with what's known as a lean-to, shed or skillion roof design. It has a raised 4-6 coop and as a result the run is 6x12 with a ceiling height in the open area that goes from 8' to 7' front to rear. The framing and windows are assembled with a combination of zinc plated and blue coated pocket screws with the use of construction screws for attachment of the panels. It is on a non-permanent base to hopefully avoid the ire of the local building inspectors. I lined the trench with 3/4"granite and 1" drilled PVC piping for drainage as this area gets quite a bit of run off during winter rains.
The coop has screened windows on 4 sides that will be covered with acrylic glass and can be hinged open or closed depending on the weather. When closed entirely 18 - 3 inch portholes near the top of the coop will provide plenty of ventilation for the girls. Another feature of the coop is draft panels on all the window and door gaps that prevent direct drafts from reaching the girls inside the coop. The inside will be painted with a $9 gallon of Valspar Ultra White interior paint with a hint of blue from the mis-tint cart, and the outside stained with Valspar Semi Transparent external stain in Doug Fir color for a natural look that will help cover some imperfections on the stud grade lumber from big box stores.
I also plan to bury 3 ft wide 1/2 hardware cloth around the perimeter since I have a Red Fox and her pups living in a large series of blackberry bushed less than 50 ft away. I included a picture of her and one of her pups for your viewing pleasure, as well as a visitor to the building site that felt he had had to stake his claim for some reason.
If I were to modify the design at all it would be to drop the roof height 1 foot but thought about that too late to make the change. That said, I think the proportions are very appealing. Let me know what you think.
The coop's is based on a 6x12 footprint with what's known as a lean-to, shed or skillion roof design. It has a raised 4-6 coop and as a result the run is 6x12 with a ceiling height in the open area that goes from 8' to 7' front to rear. The framing and windows are assembled with a combination of zinc plated and blue coated pocket screws with the use of construction screws for attachment of the panels. It is on a non-permanent base to hopefully avoid the ire of the local building inspectors. I lined the trench with 3/4"granite and 1" drilled PVC piping for drainage as this area gets quite a bit of run off during winter rains.
The coop has screened windows on 4 sides that will be covered with acrylic glass and can be hinged open or closed depending on the weather. When closed entirely 18 - 3 inch portholes near the top of the coop will provide plenty of ventilation for the girls. Another feature of the coop is draft panels on all the window and door gaps that prevent direct drafts from reaching the girls inside the coop. The inside will be painted with a $9 gallon of Valspar Ultra White interior paint with a hint of blue from the mis-tint cart, and the outside stained with Valspar Semi Transparent external stain in Doug Fir color for a natural look that will help cover some imperfections on the stud grade lumber from big box stores.
I also plan to bury 3 ft wide 1/2 hardware cloth around the perimeter since I have a Red Fox and her pups living in a large series of blackberry bushed less than 50 ft away. I included a picture of her and one of her pups for your viewing pleasure, as well as a visitor to the building site that felt he had had to stake his claim for some reason.
If I were to modify the design at all it would be to drop the roof height 1 foot but thought about that too late to make the change. That said, I think the proportions are very appealing. Let me know what you think.
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"Sierra" as in Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.
She houses her girls in a chain link enclosure with an electric wire perimeter. Hopefully my 7 wire 2.1 joule fencing will be a deterrent for at least the bear and coyotes. If a mountain lion wants in I'm not sure there's much I can do except add/replace the HW cloth with chainlink which I don't want to do.
