Women coop builders

[cashdl]

Hi All,

My sweet husband works out of town alot and he makes sure that I have all the power tools I need and that I know how to use them because I am going to anyway. Here is a couple of projects I have done completely on my own.

These are broody boxs

This is a run of 8X8 breeding pens

And these are several chicken tractors I made. Pics are during construction.

And this is a trio enjoy the green grass and sun in their tractor

I have also built a cabinet style incubator, and on a non chicken note, I built a built-in book case for all my cookbooks. It is in my kitchen and is complete with crown molding and actually looks like it was ment to be.


Lanae

 

[dsqard]

I built this pretty much by myself.

DH did help put the sides together and the roof on, but I did the rest myself. Here is the thread about building it. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=404806 I used the Building Coops for Dummies book. I had never built anything this big before. Good luck and you can do it!

 

[coberdor]

I do all the building on my farm. I was raised on a farm and my husband in the city so I'm the handywoman. My dad was a plumber, so I can also do plumbing and electrical, ceramic tile and hardwood floors. I worked on a horse farm too when I was in HS, so I'm great at building fences. I do all the roofing around the farm and have roofed 2 barns, the 3 car garage and the coops and shed.

My parents never believed that any of us were bad at anything. If you were not good at something it's only because you had not been taught to do it yet. I never thought that this was a gift while growing up, but now I'm so happy I can do all of this for myself.

Here's my project from last summer, made out of all recycled materials. The roof was the solar heater holder for a swimming pool that I got free off of Craigslist. The liner on the inside of the coop is made from an old pool liner I found on the curb out for garbage. The windows and doors too were from a curb pickup - free. The only thing I really had to buy were a couple of landscape timper I used as my corner posts.

This summer, I'm adding a turkey coop & run on to my horsebarn.

I've made several brooders from old console stereos and several juvenile pens that I can also use as broody pens.

 

[latebloomer]

i'm not pregnant, but i have a knee filled with cortisone, and it's taking a long time to finish this thing

had to borrow a chop saw, then a jig saw when i couldn't figure out how to do the birdsmouth on my rafters

i believe you can do it, the chickens don't seem to care that it's not square

 

[nothgeil]

I am really blown away by all the great projects you all did on your own. Each project in this thread is great and I love it. I am also planning to build a coop on my own and I really hope that I can make it. Due to the fact that I do not have the right equipment for my project I think I will try a power rental . If my first project will be successful I will buy the equipment for my next project but for now I will rent it.

 

[Teeah3612]

Great job everyone! I am currently framing the interior walls on my house. My husband and I bought a farm with a house that was started, but not finished. Just four walls and a roof! When I finish this I will be starting on my coop. I hope to have it finished and ready by spring.

You can do anything you put your mind to and the pink tools really do help. My husband and boys won't touch 'em!

I should say in my DH's defense that he works long hours and I love to work with my hands.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Quote:
Girl, you can TOTALLY do this! I've got 3 kids and they are all very young, too. My husband works with an aerospace company and so he works long hours and he flys out for meetings, etc for a week at a time... so I knew I could not depend on him to get a coop done this year. So, I have starting building my coop myself!! There have been a couple of times my husband has helped me though- like setting the walls onto the base of the coop- but pretty much, I'm doing it all! I never picked up a power tool before now, and I've never built anything. I just studied the pictures in the coop section really well and tried my best to copy them! If you check out my "View my BYC Page" under my profile pic you can see the progress I've made. It's an 8X8 raised coop with an external nest box that and a little storage compartment on the side.

Use clamps! Use screws!! NEVER use nails... you'll regret it when you realize you did something wrong and have to pull it out. A screw easily backs out no biggie and can be re-used! Build your walls flat on your driveway so everything stays level. Measure for everything- even when putting your studs in- measure top and bottom to make sure you're level. It seems really redundant, but it will save you work. And even at that, I have still managed to mess up a lot and have to redo things! But there's no reason you can't do this yourself.

ETA: went back and realized this was a couple months ago--- did you get your coop done????

 

[joneus]

YEAY GIRL POWER!!!

Thanks for the reminder! I'd forgotten to post my pics! There's A LOT of them, so I'm hoping the link to my facebook photo album will work!

I built the coop 100% myself. While my husband was home on leave, he helped me put the hardware cloth on the run and the eaves of the coop, and he painted & reinforced all the joints inside the run. All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out!

 

[wingsofglory]

Yes, I use screws for most everything. So easy to back the screw out and redo if change the design or relocate something, or make a mistake. Great for fastening hardware cloth wire with screws and fender washers.

Best money I've ever spent is for two drills - one for drilling the hole, and one for screwing the screws in. Saved so much time and bother not having to change from drill bit to screwdriver bit and back and forth with bits working along a project.

The other best thing is I got a Skilsaw (brand) that is a little smaller and fits my hands and nerves: it has a 5 1/2" blade instead of the usual 7 1/2" blade. The full size skilsaws wore me out, they are sized for a man's hands and arm strength. The 5 1/2" blade cuts boards and plywood just as well as the other. I've used both, built my house with a fullsize skilsaw until it wore out and quit. So in replacing it, a carpenter recommended I get the smaller one - he said it would be so handy working in the attic and hard to get to places. He was right. Easy to hold it up along a wall to cut out window holes and everything else. I don't dread using it like the full size one.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Quote:
Impressive! Looks really, really cute! The run is gorgeous! Is the run sitting on cement or landscaping timber? I can't really tell what it is. I'm still deciding how to make my run.