Vermont Chicken Coop Build Log

[smokinjay]

Quote:
Thats some old school building there....Thats going to last a few life times Awesome Work!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Wow, your carpentry skills are amazing! The truss system you built is making me drool! There is no way I have the skills or know how to have done that with my roof, but I sure wish I did! So far, GREAT job!

 

[MadChickensVT]

Days 8 & 9

I got in a half day yesterday and a full day today. Yesterday I sheathed the NE wall, partially framed the front wall with a 3' wide opening for a door, marked out where all the purlins go on the SW slope of the roof, notched the front rafter, and put hardware cloth on the SW wall. Today I weaved the wire between the hardware cloth sections, finished framing the roof

, put hardware cloth on the lower part of the SW roof, and sheathed the SW wall.

We're starting to refer to it as the chicken cottage

In this pic (below) you can see where there's going to be a big window/vent in both side walls. I'll setup a way to control the air flow, probably big shutters with polycarb in them. Also visible is the framing for the front wall. I left some big spaces because I'm not sure of window sizing yet. I'm going to the recycling center in the next few days to see what I can find for a door and windows.

The photo below shows how the hardware cloth transitions from the walls to the roof. I laid a 3' x 8'8" length across the roof, and cut T shapes in the lower edge to allow the sheet to fold down between the rafters. The T is tighter than cutting a U. The frame of the coop is going to be completely wrapped in hardware cloth even where there's sheathing and roof. It's complete overkill but after all we are naming it "Fort Cluck". I don't want to have to worry abut random mouse holes letting in weasels, or having to detail all the little gaps caused by the roof ridges. It also adds a good amount of strength. I forgot the transition part of the hardware cloth when I sheathed the opposite wall so I need to go back and take care of that.

You can also see how I'm running the sheathing up to the rafter blocking. The lower edge is nailed to the bottom rim joist. This fights lift from the 2ft overhangs during high winds. Again, overkill, but the weather's getting weird and I want the coop to last. Part of why I inset the purlins was so they are nailed from multiple directions and can't be pulled up. For the roofing I'll be using 1 1/2" screws with rubber washers from the manufacturer. Eventually I'll replace the screws near the edges with bolts through the purlins for a complete lock down.

Also visible is a sheetrock screw in the upper right part of the sheathing. I used a few of those to position the sheets by myself. It was extra fun when the sheets were warped.

The SW roof. The hardware cloth that's flapping up will be folded down onto the front of the rafters to join with the hardware cloth that will be on the front wall. I'm going to put 30# tar paper between the hardware cloth and the roofing to prevent scratches that lead to rusty spots.

It's taking a long time to do all this by myself, especially when I'm up on the roof. I'm honestly pretty tired of it at the moment. But I'm not going to skimp on details, and I need to get it done soon so we can get the chickens out of the garage. The mess has gotten a lot worse now that we leave the door open a little during the day so they can go back in to lay eggs. Probably about 4 more days of work until the chickens are in. Then I'll work on detailing the ventilation and other miscellaneous things.

 

[OvertheHenHouse]

That's beautiful work! I'm so impressed - and also understand 'Chicken Deadline'. My coop was so not 'finished' when the girls (and one boy) needed to move in. Fortunately, they don't mind the sound of hammering

And BTW, 'Chicken Cottage'? You could rent that out as a B&B!

 

[cwlongshot]

As I said, it sure looks great!!

That will be allot of wire for sure!!!

I have also been amazed, that they are so tolerant of noises! Banging, sawing, grinding off screw tips and nails protruding in the coup.. they don't seem to care at all!

Yesterday I cut the lawn pretty close to them... they seem to like the grass clippings getting blown in the run! LOL They are better with it than the dogs are!!!

CW

 

[Animalian]

x2 on the noise tolerance. I had to hammer in the coop to fence off a section for my broody and her future chicks. With every strike I was stressing she would get off her nest freaked out and never come back! But she just sat there tilting her head to see what I was doing!

I looked behind me and all the others were being nosey too, I think they thought the nail was a treat!!!!!!

 

[wava1vaughn]

Hi from Ga.

 

[MadChickensVT]

Thanks for all the compliments

The second roll of hardware cloth came in today. That means I now have all the materials I need to get the chickens in the coop! I still need some sheathing and some other misc stuff, but as it is right now I have enough for the chickens to be safe. I wish I could just spend the next few days working on it, but I'm swamped with work. Soon, soon!

 

[MadChickensVT]

Days 10 & 11

 

[OvertheHenHouse]

Wow - awesome! That looks like the same roofing I'm going to get for my run ... really nicely done!!!