SpicyDisaster's CoopShed Build-A-Long

[SpicyDisaster]

Feels like plans are ever-changing as things are built out. Pole barn is finished. I've opted to do a 12x20 section into a coop instead of the 15x30 due to some framing build outs and changes in how the barn lines up with the run. This gives me the other 12x10 area for stacking eggs for sale as well as a large storage area for all the chicken things.

Tentatively taping out where things will go in the coop. Planning on 60 chicken capacity for now as we will ultimately have separate breeding kennels (10x10) for the top picks. So this will be just for the laying farm flock.

I've got the roosts (3 or 4 rows undecided) as 20' long, broken into 10' sections with a ladder on each side of them. The right-side ladder though will interfere with where I'd like the cleanout door so it might get moved into the middle. They are 1' distance between the bars and will have the lowest bar starting at 3' so it's higher than the nesting box bars. Also gives them the view of the outside so they better be happy chickens.

The interior wall will have the feeder box on the left, the line for water coming off a 55 gallon barrel, and then nesting boxes on the left. I was planning to build out boxes but the latest batch of chickens has resulted in two egg eaters and we are having some mite issue so I've opted for the metal The Best Nest Large box that has rear rollaway (no need to go into the coop) and easier for cleaning out without crevices for little mites to hide in. Fingers crossed they take to it...

View from the exterior pole barn door. I plan to put a 4' door into the coop straight ahead in that open line . So an easy open check spot for the nesting box hens (or to grab the persnickety broodies out). X on the wall is for the exterior auto-door that I'm taking off the current coop (Omelet with solar panel). There will be a chunnel (cattle panel w/hardware cloth tunnel) to the fenced run. Eventually the covered dust boxes on the exterior running the length of the coop walls around.

Not pictured is the broody hut which will be to the right. Thinking a 3' countertop for storage/egg placement during collection and underneath will be the broody hut with it's own access to the exterior and a covered run area.

For now though, with surgery looming in six weeks, I'm hoping to get some help with the main framing wall up, the hardware cloth for ventilation up, the roosts, and the nest boxes installed. I figure we can move the existing buckets for water and food inside in the meantime until I can get them built as well. Spring project.

I was originally going to do a poop board under the roosts but after seeing some other designs I'm not sure I want to have the dark space underneath the roosting boards where it would be hard to crouch and get under. No black widows for me please thanks. So to start it will be a sectioned off area underneath with a wood barrier between it and the coop floor. Keep the PDZ separate from the rest. Not 100% on what I'm doing for bedding. I'm tired of the extra dust with the shavings bedding so I might go with sand and see how that does. Who knows, maybe I will end up with roost boards and block the underside off for time-out spaces.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Is there something about this you think I'm overlooking and going to be kicking myself for later??

 

[SpicyDisaster]

Surgery in two weeks has sped up and condensed the build timeline. As with everything homesteading I'm learning to decide what's most important for function and letting the rest slide for "in the future".

That being said, walls are up, roosts are done, door is hung, and the nest box is installed. We worked right up until sundown last night getting sawdust spread out and a hook on the door so I don't have great pictures yet to share, those will come today when the sun is up.

Left to do this week:
Install auto-door
Chunnel from door to fenced run
Finish box feeder (cut foam, drill holes, install ports, maybe handle for the top to easy open)
Install box feeder
Plastic and chicken wire on top of walls to keep them IN the coop section (walls are 8', pole barn is 14' at the peak, went with plastic to allow more light into the barn since it isn't wired for electricity yet)



Left to do in general (likely spring, after recovery and then the garden has first priority):
Obtain 55 gallon food grade barrel
Install water pipe assembly
Install water nipples
Pull old coop out of run
Install new larger free range fence area rather than free access to full plot
Pressure wash old coop
Decide on selling old coop or using for extra field coop (no extra fencing in budget until 2024 though)


Chocolate chip hung out for longer than I anticipated watching us get walls put up.

Oreo had final inspection duty, she was not thrilled of the glass door so I might need to put something on the bottom to keep them from trying to escape.

