Monday, March 3, 2008

Coop Building 101




After being woke up at 5am, getting back to sleep only to be awoken again at 6am, we decided Sunday that the chickens would need to spend the night somewhere besides the shed next to our house. So in the extra 2 hours we had before getting ready to go to church Chad decided to start on the coop...unfortunately I was not awake enough to think to grab the camera for documenting purposes!! So the pictures start after church. Prior to church, Chad built the frame for the floor, put the floor on the frame, and attached the 6 legs and braces to support the legs and floor.


Here is the start of the second half of the project:
Chad had already attached the frame for the back and was working on attaching a frame for one side before I made it out with the camera!


Chad making the middle beams that would support what was going to be two doors on the front that became one door and a side of screen.


New coop Now with backside included!

All three sides on, working on putting the solid door on.

Door is on and cut to fit, now screening in the opening above the chicken door (originally we were going to have the ramp close up all the way, but decided to just make a small door and leave the ramps stationary. Don't mind the little head in the corner that is Sasha, our friends Black Lab...she is a camera hog!!
Attaching the door latch.

Almost done...just needs a ramp, litter, and chickens!!

The chickens in their new home the next morning! It may have been more work trying to catch them and put them in their new home that building it(or in my case documenting the building of it!!!)


UPDATE!!!!!!!! We now have a roost, nests, and a ramp that doesn't get knocked over by the cows!

Here is the big buff in front of the 4' roost (we will ad d more roost space once the little guys move out)

The nests, Chad decided since we had the room to use it and made 3 nests. We will only have 6 or 7 hens...so they should have plenty of room to lay plenty of eggs!!
Here are the waterer and feeder


Finished product! Stake added beside the ramp to help keep the cows from knocking it off. It is also screwed down.

Floor Plan





23 comments:

Carla said...

Beautiful job on the coop! Your husband is mighty fast with a gun... nail gun. :)
If the hens don't get the idea to roost in the coop at night, close them in for 48 hours.
~ Carla Riggs from BYC

Anonymous said...

Great Job! I just got my 6 peepers and was looking for a 4 x 8 type and this is a great idea! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Dont know if you are still reading this but thanks for the idea for the coop. I pretty much made a replica accept for a few minor differences.

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Anonymous said...

alex loves his chickens

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Anonymous said...

Nice chicken coop! thanks for posting this!! this will help me raise my chickens!!

Sarah Rose said...

do you still have a larger copy of the plans available? I would love to see them!! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Do you have any larger plans avaible? I have been wanting chickens for about two years and would love to make my own coop and yours looks perfect!!!!

Mrs. Laughter said...

As far as plans go...you should be able to click on the picture of the plans and it should open larger for you. Other than that the coop is 4 foot deep by 8 foot long and it is 4 foot tall. It is on legs that are a foot tall. It has 6 legs (each corner and then 2 in the middle) Between the 6 legs there are braces for the floor. The three nest boxes are 14X14 square and are 18" off the bottom of the coop. The roost is a board that come out from under the nestboxes (it could be higher as I have one hen who prefers to roost on top of boxes) I would like to have the roof of the boxes slanted so nobody roosts on them. Originally we were going to have 2 4 foot doors, but decided one was enough, now I disagree. The chicken door is a 12" by 12" opening.

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing your 1st coop plans. My folks came to visit at Xmas and my dad built a coop for me w/your plans. Our kids are excited to get some chicks in next week: 3RIR, 2 Blk Australorps, 1 Buff Orpington & 1 barred rock. We have lots of coons, coyotes, fox, etc. so I'm trying to build a run to go around the pen. My dad built the pen in the garage cuz it was raining at Xmas... so now I have to figure out how to move the coop. Thanks again!
-Kim (Redding, CA)

Unknown said...

Hi, love the coop and we are inspired to build one..today! I was just checking if you had a list of materials by chance. I've been studying the photos and the design drawing, but am not sure I have counted the right number of planks, etc. Thanks!

Mrs. Laughter said...

We do not have a materials list as the coop was built out of leftovers from other projects! My flock has since moved on to a 10 by 10 coop, but this one was/is home to 4 bantam hens who will soon be evicted to the 10 by 10 so my new set of chicks can have the little coop and run as a brooder until they are ready to go out with the big (and little) girls

pilarariella said...

Great coop! Can the chickens easily hop up to their nests?

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for sharing your coop plans! We just got some chickens (4, but we might get 2 more) and now need to make them a coop. I am not sure what I am doing (LOL)...but wanted something simple and this plan is perfect!

Wendy C
rumkimom.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing. If I ran across one of those sites selling chicken coop plans again I was going to scream. I appreciate you taking the time to show us your coop and how it was constructed. God bless.

Anonymous said...

how many chickens could this hold and are the posts in ground

Mrs. Laughter said...

The coop originally held 4 chickens with 5 babies to be added at laying age, but I got a bigger coop and more babies! The posts are not in the ground. The coop is now divided in half with 4 peachicks on one side and 3 Giant cochins and a houdan.

Anonymous said...

Looks Great I may give this plan a try (My DIY skills are lacking tho:)) Thanks for sharing

Unknown said...

Thank you for posting this, will be building our coop with your plans. Again, thank you.