Simple Beginnings - A coop for the family

Chickinatree

Hatching
6 Years
Sep 25, 2013
5
0
9
Hello all! We won a great battle here in our town in Georgia and we are finally allowed to keep backyard chickens!

I think the ordnance is up to 5 per family, no roosters, and goes into effect as of January 1st of next year. We're also expecting our

first child in early February!
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(We find out the sex tomorrow morning!) I have plenty of time to complete this project and want it

done RIGHT!

So we have some pretty simple beginnings here and absolutely no rush to get it completed as we're going to wait until the child is a

year old to get the chickens (spring of 2015). We still have a ton of work to do! I am starting off with a simple shed we have on our

.6 acre property. It's infested with camel crickets (that I cannot STAND) but he roof is strong and it will save us a ton of money. I will

post pics from my iPad in the next post. We have a nice shady back yard, but even in the shade, north Georgia can get HOT.

Winters are not going to be that much of an issue, it rarely gets below 25 degrees Fahrenheit. I have done a ton of research about

breeds on here, but we're not going to make a solid decision about that until next year. My ultimate goal is to not spend more than

$200 on the coop but to use all the smart ideas that are posted on here, pallets, dumpster finds etc to make this an awesome and

durable coop to keep the ladies safe, warm / cool and happy. So here we go! I am a bit overwhelmed with everything and need

someone to give me a good place to start. Pics to follow! Where would YOU start? Windows? Ventillation? The outside? The inside?

The run?
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So much to do!
 
Hey there! I'm in Georgia as well! I'm also new-ish to chickens. My first suggestion would be to work on the structure like you said. The vents, the windows, pop door, storage area (if your adding it in the coop) and framing for your run. Then move on to either fencing your run or the inside of the coop like roosting bars, nest boxes, ect.
 
No kidding, the place I would start is with the wooden privacy fence. There needs to be some serous wire (1 by 1 inch welded wire is good) either sunk into the ground or laid around the perimeter of the privacy fence if you are planning on having a pen around your coop. Lots of things living in Nawth Jawja loves to eat your chickens. Then I would think about raising the shed before you start on it so if a hen steals her nest or expires under the coop you can still retrieve her and or her eggs.

I would put a new floor in the shed on top of the existing floor. 3/4 inch treated plywood is the best thing for this and don't listen to the neigh sayers
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who try to scare you with horror stories about treated wood causing their babies to be born naked.
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You will have a layer of pine or cedar shavings covering the floor anyway. Besides this isn't your grand mother's old fashion treated wood, its your very own new modern rot and insect resistant treated wood.

A load of sand may or may not be the way to go inside the run the choice is your's but I'm thinking that with the tree cover you have that 5 confined hens will quickly create a quagmire from the soil and leaf litter in your back yard. It rains a lot and often in North Georgia. It is easier to do it now than to wait until the fence and gate goes up and then have to shovel or wheel barrow the whole load in by hand.

Some images of the interior of the shed would be nice.
 
I couldn't get interior pics because the iPad doesn't have a flash and it was later in the evening. I'll try to get one asap. You're right about the floor for sure, it needs a new one.

As for raising it up, I just don't see how we can. Could I just put up some fencing (like the pvc lattice at HD) and rocks at the bottom to keep them out? We were going to open the run off the right

side of the shed only, so we can walk all the way around. I will attach my spiffy drawing! This is the side I want to bring the run off of...




I think getting the roof cleaned up, vented and gutters (for rainwater) installed with downspouts installed will be my first step. Going to bug bomb it

before I start, those camel crickets give me the willies!
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