Every weekend we keep telling ourselves that this will be the weekend the coop is done, and every weekend we realize just how much is left to do.
We're hoping this weekend. Originally we were thinking even if we didn't get the windows done, as long as they were covered in hardware cloth they'd be fine, but my min/max thermometer says it's still getting down to the mid-high 30's at night so I think we're going to have to finish the windows.
Anyway, I thought I'd post some pictures and our current plans and see if anything jumped out at anyone as something we might want to change while there's still time to change it.
The outside. We won't be painting the outside until it stops raining here. You can see I've started laying down hardware cloth (it's a dirt floor inside). I cut the first one down to 2' in width, then decided to leave the rest at 3'. I decided to put the 2' one in the front because that's the side closest to our house and where my dog hangs out. She's not out overnight but I'm hoping if something does decide to come digging around and were smart enough to back up 2' they wouldn't choose the front to try it just based on smell, etc. In the picture I haven't moved the roll up close to the coop yet, I was just trying to get it to lay flat and see how long I'd need to cut it.
The windows on the front are sliders, the ones on the sides will be homemade and on hinges. There is ventilation above the door and the soffits will just be covered in hardware cloth. There's also a ventilation hole at the back above the roosts. We'll have a 4' ramp on the outside for the pop door, not sure about the inside yet.
So far we've just attached it with regular staples from a staple gun. I'm going to reinforce those with either fence staples or screws and washers. I will likely put the 3' width ones higher up on the sides of the coop. This one was pulling in a couple of places.
Back wall. You can see the ventilation hole at the top. Obviously it will be covered in hardware cloth. The roost will go about 6" over the poop board (over the nest box), which I realize isn't very high but we plan to put it on a hinge so it will be easy to clean. The poop board overhangs the nest boxes by about 4-5". The roost will be 8' long but will look a little bit like a ladder or a railroad track, so hopefully there will end up being lots of room for everyone. Originally we planned to put in a loft storage as well, but the coop ended up a little shorter than we'd planned so we'll see. I don't want them to be squished on their roost.
And the nest box walls all glued and nailed in, still needing primer and paint on some boards. Originally we were thinking of using milk crates but I measured wrong and the crates won't really fit. So we're just going to caulk these boards well and hope for no mites.
We'll use the milk crates as outdoor boxes or maybe have one on the floor in case one of the hens prefers that. Each opening is about 14"x14" and 12" deep. We will have a 5" lip on a hinge for easy cleaning and a little perch outside them. We plan to put a board over these to begin with since none of our hens are near laying age yet to hopefully stop any bad habits of sleeping in the nest boxes.
Wonder if anyone here might know why there is plastic along the bottom (where the landscape timbers are)? We basically built the frame over those timbers, and they were like that when we bought the house. I'm wondering if there's any reasons for or against taking the plastic off. I know the wood would probably last a bit longer with the plastic on, but it is treated and the outside is exposed so not sure it's really making much of a difference? I also wonder if having chickens in there might actually make it worse, since condensation might build up behind the plastic.
So still lots to do: besides banging together the rest of the nest box/roost on the back wall, we need to cover all openings with hardware cloth, install the front windows, make the side windows, make a people door, make a pop door, put on trim (which is a step I would skip except it's partly how we're holding on some of the hardware cloth), finish some painting, and I'm sure once we're done all that I'll have a whole new list of things still to do. At least, that's what has continued to happen up until now!
Anyway, I thought I'd post some pictures and our current plans and see if anything jumped out at anyone as something we might want to change while there's still time to change it.
The outside. We won't be painting the outside until it stops raining here. You can see I've started laying down hardware cloth (it's a dirt floor inside). I cut the first one down to 2' in width, then decided to leave the rest at 3'. I decided to put the 2' one in the front because that's the side closest to our house and where my dog hangs out. She's not out overnight but I'm hoping if something does decide to come digging around and were smart enough to back up 2' they wouldn't choose the front to try it just based on smell, etc. In the picture I haven't moved the roll up close to the coop yet, I was just trying to get it to lay flat and see how long I'd need to cut it.
The windows on the front are sliders, the ones on the sides will be homemade and on hinges. There is ventilation above the door and the soffits will just be covered in hardware cloth. There's also a ventilation hole at the back above the roosts. We'll have a 4' ramp on the outside for the pop door, not sure about the inside yet.
So far we've just attached it with regular staples from a staple gun. I'm going to reinforce those with either fence staples or screws and washers. I will likely put the 3' width ones higher up on the sides of the coop. This one was pulling in a couple of places.
Back wall. You can see the ventilation hole at the top. Obviously it will be covered in hardware cloth. The roost will go about 6" over the poop board (over the nest box), which I realize isn't very high but we plan to put it on a hinge so it will be easy to clean. The poop board overhangs the nest boxes by about 4-5". The roost will be 8' long but will look a little bit like a ladder or a railroad track, so hopefully there will end up being lots of room for everyone. Originally we planned to put in a loft storage as well, but the coop ended up a little shorter than we'd planned so we'll see. I don't want them to be squished on their roost.
And the nest box walls all glued and nailed in, still needing primer and paint on some boards. Originally we were thinking of using milk crates but I measured wrong and the crates won't really fit. So we're just going to caulk these boards well and hope for no mites.
Wonder if anyone here might know why there is plastic along the bottom (where the landscape timbers are)? We basically built the frame over those timbers, and they were like that when we bought the house. I'm wondering if there's any reasons for or against taking the plastic off. I know the wood would probably last a bit longer with the plastic on, but it is treated and the outside is exposed so not sure it's really making much of a difference? I also wonder if having chickens in there might actually make it worse, since condensation might build up behind the plastic.
So still lots to do: besides banging together the rest of the nest box/roost on the back wall, we need to cover all openings with hardware cloth, install the front windows, make the side windows, make a people door, make a pop door, put on trim (which is a step I would skip except it's partly how we're holding on some of the hardware cloth), finish some painting, and I'm sure once we're done all that I'll have a whole new list of things still to do. At least, that's what has continued to happen up until now!
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