WOO HOO!

[PeiTheCelt]

We moved Shiva and Parvati into the new coop today!!!

We're going to move Dusty into the "temp" coop tomorrow early (so I can sit in there with him for a little while before a doctor's appointment) so that he can start to meet Shiva and Parvati but contained to keep things calm. He's been so darn lonely, and I want to start slowly starting to integrate the kids. I am never getting just one bird again, I have felt *awful* during his quarantine.

It's all 4x8 plywood, cedar shingles (only on the outside, the birds are surrounded by standard plywood, so they won't be inhaling the cedar fumes) 2x4s for stabilization etc. The shingles also act to create an added layer of insulation. All of the hinges for the cleaning and egg walls are covered first with the think pink plastic insulation, which is under the shingles, then this blue plastic something or another that goes over the cedar. We figure this combination should keep the hinges from leaking water in the coop *and* from rusting out. The window on the "closed" end is covered with .25" hardware cloth, and there will be a shutter for it before winter. The cleaning side (the tall opening along one edge) and the egg nest opening door (not actually shown) both close with barrel locks and the two doors latch close with carabeeners, no opening any of these doors without thumbs. We're also planning on making a second to match this, but this is the big start, and depending on how many boys we end up with, we might not actually need it (though I still want one for my spring babies

hehehe).

Really pretty simple, based on the classic ark, but instead of going with an open underside, we went for a little more height, since we're letting them free range during the day and it just feels roomier for the roosts that way, since they'll be in there more at night when they're in the roosts..

So yeah, without further ado, here it is:

 

[LindaN]

Cool looking coop! And that's a nice table saw, too.

*sigh* This is why I bought my coop; the investment in tools (like table saws) would have cost as much as the coop itself.

 

[PeiTheCelt]

Quote:
Yeahhhh.. All we had to buy was the wood.. My husband is a wood worker, one of the requirements for every apartment we rented and every house we've since bought was that it had room for his shop.

If it were up to me and my wood working skills? We'd have bought it.

 

[nccountrygirl]

my husband has a 16x 20 ft building he uses for woodworking

. He is on overtime lately and doesn't use it much so I told him we could always use it for the chickens. he just looks at me and rolls his eyes, did I say some thing stupid?

 

[peepkeeper]

Very cool!

 

[lurky]

Yeahhhh.. All we had to buy was the wood.. My husband is a wood worker

My DH is a woodworker too. It sure made having chickens easier for me

I cant imagine what their house would look like if i had to make it

 

[PeiTheCelt]

Quote:
My DH is a woodworker too. It sure made having chickens easier for me

I cant imagine what their house would look like if i had to make it

I was going to to link to the Meyer's "Chick-N-Barn" that was selling for about $300, but it's been taken down.

Suffice it to say, had it been up to my skills, it would have been purchased.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Congratulations Pei on the beautiful new coop. I love A-frames. I've always wanted to live in one. Those are some lucky chickens!

 

[mdbucks]

Good job to DH, I thought wood shop was spelled GARAGE. That is how I spell it at least. I built my coop all 1x10 pine, never thought about cedar shingles, looks good, now I'm thinking next time....

 

[PeiTheCelt]

Quote:
Hehe, well, building space is spelled garage, there is actually a side room with massive amounts of tools and space for the smaller projects and detail work, which is technically "the shop".

And yeahhh they do look good don't they? I was a little leary when he first mentioned it (sounded funny for some reason to my brain) but it looks *great* and very finished.

hehe, there is always another coop..