Started my coop!! The sun is out...New pics-update

[Yeti]

I have some pics of my coop that I am starting to build, while at the same time I am working to finish a 10'x12' garden shed. I am designing/building it similar in style to "Le cage de Poulet", "Chick Mansion" and "La Cage Mahal". It will have a 4'x7' coop over a covered 7'x10' run. I do have a water drainage problem so I have a moat just inside the perimeter of the chicken run covered with drainage rock and I will eventually finish with 4-6" of coarse sand. Let me know what you think and any suggestions.

Thanks

The beginning of the "moat".

Pier blocks for the 4x4 corner posts, the boards around it right now are just to make sure I get the 7'x10' frame right.

The framing and braces.

So this is how far I managed after a couple of days. There is approximately 1.5 yards of river rock in there right now on top of the hardwire cloth and 3" corrugated drain line.

 

[WriterofWords]

May seem dumb,, but why the river rock?

 

[Yeti]

The chicken run is in an excavated area of my backyard (kids old play structure with cedar chips used to be in there) and when it rains the water would stay on top of the claylike soil for quite a while. So in short, for lots of drainage. There will be 4-6" of coarse sand on top of the rocks when I get done. Don't need the neighbor hood cats using it as a sand box while I'm trying to finish.

 

[chickens3]

looks like that will work for them so far.

 

[Karrie13]

How many chicks do you have?

 

[Yeti]

We have six 4 week olds. 3 BR, 2 BO and one lonely Brown Leghorn.

 

[chills]

looks good so far, sounds like you did lots of planning ..
does the rain stop there?

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Looks good. I hope the rock and moat help with the drainage.

I'm having the same trouble in Olympia, WA with the rain and poor draining clay soil. I dug a moat last weekend all around my horse stall turned chicken coop and with all the rain we had this week, the standing water went right over the top of the moat and out another 3-4'.

This weekend is supposed to be nice, so I'll be digging a little deeper and wider.

Good luck with yours and thanks for sharing.

 

[Yeti]

Have had sunny weather so have been working hard to get finished - not there yet but getting closer!!

 

[Uppity Peon]

I'm impressed!

I always love to see the lengths other people will go to make their chickens safe and comfortable. Then I can turn to my wife and say "See? I didn't over-engineer! I need some more building materials!"

BTW I found a couple nice windows behind my shed I didn't know I had. Hmmm...

Thanks for the inspiration!