Six by 8 coop plans?

[Cattle dog Mom]

as I read that, the coop will have no floor, the walls will be slightly elevated off the ground, with that gap filled by hardware cloth bent out into an apron surrounding the run. When the birds are up on their perches or nesting in their boxes, they will be out of any drafts.

But I may be imagining it wrong.

That's what I was thinking. But wasn't 100%. Especially since "elevated" and "no floor" aren't usually in the same sentence. LOL

 

[cmom]

Thank you for the advice everyone! So what my grandfather and I decided on is an 8 by 8 that has no floor and is elevated with the smallest size hardwire cloth we can get, doubled and dug into the ground on any exposed bottom and then going out around the sides by a few feet so nothing can dig in or under,
Were doing a metal roof, and I'm using weather treated plywood and then painting everything with this all season paint and primer I found locally.
I also have these huge weather proof cloth for plants I currently use to insulate the outside of both my coops that I'll use the same way in the winter on the new coop just wrap around the roof and top ventilation to prevent temperature drop inside the coop without preventing airflow. We have had a really cold winter compared to normal this year.
Were picking up the plywood saturday I already have all the frame lumber so i just need that and will start the build.

If you're using pressure treated plywood. You will have to make sure it's dried before you primer and paint it. I now use pressure treated wood. I didn't in the past but eventually the wood rotted so now it's all pressure treated. A friend built his coop out of pressure treated wood with no paint. The wood does have a weathered look but it's sturdy and he hasn't has issues with the wood rotting.

 

[cmom]

I also put metal roofs on my coops. We had a hurricane a few years ago and no damage.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I use metal roofs as well. At current lumber prices its cheaper, they should last longer, and they are faster to install then framing, decking, felt, flashing, and shingles. That's a lot of labor to do correctly. Rubber grommeted screws and a power drill are a little more forgiving and a lot faster, though framing is about the same.

 

[3KillerBs]

At current lumber prices its cheaper,

At current lumber prices, DH is considering metal for the siding on the walled end of the new coop. We figure that if we leave the top 8-12 inches open and only have the side walls extend about 4 feet there shouldn't be any issues with condensation.

We haven't made the call yet.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I don't like metal walls in my climate, and hate cutting the stuff. Would be more likely to use polycarbonate, but i keep using hardieboard instead. Hate cutting it too, but it leaves a clean edge and otherwise operates like heavy plywood

 

[3KillerBs]

I don't like metal walls in my climate, and hate cutting the stuff. Would be more likely to use polycarbonate, but i keep using hardieboard instead. Hate cutting it too, but it leaves a clean edge and otherwise operates like heavy plywood

Handling the metal is one of the major hesitations.

 

[iwltfum]

Handling the metal is one of the major hesitations.

Turn your skillsaw blade backwards and wear long sleeves of a heavy fabric and a plastic face shield *with* your eye protection. Cuts like butter with the blade backwards and the face shield really helps with the face shots

 

[3KillerBs]

Turn your skillsaw blade backwards and wear long sleeves of a heavy fabric and a plastic face shield *with* your eye protection. Cuts like butter with the blade backwards and the face shield really helps with the face shots

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Demonaca]

as I read that, the coop will have no floor, the walls will be slightly elevated off the ground, with that gap filled by hardware cloth bent out into an apron surrounding the run. When the birds are up on their perches or nesting in their boxes, they will be out of any drafts.

But I may be imagining it wrong.

No that's exactly what we're going for! Technically the floor would be dirt(all though I'm looking into deep litter methods for the inside instead of just plain dirt) were only bring the walls up the heigh of a cinder block turned on the flat short side just so the wood doesnt touch the ground at all which will help with the wood lasting longer, I'm also looking into making a little poop catcher/base that would just soley be under the roosting bars just to help with keeping the inside clean and I'm assuming it would help even more with blocking drafts that might come from underneath the flock. I spot clean daily as it is so I'm looking into efficient ways to keep it clean because right now we have no issues with smells even with having two coops and runs to keep clean right now and I'd like to keep it that way when we combine the flocks lol.