The building of the coop

I had been dreaming of having chickens for a few decades.  However, I had never lived anywhere where I could have them.  Until about 5+ years ago, when the city I lived in decided that residents could have 4 hens.  I was not living in a development that would allow chickens and so, none then.  However, life has a way of working itself out even if you don't know it.  With my separation/divorce, I bought a house where I could have chickens.  So, I spent numerous hours, reread that again, numerous hours watching youtube videos and looking at pictures of coops and designing the ultimate chicken coop.  I settled on the homesteadomics website.  The guy is amazing at the things he can do.  I decided to build an 8x8 coop based on his ideas--slight modifications because if you know me, I don't follow directions/recipes very well.  My design idea got an abrupt change when I went to Lowes and tried lifting an 8x8 sheet of wood--it was too heavy for me to lift comfortably.  Thus, 8x8 became 4x4 in 30 seconds.  The coop was my separation anger management project; thus something to be done by me, without any help from anyone.  I needed to be able to lift all parts by myself.  Supplies were bought and project begun.

Initial site for chicken yard.

Here is the side yard now fenced in.  I had shrubbery removed as I was allergic to what was planted.  This is the view from inside the backyard.

This view is from the street front.

I started building the coop in the garage as it was easier and warmer.  And I built it in sections that I could drag out into the yard to assemble once I had all of the sides made.  The heaviest piece was the base.  The base was 4x4.  I covered the wood with tyvek construction stuff to make it waterproof and easy to clean. I trimmed the edges with drywall aluminum edge metal.  I used cedar posts for the legs as I was trying to go more green and easy care.  The coop was raised to prevent snakes and rodents from getting in it.

The base was heavy and took quite a bit of time to drag it to the chicken yard--all the way to the other side of my house from the garage.  On site now and adding sides.

 Different view.  I chose to build the nesting box outside of the coop as I could not figure out how to build one internally.  And note as you see the coop develop, I misunderstood that the roof should slope front to back, not back to front.

The coop was framed and then time to add the wood sides.  I would cut out the pieces for where I would add the windows and doors and box.  I found storm doors at a local reclaimed place and I got big ones as I wanted lots of light in my coop.

 This view is the side where there is an access door to get in if necessary and the window opens and closes.

 Note the back end here--the small rectangular opening.  The homesteadomics guy suggested this as an easy way to clean coop out--and he was right.

So, let construction continue.  The next few pictures will depict my progress as I cut out the sections and then framed them to reinforce the openings.

 Notice the electrical cord hanging out of the coop.  I used corded power tools as I am not really fond of battery ones.  However, I wonder why there are only ever 2 outside electrical outlets on a house when a house has 4 sides, at least minimally.  I would have loved an outlet on the side of the house.  Same goes for water hoses--there should be three so I don't have to buy such a long hose to get to the sides of my house.

 Note the back end and how high it is.  It is only a 4x4 piece of wood but nailed up higher to generate the opening for the clean out door.

 I was cheap and bought only one sheet of the aluminum roofing material.  I should have bought a second sheet and made the roof continue more at the edges.

The small openings you see here are for vents.  I wanted the coop to have opening on all four sides for good ventilation.

 This picture shows one flaw in my design.  I am a handy woman.  However, I was not too capable of cutting wood to make the triangle to fit this spot.  A friend gave me some flashing and I cut it and inserted it to finish making the two side walls.

Here I am with finished coop and starting to paint it.  I chose to use an oil based paint as I wanted to never have to paint the coop again.

Green and brown are neutral colors as I wanted coop to blend in the yard.  My house is a corner lot and I chose to put the chicken yard on the side of house, mostly out of sight.  However, as you drive past the front of my house, it is visible, but I wanted to make it not too noticeable.  Even though there are not any restrictions regarding fence, I did make my fence for chicken yard come up to the front of the house.

 March weather--a snowstorm.  Work halted so we could play in the snow.

 I worried about the chickens and sharpening/trimming their claws and beaks, so I made a little brick area for them under the coop. There was plenty of clearance to do so.

 Here is the start of the enclosed run.  According to most websites, I had to worry about many predators and I wanted to double protect the birds.  This was cedar wood and would have a good wire meshing attached to it.  I would also bring the mesh out 18 inches on the ground and bury it in case I had any digging predators.  And note the chain linked fence area--I lined all 3 sides with rocks.  I wanted to doubly make sure that a predator could not dig under that fence as well.

 Here are the TS birds checking out their new digs.  The weather was not too cold and the birds had their true feathers.  Still, I had a heating lamp in the coop for them just in case.

And here is Addi checking out the chickens.  I had received free wood chips which I had unloaded on the side yard at the front of the house--look about 11 o'clock in picture.  I moved lots of the wood chips into the chicken yard to cover the whole lot.  

A proud mama and her baby chick.

And here is a side view of the completed yard.  A much different picture from the beginning.

 The wood chips are here covering the wire mesh now.  I even put up bird netting to prevent hawks from getting in during the day or owls at night or any ground predators from climbing into the run. Once the birds were old enough, I started to let them roam outside their primary run when I was home.

 My two helpers taking a break.  I put a bench in the run area so I could sit and watch my chickens.  They are such fun to watch.  I am easy to please--simple.  But not simple minded!

Copy cat chickens.   I chose the Australorps as they are a medium bird and are known to be people friendly.  They also are good eating and good layers.  I do not intend to eat my birds so the good laying part was great.  I wanted a bird that egg to poop ratio was okay.  A smaller bird will give a smaller egg but the poop is still quite a lot.

 My food delivery system.  I saw someone do this on the internet.  His system must flow better than mine.  The pellets catch in the corner bend.  However, my yard does not smell.  The only time it smelled was when the food got wet and then went bad.  The area is large enough that there is not a chicken smell.  This was a concern for me as my coop is close to the 50 foot distance from my nearest neighbor--next door up the hill to the right (cannot see because trees block the house.)

 The water system.  I had to take down as it leaked.  I cut the water container a bit too close for fittings to fit tightly.  However, I will fix it, but it is not a high priority right now.

 Notice the birds on the roof--chickens can fly and get bored easily.  (I do not believe in clipping their wings as God gave them the gift of flight and I certainly will not take that amazing gift away.)  And then they go from there to the fence.  They walked the fence and a couple of times got in with the dogs.  The younger pup was not too interested in them, but the older pup considered them "live squeaky toys" (to quote my friend, Lissa.)  Baffle mainly licked them and only took a few feathers.

 After a year and the only predator I had to worry about was my dogs, I took down the extra run area and built the chickens a rain shelter.  Needless to say, my birds do not use it often as they like a light rain.  Maybe the next time it snows they will use it.  The chickens really only like their coop for at night.  Otherwise, they like to be outside.  I cannot blame them as I love the outdoors myself.  These birds are the mail order ones.  I wound up giving away the TS birds as 5 roosters and only one hen.  I wanted all the same age birds--keeping the one hen seemed cruel for her to be alone for a bit until the others got big enough.  And I was not sure how birds bonded.

I owe a mighty big THANK YOU to my friend Ryan who was always available via email for any of my stupid questions.  I would not have been able to have done this project (or the other woodworking projects) without his expertise and help.