Vent - I am terrible at coop making

[Cyneswith]

Saw blades are cheap. What size do you need?

Just keep telling yourself that this is fun. After you finish, the pride, the knowledge and the pleasure you will get showing off your accomplishment is worth the little bit of aggravation.

Just like sewing. Each imperfection proves that it is yours!

Lasers are set to cut on the edge. Figure out which edge, then that is your keeper. On mine the left is the setting. The saw blade cuts to the right of the laser.

I had a blast making my coop. Took me 5 weekends and 3 days of vacation. So I moved them in at 4 weeks.

We are rooting for you!

Once I figured out the saw blade was bent, I got a new one, and I turned off the laser guide - but the whole base of the project is on off-kilter boards. I actually enjoy sawing/drilling/etc, so I'm enjoying it regardless. And I'm getting noticeably better. Sewing, I actively dislike and do purely because I like the finished products (I'm better at it, since I've never gone more than a few months without sewing.)

Don't feel bad, you should see MINE !!
Mine is so bad, I built out of used pallets, that I feel bad for them having to go in it
I am going to buy the Rubbermaid shed and go from there. I figure the 7x7 is $550 and is more solid then those pre-fab coops from China. Then cut holes for Windows (cover iwth screen and make a slide for plexiglass or glass), Pop door and I am good !
They are easy to put up so long as you read the directions.

Lucky you that you are doing this before chickens arrive. I started mine and 1/4 way thru Free chickens were available so I jumped on it

Have any friends that have someone that is Handy?

The rubbermaid sheds don't have enough ventilation for my climate - I thought about it.

 

[Chickassan]

Any Amish people in South Carolina? They would be the go to source for good carpentry! I have heard of and seen some pretty awesome and affordable coops built by them on site.

No Amish people here, but you made me giggle at the thought of of it. Don't worry about your coop the chickens will be happy to be warm and dry they don't give two clucks about looks. You can always shave off tight spots and spray foam gaps so if it's wonky it can be fixed!

 

[Cyneswith]

No Amish people here, but you made me giggle at the thought of of it. Don't worry about your coop the chickens will be happy to be warm and dry they don't give two clucks about looks. You can always shave off tight spots and spray foam gaps so if it's wonky it can be fixed!

I have lath in certain spots. I should get some spray foam too.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

LOL These are v

ery popular !

 

[aart]

Any Amish people in South Carolina? They would be the go to source for good carpentry! I have heard of and seen some pretty awesome and affordable coops built by them on site.

'Amish' does not automatically denote quality building or especially coop design.

Hey don't be so hard on yourself. Just don't give your chicks a level or a measuring tape and they wont notice any imperfections. Your coop will still be better built then the prefabs.

Ditto Dat^^

I have lath in certain spots. I should get some spray foam too.

Keep on trucking!! No need to foam spray small gaps (move ventilation!) if the gaps are leaking rain, then another solution might be necessary.

 

[fightingbunny]

Oh wow, I feel the exact same way!! We have spent so many weekends with so little progress for the huge time spent. I see people posting on here...gave it 3 weekends and BAM, palace! After reading posts here I am always a bit depressed that I am not somehow completing a coop in 2 days. I can't count how many times I started looking up handyman ads on Craig's list for finishing the @#$%@#^% thing. Now I can't even do that as I am so close to done that I refuse to give up the right to say that I built it!

I also am annoyed with the lack of decent affordable coops. There are playset "kits" that you just go to home depot and buy lumber and put the playset together with the instructions and hardware provided. I wish there were options like that for coops! I found one that was somewhat like that, but there were enough things I didn't like about it that I might as well have just done everything custom. If there were more styles/finishes maybe I could have been less clueless. We do have amish around us, but I refuse to pay three grand for a coop! Also, they only seem to have this one style that has so little ventilation and a shape that I don't like.

I am now competing for how big a chicken can be and still be in a "brooder" Just watch for a post titled "How to put nest box in brooder?" in a few weeks!

 

[Camp Olsen]

A

I've been working on my coop for almost a month. It is maybe 10% done. My chicks will be here mid September. My mom came for a visit and tried to give me a full afternoon just to work on the coop. I got... one wall half framed. Running back and forth to the kids, my coop being about a football field away from where I can saw anything, the fact that I didn't know what I was doing when I set my posts (none of them are square! I'm glad my carpenter grandpa isn't around to see this mess), I only just figured out that the laser guide on my saw was off kilter (by a saw blade's width) after framing in the floor, which is why I've either had everything a smidge too tight or a smidge too loose, I didn't notice the saw blade was slightly bent until it got bent to a more extreme J shape ("hmm, I'm really bad at cutting these straight. Oh well, it's been decades since I've done this sort of thing..." *hrk* "Uh, that's a semi circle cut into that board. I, uh, don't think that's user error.")

Why did I think this was a good idea, and why are pre-fabs crappy enough for this to be a better option?

Hey my hats off to you building a coop on your own with kids that need you. It's difficult to brush your teeth when you have kids that need you. I wish you the very best. What I did was salvage a coop that was destine for the dump from Craig's list.

 

[junebuggena]

Oh wow, I feel the exact same way!! We have spent so many weekends with so little progress for the huge time spent. I see people posting on here...gave it 3 weekends and BAM, palace! After reading posts here I am always a bit depressed that I am not somehow completing a coop in 2 days. I can't count how many times I started looking up handyman ads on Craig's list for finishing the @#$%@#^% thing. Now I can't even do that as I am so close to done that I refuse to give up the right to say that I built it!

I also am annoyed with the lack of decent affordable coops. There are playset "kits" that you just go to home depot and buy lumber and put the playset together with the instructions and hardware provided. I wish there were options like that for coops! I found one that was somewhat like that, but there were enough things I didn't like about it that I might as well have just done everything custom. If there were more styles/finishes maybe I could have been less clueless. We do have amish around us, but I refuse to pay three grand for a coop! Also, they only seem to have this one style that has so little ventilation and a shape that I don't like.

I am now competing for how big a chicken can be and still be in a "brooder" Just watch for a post titled "How to put nest box in brooder?" in a few weeks!

A lot of those kids playhouse sets can easily be converted into coops, and they cost less than prefab chicken coops of the same dimensions.

 

[mobius]

Kids playhouse set, T111 siding, door, hardware cloth, window, done. Vent at top...make lower part of cleanout door a pop door...just my two cents. Looks like you could cover the swingset area to make a nice run.

 

[aart]

"How to put nest box in brooder?"

A lot of those kids playhouse sets can easily be converted into coops, and they cost less than prefab chicken coops of the same dimensions.

So they'd still be too small, eh?