I have finally begun to construct my newest project that has been percolating since last year when my brother gave me the frame he had from his kids swing set. It is roughly 6' x 12' and very sturdy so I looked for all the ideas on A-Frame coops I could find and developed a plan for a structure to house 15-18 birds. I enlisted my cousin Ken's help as he is an accomplished carpenter. Well, yesterday was THE day!! I had bought some 2"x4"x14' boards (14) and acquired some plywood (5/8") and also had numerous scrap peices to use as well. The first order of business, after coffee of course, was the floor. We decided to do hard floor at each end of 4' width and hardware cloth in the center 4' section, where the roosts are planned. Ken then asked if I wanted the walls to slant down from the center beam in a true A-Frame style, or did I want 90 degree walls in standard formation. I had not even considered this but immediately liked the idea. It will give more space for roosts and ventilation and also allow a window to be inserted. I chose option B!! The pitched roof also will allow us to continue the run off of the front side out 16' and cover 1/2 of it. Well, enough of my blabbin'; onto the pics!
This is the "raw" frame prior to construction.
This is the floor joists being put in, and the plywood for the end doors is stacked at the other end than Ken is on.
Once the floor was on, Ken insisted that we could dance on it. Despite not being a dancer, he had us both try it out. Here he is...
...And here is my foot, which supports a frame of 6'1" and 350 #'s!
Here we have the first vertical wall going up...
And now we have both of the backside walls with rafters up.
Here is another view from the front side, where the run will extend out 16'.
Here is a view of the hardware cloth for the roost area which hopefully will save on cleaning effort and time.
Finally we have the front walls up and that was the end of our day. All told it was about 4-4.5 hours of steady labor.
I am quite excited to see this project off of the ground, as my babies are 4 weeks old and will need a good home in 2 more. Now I have to get 6 sheets of 4'x8' 1/4" plywood for the walls and roof, as well as shingles/metal/plastic corrugated PVC sheets. Off to Lowe's!! Updates ASAP!
This is the "raw" frame prior to construction.
This is the floor joists being put in, and the plywood for the end doors is stacked at the other end than Ken is on.
Once the floor was on, Ken insisted that we could dance on it. Despite not being a dancer, he had us both try it out. Here he is...
...And here is my foot, which supports a frame of 6'1" and 350 #'s!
Here we have the first vertical wall going up...
And now we have both of the backside walls with rafters up.
Here is another view from the front side, where the run will extend out 16'.
Here is a view of the hardware cloth for the roost area which hopefully will save on cleaning effort and time.
Finally we have the front walls up and that was the end of our day. All told it was about 4-4.5 hours of steady labor.
I am quite excited to see this project off of the ground, as my babies are 4 weeks old and will need a good home in 2 more. Now I have to get 6 sheets of 4'x8' 1/4" plywood for the walls and roof, as well as shingles/metal/plastic corrugated PVC sheets. Off to Lowe's!! Updates ASAP!
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