So I decided to build an underground coop: UPDATE pg 33

[rooster-red]

Nice job.

How will you collect eggs?

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

I love this! You should come build a few in our yard. We live on a hill!

 

[MissPrissy]

Great Job!

 

[Cats Critters]

I love this coop! Want to come build me one?

 

[Oblio13]

Quote:
Dry! You could have seen a grown man cry if it hadn't.

Quote:
At the bottom, there's nothing. At the top, there's woven plastic tarps, the stuff that lumberyards wrap their wood in. I sort of made an "umbrella" of tarps under the first few inches of soil to divert water away as it soaks into the ground.

Quote:
It has a little bit, but not much. I had planned on "chinking" between the timbers with ripped 2x4's, but now I think I may just leave it as-is. If I were starting over again, I would have done a lot of things differently, and the walls would be one of them.

Quote:
It's 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide, so you have to duck through the door. It's not too bad, though, as you're immediately heading down and there's 8 1/2 feet of headroom inside. I still need to build steps, right now I'm using a lawn chair. I think the chickens will use the same door, although I'm toying with the idea of a small door-within-the-door. I bought a super heavy-duty stainless steel hinge from a surplus place, it was from the armored door of a Hummer.

Quote:
I'll build a few and fasten them along one of the walls, along with a couple roosts and dropping boards.

I'm hoping that with a really thick layer of dry leaves on the floor to scratch around in they'll be cozy in there this winter, and that with all the earth-sheltering the neighbors won't hear the rooster.

 

[Oblio13]

Quote:
Thought about making nesting boxes that were accessible from the outside, but couldn't come up with a practical way that looked nice. I'll just go inside. There's an expression about the best fertilizer for a garden being the gardener's shadow, and I figure the same thing applies to critters. I should check food, water and bedding up close every day anyway. Plus, I'll build in a pull-up bar between the two support posts. I like to do a few pull-ups every day to maintain my movie-star, Greek-god physique.

 

[lavacaw]

Cardboard will compost...use the black plastic for the barrier cover...
Looks fantastic. Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[Oblio13]

Quote:
That's okay, it'd only be there to prevent the membrane from being punctured by rocks or shovels or rakes while the dirt is being put on.

 

[danielle82]

Cool! thanks for answering all of our questions

That is a very cool coop, and I, for one, look forward to future updates!

 

[Luna_Chick66]

wow, I just went thru this whole thread and what an awesome project! Awesome chicken house, too.