The project begins. Seeking advice about roofing and windows.

[cupman]

The king procrastinator has finally cleared the schedule and construction is ready to begin. Spent a little under $500 at Lowe's this morning and picked up about 85% of the materials I'll need to construct my 10x12 coop. There's a few pieces to the coop I have not worked out just yet including minor detail work like PVC watering, feeder and various latches/hinges... but a bigger undecided piece right now involves roofing and windows. I have narrowed the list of roofing materials down to three possible choices but I am always open to better ideas from the more experienced.

Roofing
Corrugated aluminum, corrugated fiberglass or plain old OSB with shingle work done to it. I really can't decide here, the fiberglass was appealing because it would let more light through but if I do windows(see part 2) that won't be necessary. I also live in a woodsy area and branches piercing through the roof could be a minor concern but probably not too big of a threat. My chickens aren't fussy, they don't need the latest, greatest materials in home building but I am just looking for people who have come to this decision before and what they chose to do and why.

Windows
I have been browsing Craigslist and have come across several windows that I think would be great for my coop. I saw one window that was gigantic, 60"x100" for only $50 and thought it would be pretty cool to have a gigantic window on one side. However it raises concerns for me as whether or not such a vast openness would take away from the privacy factor and make the hens more hesitant or stressed when laying. Right now my nest boxes are in the run and they HATE using them, my whole current coop is an amateur disaster, is why I'm building a new one.

Well thanks in advance, any suggestions, ideas or critiques would be much appreciated.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'd go with the metal myself. I don't trust the fiberglass, either from something hitting it or it getting brittle in sunlight. If you install it right, the OSB with shingles can work, but I've seen shingles blow off. Hail can also knock holes through shingles. The metal should last for a long time and, if you install it right, should not leak. One potential problem for any of them but especially the metal roof is that they may sweat in certain weather with the condensation dropping down in the coop. If you have good ventilation, which you need anyway, that should not happen. But if you don't provide adequate ventilation up high, that could be a problem, especially in a climate like Portland's.

For any of them, make sure you slope your roof enough for it to drain properly. And make sure you have adequate support underneath for snow, ice, and wind load and make very sure your nails or screws are the right kind. I saw a roof blow off because they built it with smooth fairly short nails instead of screws or ribbed nails of the proper length.

Don't worry about the privacy factor. Just position and fabricate your nests so they are fairly dark. The rest of the coop does not matter that much. I'd probably stay away from a window that size mainly because the handling and installing might be challenging. But if you are up to that, I don't see the harm.

You do need a window or two for a couple of reasons. You'll be working in there. It's nice to be able to see without turning a light on. Also, your chickens need to be able to see well enough to put themselves to bed. If it gets too dark in the coop before it gets dark enough outside for them to go to bed, they may not want to go into a coop at night where they cannot see what they are doing.

 

[justinsmom]

cup man before you go spending alot more $$ check with lowes or HD for there bent, or cracked lumber. We just built 2 coops for under $200 with paint and all. We got the lumber and a ton of it from HD for $50 and then went to ace and got the sheets of sideing and osb for $85. Here is a pic of one of them

 

[cupman]

You make some good points, thank you Ridgerunner. I think you are right about the install, I might just do 3 or 4 smaller windows.

And justinsmom, that is a very nice coop you have built there. I did look at the scrap wood section of my local Home Depot and I was not too impressed. I have gotten some leftover supplies from a friend. I think the reason my price is over twice that of yours is because the coop I plan on building is going to be large(10x12 foot) and the inside is going to be customized a bit. Your coop is great, though, a friend's dad was a bit inspired by my chickens and wanted to get a small flock of his own, I'll have to show him a picture of your design next time I see him. Maybe I should just direct him to BYC in general.

 

[justinsmom]

Quote:
I guess I was lucky because I can't seem to find the same kind of deal lately. Good luck in your new coop. Please show us a pic when your finished.

 

[Creed Bennett]

Cupman, I used metal on all of my coops and it has worked well. I even used it on my house with no complaints. On windows have you thought about storm windows? They aren't that expensive and you might find some someone has thrown away.