 

[SpicyDisaster]

Some progress pics


Flutter joined for roost inspection (pre-sanding job). Even putting them 15" apart I think they might be too close ugh. We shall see. But there's 72' of roost available for 41 chickens! 2x4s were pulled from the large pallets used to transport siding for the brewery going up across the street and the 2x6s from the lavender delivery in spring. With free materials we changed up the roost design for the short term rather than boards with same-level roosts.

Start of framing. Had to screw base plates into the cement and then track down a ladder y'all enough to reach the struts for assembly. Hubby doesn't like heights so I oober appreciate his help.

Starting to frame out the door. Best Nest Box visible on the floor inside the coop. I hope the girls take it to. Rear-facing egg tray to keep the egg eater at bay and allow for no-contact chicken-sitting.

Marbu has had a love affair with this shelf in the garage since we bought it. Within 5 minutes of moving it out to the pole barn she'd made a nest out of the hemp pad I planned to replace in the existing coop.

Several days later, Twilight found it and showed the ladies he approves. Seriously the best rooster ever, even if he tries to get my ankles every few weeks when I wear different shoes/boots than he's used to. He has the brights to look embarrassed afterwards at least.

Oh forgot to add to the future list...
Build brooder section base
Obtain and install 10' countertop for egg collection spot
Obtain another omelet door
Install omelet door for brooder spot
Build outside mini brooder dirt area
Build look-see section into wall in coop (maybe, outside brooder area might be enough)

 

[3KillerBs]

Looking good. Hope all goes well with both coop and surgery.

 

[SpicyDisaster]

The girls are incredibly annoyed at the captivity.

Went out first thing yesterday to find Oreo on the 8' wall. So chicken wire went up while we went into town to get some finishing touches.

Two flock blocks later they were happy to have something to do at least. The buckets of water with nipples tend to leak so I got some pans to put under them and single cell cinder blocks to go underneath. Food also needs to go on the single cell blocks to help keep mice at bay. We keep trapping but living in the middle of wheat fields there's only so much we can do ugh. Hopefully the barn will be a better deterrent than the old coop.

Grit and oyster shell also went up. And the girls figured out the new nest box! Definitely some adaption as it's not a divided box, it's higher up off the ground (old coop was literally floor level), and it's a rollaway style. I put a hemp nesting pad in there strewn apart to mimic the previous nests which helped though they aren't pleased exactly. I'm hoping to slowly transition them to just the liner in the box eventually.

 

[aart]

The buckets of water with nipples tend to leak

Leaking from the threads or just drips from drinking out of them?

 

[SpicyDisaster]

Leaking from the threads or just drips from drinking out of them?

It seems to be from the chickens drinking out of them but the volume of water is surprising. I've washed the buckets and nipples to make sure there isn't dirt lodged in (usually a bigger leak issue with that though). It could be from the threads but I don't ever see the water dripping off the bottom of the bucket like I would expect if that was the case. While I'm installing the door tomorrow (today weather is gross gross) I will keep an eye on them I think. But when they were outside we would get little divits from the water drops directly below the spouts not the edge of the buckets). Thoughts? Have you had any issues with the side-nipples?

 

[aart]

It seems to be from the chickens drinking out of them but the volume of water is surprising. I've washed the buckets and nipples to make sure there isn't dirt lodged in (usually a bigger leak issue with that though). It could be from the threads but I don't ever see the water dripping off the bottom of the bucket like I would expect if that was the case. While I'm installing the door tomorrow (today weather is gross gross) I will keep an eye on them I think. But when they were outside we would get little divits from the water drops directly below the spouts not the edge of the buckets). Thoughts? Have you had any issues with the side-nipples?

What I do to check for thread leaks is bring the waterer in and fully dry off the outside, set it on a couple of small chunks of 2x2's(not directly under the nipples) on a plain dry surface(I use the top of the dryer), then monitor for drips using a flashlight to highlight any paths of water coming from nipples.

The drinking drips can cause quite a mess, which I believe comes down to specific birds and their drinking technique. Some groups have made more of a mess than others over the years. Had quite a muck mess this summer, and have had ice build up in the winters.