Lets build a chicken coop.
And have a little family time while we are at it.
I'm going to start with the framing. I took some 2 x 4s and ripped them down to 2 x 2s.
You could skip this step and just by some 2x2s if you wanted.
And then I'll cut all the pieces to length.
Measure for the different intereior parts.
Just make sure the measurements are the same on both sides.
Each of the four sides of the chicken coop are framed a little differently.
You can go to my website, simply easy diy dot com. There I will have all the different
measurements along with a cut list for you.
There is the front frame.
One of the side frames.
The other side frame. This one gets the nest boxes attached to it.
and finally the back frame.
I'm installing a door on this one so I'll just take a moment to make sure the opening is square.
Father son time.
I'm driving the screws from the inside of the coop. That way I can access them if need
be after I attach the side slats later on.
This is as far as I'm going to go with the building process here in the shop. It's time
to go to the back yard and prepare the site.
I have an existing coop that I built over at the old house. If you havn't seen that
video yet here is a link or you can check the description.
Our flock has out grown that one so it's out with the old and in with the new.
When I built the chicken run we had five birds. That was about 13 square feet per bird. We
picked up a couple extra birds a few weeks back
when I was at our local farm supply store and so now we have seven. That drops our FPB
to about 9. I do not like to go below 12 square feet.
I find you start to have issues with the bioload if you drop under that. So I'm going to extend
the run out so that I have about 14 FPB.
When we first moved into this new house the previous owners had used rocks for various
things around the yard and it has been forever picking em up.
I have just been tossing em behind the shed and I figure I'd see about putting them to
good use on this project.
I'm going to have to do some fine tuning, see what rocks will work where but I think
they will make for a good foundation.
Plus since the floor of the chicken coop is going to be mother earth and some pine shavings
the rocks will help keep the chickens from digging out
the ground around the edges. Oh, and I'm repurposing, that's always a good thing.
Now that that is settled lets attach the nest boxes. I've decided to install them on the
inside and they will just hang on these two scrap pieces
of 2x2 I'll install for ledges.
Whats that you say? How did I build those. Like this.
A 1x4 on the front keeps the nesting material where it belongs. Inside the boxes.
Lets add the walls.
Once the walls are on it's back to the shop for the door to the nest boxes.
Some 2x2's and 1x4s glued and screwed. Simple and easy. Where have I heard that before?
To install the door just set some spacers first. Then set the door on the spacers.
Alright, I think we are ready for the roof.
Everybody knows how to cut a birds mouth in a truss right?
Ahh don't worry about it I'll have all this listed on my website simply easy diy dot com.
Check the description.
Measure up to where I want my birdsmouth to start.
Then a 45 degree mark.
Flip around and mark another 45.
Then you can have at it with a jigsaw.
maybe a handsaw or you could just stare at it intently although
I'm not sure that last one will get much done.
Then you can rinse and repeat. Once you get the notches cut on the first one you can use
that as a template
for the second.
This top piece should fit nice and flush with the two trusses.
continue up the sides with the side slats
I'll put half the roof on and then take care of a few things that need to be done inside
the coop before finishing it up.
I live in Florida and ventilation is very important inside a coop.
A piece of hardware cloth tacked to the inside will keep any critters out that may be looking
for a free meal.
A jigsaw leaves a rough edge so I'll smooth that out a little.
Chickens love to roost and I can give them some space for that by placing a few pieces
of lumber at different angles.
Now the best thing to do is to find an actual tree branch that is about an inch to an inch
and a half thick and stick a couple of those
in for them. I don't have anything that fits that description right now so I'm using some
1 x 2s. I've ran these through my router table
with a roundover bit to take off the square edges and then roughed up the boards so that
it's easier for them to grab on to.
A clamp takes care of any spaces between the slats and then you can always come back through
with a water proof caulk if needed.
Time to keep our chickens safe. I'll dig a trench a couple inches deep. It doesn't have
to be that deep because the best thing to do
that I have found is to go down a couple inches and then bring the chicken wire out about
10 to 12 inches.
I'll continue that all the way around the coop.
Time to bring this home by attaching the rails for the front door.
Because I decided to put the nest boxes on the inside I had to move the doors over to
one side which presented me with a bit of a problem when installing
this door. I'll talk about that more on the blog post.
Check the description for the link.
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Until then.