Things you've learned while building your coop...

[HarryBun12]

I found out today that it's much easier to include an exterior nest box when initially building the coop than to add one later on. Maybe with better carpentry skills it would've been easier and maybe if it didn't start raining in the middle of attaching the nest box and maybe if my chickens weren't jumping on my shoulders to see what was going on.... Don't think I forgot anything there. Anyway, like everyone else says, it's never going to be big enough because you will always want a few more chickens.

 

[LittleFeat]

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.....and sometimes....."THEY" WILL COME and YOU BUILD and BUILD and BUILD!!! Kind of a new version of which comes first the Chicken or the egg...Uh I mean COOP.

 

[LittleFeat]

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I've already been trying to figure out a better way to get more room inside the coop. Ah Ha!!! I just may have to move the nest boxes to the outside....after the initial building!

 

[michickenwrangler]

1. Don't let the contractor that messed up your bathroom to give you pointers on how to build a chicken coop

2. Ground at the edge of a cedar swamp takes a while to settle when cinder blocks and a coop are placed on it ... and keeps settling ... and keeps settling

3. Keep reminding your German perfectionist husband who built the house you're living in "It's just a chicken coop. If it's not perfectly square, the chickens won't know the difference."

 

[Coopa Cabana]

OMG! I've gotten so many good ideas here on remodeling the interior of my coop this fall - love the poop boards and trays! Two things that I absolutely love about my coop that I haven't seen mentioned yet are 1) Dutch doors for the main entrance - just great - you can open the top first and check things out and keep them from scattering out before opening the bottom; and 2) Covered porch/deck on the front - great place to store things, great 'stay dry' area from snow and rain, and I have an old metal milk crate there that I use for sitting when tending to individual birds. Sadly, as everyone else says, you can never build the coop big enough!!!

 

[Tonopah Pati]

CC, that is an awesome coop. It would look really good in my yard.

i love the dutch doors also.

Yes indeed, ONE COOP, is never enough. The fever for sure.

gsim, I would like to see some photo's of the trough. Please

I found a kids playhouse on CL. It does not have a floor. I am trying to decide if I should put a floor in it and if I should put it up on a platform.
Still trying to work that out.

 

[pamiejune]

I would put a floor in for the playhouse - just to keep the girls dry and thwart predators. I'm not sure what the others have done, but I would take a pallet to fit, cover it with hardware cloth and then a thin layer of ply (5mm is good) then cover that with a vinyl floor piece. Screw the house down onto the pallet and voila! you have a dry, movable coop. I am currently making a portable coop based on all the ideas from this forum and using pallets for a base. I also installed eyebolts on the ends for lifting ropes and am using furring strips in place of studs to keep it light. I had to laugh about the previous poster's remark about her German husband - my fiance is helping me with this (a true test of a relationship - build something together!) and he is German - I had to remind him of the same thing - It's a CHICKEN coop, for Pete's sake - not a piece of fine furniture!!

I'll post pics when I'm done. I'm also keeping a cutting and hardware list and am taking pics as we go, so might have a contest-worthy design in the making!

Pam chillin' with her peeps in the living room still...

 

[elmo]

Don't start building a 4 foot square coop in your garage to the point that it's nearly complete and then change your mind and decide to put it in your back yard when the gate in your fence is only 40 inches wide.

 

[thekla]

yeah...the dutch/double door with the top able to open...I so wish that I had one when I built... and where do you find them anyhow??? I would love to change my regular door for one. and size...yeah, mine is 8'x20' and could still be a bit bigger...think I will have to build another, especially if I order meat birds next year. And a bigger annex for the teens to stay in before integrating into the flock, the 6 I have now just aren't big enough to free-range with cats around so they are stuck in a relatively small area - with chicken wire inside so they can see and get used to the other birds and their own (also fairly small) run.

 

[Coopa Cabana]

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I kindof cheated . . . I ordered my coop as a prefab kit from Jamaica Cottage, and had it customized into a coop. Without a DH, it was easier for me that way to get what I wanted, and then just have my brother (who I am now eternally indebted to!), put it together for me. A lot more $$, but no headaches. But I believe you can get dutch doors at most building supply stores. In lieu of that, I think you can probably make one very easily - just take a standard door and cut it in half. Sand or plane in down only very slightly to allow clearance to open one half at a time. You need to make sure no drafts get thru the split.