Wichita Cabin Coop - Build Journal

[UndrcvrPullets]

Last fall DW kicked around the idea of having our own chickens. We had been buying eggs since mid-summer from one of a couple providers and even driving to their farm ( Facebook / CockandBullFarms ) for a few dozen at a time. Everyone says it, the eggs really are better and we know that the chickens are being treated ethically.

Long story short, we've got some baby chicks and I'm building a coop for them. We tossed around the idea of using a dog kennel, a 10x10 shed, the 'Purina Mills 4x4 coop' and the Wichita Cabin Coop (WCC). Finally we caved and decided to build the Taj WCC from the start. I modified the plans to make the run area 2ft longer and do a mirror image build.



If you want plans for this coop, just search BackyardChickens for 'Wichita Cabin Coop', it'll be in the first set of results. Well worth the $5 to support their plan making IMHO.
Coop Build Day 1: Materials

Got a rental pickup truck w/ only 115 miles on it (yes!) and picked everything out at Lowe's. Yes it all fit in one load!




Plan Estimate: $650.43
Final Total: $650.95
Clearance & 10% off saved $151!
Paid with discounted gift cards for another 10% off.
Factoring out the rental and some general tools I needed, building a WCC for less than $600?!
Coop Build Day 1: Foundation

I'm sure everyone is familiar with the 'Polar Vortex', so I'll skip to 2/18 and 2/19 where it was finally above 50 degrees in STL. Where I'm putting the coop is some uneven ground, so I dug down on the high side and set the two rows on concrete block. Since this is an elongated WCC, it's a 64"x144" foundation.

My half day of foundation work compressed down to 10 seconds.

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More to come next week..

 

[UndrcvrPullets]

Wanted to take a moment to recognize a blogger who I've been following for years. Yesterday she had an MRI and it was determined she has a recurrence of cancer. Please keep her in your thoughts.
http://annieskitchengarden.blogspot.com/2014/03/march-12-2014-saying-goodbye-to-annies.html?m=1

 

[aart]

LOL @ the video!

Looking forward to your documentation of this build, Have Fun!

 

[UndrcvrPullets]

Had roughly an hour today to work toward the coop, plus DS3 (for 2 more days) got to put on some paint. Decided to open the 5-gal paint bucket and DW and I can't find a problem with it. Guess they wanted a white, but not cream? Either case, it goes on just as well. Got 2 sides of 1/3rd of the boards with their first coat. Gave me plenty of time to figure out how to put together the back of the coop fully assembled since I can't access the back side once it's assembled.

 

[UndrcvrPullets]

Coop Build Day 3 - Painting, Framing and Hardware Cloth

Spent all day off and on working on getting a base coat of paint on things and getting the framing out the door. Since my WCC is 12 ft long, I modularized to the back, front and roof as much as possible so that I could work in the heated garage versus 30-40 degrees outside. I had bought/aquired a half inch crown molding air stapler which made mounting the hardware cloth a breeze. Also laying the cloth flat on the floor helped immensely.

Camera setup is 25 fps w/ 3 pictures per minute. Need to spend a bit of time getting the mounting correct. The camera box didn't move at all today, but the tape keeping the camera inside the box did.. Interesting sweeping effect though.
Extra purchases

• Bought a set of extra staples. I ran out.
  
• Bought some remnant vinyl with a thick backing. Should have enough for the coop and nesting boxes.

Needless to say, this is more than a $600 coop now.

More to come in the next week. I got some ladies that need more room soon!

 

[UndrcvrPullets]

Coop Build Day 4 - Assembly

I spent the last couple of days painting and putting things together indoors. Although our garage is a generous 2-car garage, things were getting tight. I was able to slide the front assembly to the back yard and get a few things done with my helpers before it became frigid outside again. Feeling a bit under the gun to finish as DS4 came running in because there was an emergency at the brooder. The largest of the chicks had flown up and perched on the side of the dog crate. After the sun had set, I finished using all of the painted 2x4s that I had. The support for the hen-house is in as is all but one front-back roof support in the middle and the 2x4 that spans the top front.












Total time so far: ~25hrs

 

[midwestmommy]

Good work, keep it up ;-)

 

[UndrcvrPullets]

Coop Build Days 5-7

Most of build day #5 was spent painting different parts in preparation for assembly. Then Thursday we saw that this weekend was going to be another winter storm. I took off Friday (build day #6) so that I could spend (most of) the day building. Day 7 was spent putting half the roof plywood on and shingling it all. I'd say the outcome was fairly good. Only things that remain are the hen house and the door to the run!















Total time so far: ~39hrs

 

[JanetS]

Looking good!

 

[jorey]

Very nice.