Trailer Coop Build (Pic heavy)

[scrone]

What a fun project. I built one on a bass boat trailer. Very nice for moving around the property.
in the summer I keep it in the shade, and the winter it gets moved to the garden.

 

[aart]

I built one on a bass boat trailer.

Nice!!
You should do a build thread...or a coop page.

 

[ColoradoPip]

Looks great scrone!!

My build continues. Yesterday I went window hunting. I had previously found 1 frosted window free but this time had to pay $40 for a clear window at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Not bad and now I have two windows! So I cut wood, broke apart more pallets, and designed stuff.

I am using SketchUp software because it's free, there are a ton of tutorials on youtube. The 8th grader one which shows you how to build a dog house is great for learning the basics needed for a project like this

Other than the floating roosting bars, it's coming together. Please let me know your thoughts, problems you see, things you like, and things you don't

The back 4x8 with the low window, rear left side, will be used for brooding as needed so the roost bars only go back to the wheel well. I'll likely add more, this is just a start. Saw the idea of having a window for the brooder and liked that!

The back wall and door will be mirrored in the front

Nest box design. Plan is to do roll away boxes based on info found on this forum.

Roost bar in progress, roughly based on pictures I've seen from aart:

 

[aart]

Solid modeling is fun, eh?
Am an old drafter who did many models for years.
Great tool for designing and showing others who can't read orthographic drawings.

Anyway....
What is that box under the roosts?

Are the roosts going where you showed them floating?
Not sure what to make of the nests and roost models.
Good to pop a few dimensions on there when screen shooting to show.

Here's some tips about heights...and remember you need to have easy access to everything:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coop-stack-up-how-high-stuff-works-well.73427/

 

[ColoradoPip]

Btw, The roof will be slanted and vented the entire length on both sides, 13ft of vent on each side. Plus vents cut between studs cross wise, with doors to open/close them.

The box you see is the wheel well. I've purposely placed the nest boxes over the other wheel well trying to balance everything. That's also why I put the windows opposite the nest boxes.

Nest box is about 4ft x 2ft, 8 boxes. 12 x 12 x 12 for the boxes and 24 inches deep so the eggs roll away.

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out as I get inside. My initial idea is to build the roosting poles similar to the separate picture and then attach them to the walls/floor so they are approximately where you see them floating. If that makes sense lol. The highest one will be under 4ft high, the roof there will be 5ftish and rising so I put it about 14 inches down from the roof.

 

[aart]

The box you see is the wheel well.

Ohhhhhh!!

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out as I get inside.

Well, you are inside

My initial idea is to build the roosting poles similar to the separate picture and then attach them to the walls/floor so they are approximately where you see them floating. If that makes sense lol.

The separate roost pic, looks like a 1x as a roost?
What are the dims there?
Never seen staggered poop boards, might want to fit that into your model to see how it looks.

 

[ColoradoPip]

Solid modeling has some fun parts to it. SketchUp doesn't necessarily treat everything as objects/blocks/solids. It's more lines and planes, which is great for drawing a 3.5"x1.5" rectanlge, then pulling it 6ft up, all with like 2 clicks (and a couple of quick-keys), and now you have a 6ft long 2x4. However, when you mess up, this fact makes things interesting, lol, and is why my model doesn't always look great

It's a lot easier to whip something out in 5 minutes but a lot harder to fix it (at least if you don't know what you're doing lol). There is no comparison to something like AutoCAD though, SketchUp isn't made for the same things, for instance you could never do a real world, actual specifications, piping system design/layout in SketchUp but of course you can do that in AutoCad. Anyways, thought I'd share the link since it's free...if anyone hasn't noticed, I like free!!

Well, you are inside

Thinking too fast...I mean as I begin working on the inside more I will be looking at that thread. LoL! So far I've only laid out the nest boxes and a rough idea for the roost bar setup. I threw them in to give a rough idea of spacing, location, etc. I also plan to put ramps, ladders, etc. inside.

The separate roost pic, looks like a 1x as a roost?
What are the dims there?
Never seen staggered poop boards, might want to fit that into your model to see how it looks.

2x4 set on side for the roost bar. 12" from the wall. The next bar will be 8" out, 8" down, which creates about 10" of diagonal separation. Plan is to have a large poop tray that sits 8" below the bars.

Two things I'm debating...
1) Regarding the roost bars, will 10" diagonal be enough?
2) Regarding the poop tray/catcher...debating between building similar to the design and putting sand/wood to help soak it up. The alternative, that is enticing is to try and make a flat poop board covered in linoleum (or similar slick, easy to clean, material) and a small box below catching the poop. This way, with the staggered bars, I can have one smaller box to catch the poop from all bars above it without have a large box take up a lot of floor (or air) space.

Option 1, something like this, 8ft long, 2x4 on it's side 10.5 inches above the board:

 

[aart]

Not sure how you'd stagger several of the roost board assemblies.

 

[ColoradoPip]

Not sure how you'd stagger several of the roost board assemblies.

I know, me neither!! I do have lots of ideas though!

The interior layout, other than the nest box and window locations, is definitely still work in progress. For some of this, it feels like I need to get the walls up and get inside the coop to see how it will lay finally out. Computer design can only do so much, it doesn't tell you how it will "feel" in the end.

 

[aart]

How many birds do you plan on keeping......and why(eggs, meat, pets)??
What are your long term plans, adding new layers yearly or.....?
Would be good to figure out what you want to do, then make the coop facilitate that.