Coop, FINALLY DONE!!

[journey11]

That is one cute coop. Now you just need some window boxes for flowers or some chicken-themed kitsch.

I saw the same one at Rural King (didn't realize it was a kit). I took pics and made some notes to try to build one myself. I liked the functionality of it and thought it was laid out really nice. I like the way the base is put together too, rather than setting posts in the ground like you do for a deck. All of my coops, hutches and such are coming with me whenever I move!

 

[ducks4you]

Gosh, THANKS, everybody!
Ridgerunner, DD did the lion's share of the work. She told me that I had been so nice she had to do it. The caveat was, we HAD to put it up in one day before her ambition left. SO...we dragged ourselves inside Saturday night after pushing ourselves to finish!
My dog fencing is 12' x 24' and the coop will be totally inside of it. I have used chicken wire as roofing to protect from hawks and owls, but there is a pheasant hatchery about 10 miles from us and THEY use netting, so I'm interested in it. Any suggestions are welcome.
Smart Red, yes I do use a heated water bowl, and it's going on top of the stump.
I got the idea of vinyl flooring from the two years that I "lived" on BYC. I will be, as was suggested over at BYC, cutting snug but removable 2 x 4's along the interior perimeter of this coop. You take it out when you strip the floor mess and then put back. The vinyl flooring protects the wood on the floor from the acids from the bird's poo.
I, too, thought the flat side would be better, but there are slots already there to put them in that way, and it's the design. Since the roosts that they had in the makeshift building were made of wooden handles from an old wheelbarrow, I think that they'll be ok.

 

[ducks4you]

journey11, here are the things I like about this coop:
1) good size
2) 5 external nest boxes--mine face east
3) door handles that hook on dresser type pull handles
4) roof--my hens have been roosting at night on TOP of their building!! They'll slip off of this roof and off of the top of the nest boxes
5) heavy 4 x 4 legs, and stability, bc it sits about 12 inches off of the ground, high enough for shade, but the building is unlikely to tip over in a heavy wind
6) two people can carry each piece to the construction site from transport
7) the whole base, including feet, comes put together--I'm not a good enough builder to build that myself!
Here are the things I didn't/don't like
1) You HAVE to drill the "predrilled" holes and get the right sized bit! We broke two drill bits in the wood, and destroyed three screw heads on our power screwdriver before we were finished AND I had to hand screw in about 10 screws, and there are still 4 of them sticking out 1/2 inch. VERY IRRITATING!!
2) Windows are two few and you have to be inside of the building to open and close them
3) Not enough roost space
4) I still need to take off the pallet and sides from my truck. The weight of the package freaked me out! I think it may have been 2,000 pounds, but I could have reckoned wrong.
5) We had to be careful unloading to tip up pieces with doors so that we didn't knock off the handles unloading
The costs was (before tax):$898.00
The clerk told me on Friday, to bring back my receipt on Sunday, and I did, and she took it off of my card and re entered it with the current ad's 12% sale, so I'm going to get a rebate card of ~$100.00 to spend on other things in the store, like I usually do, when I buy animal feed from them.

 

[journey11]

2) Windows are two few and you have to be inside of the building to open and close them

That is a bit of an odd design flaw. Wouldn't really want to go inside after it's been in use.

Too late to help in this project, but I totally recommend star-bit screws over phillips head screws. DH and I used to lose hours of time fighting with the phillips head screws, stripping out screws, breaking bits. The star bit have a much better grip and never strip. That's all we use now.

 

[ducks4you]

Good hindsight advice!

 

[ducks4you]

In the case that anybody else is interested:
http://www.ruralking.com/overez-chicken-coop.html
Instructions:
http://www.ruralking.com/media/blfa_files/Large_OverEZCoop-retail-flier-Mar2015d.pdf

 

[canesisters]

That is a NICE coop! You are going to get LOTS of years of happy use from it.
One problem..... what will you do once chicken math sets in?

 

[ducks4you]

OH, yeah--Chicken Math!! Actually, I've put a lot of thought into it. I am still keeping my old "Turkey house", with it's 12 x 12 dog run fencing and gate, 4 ft tall, built on a pallet with a door and rubber mat and double roost. I have 25 Dark Cornish chicks coming in September 9th. My layers need to vacate this, their current home and run, by the time the baby chicks leave the two brooders, about October 1st or so. Rural King may have some baby EE's about that time, so I'll pick up a couple of EE roosters and maybe 3 more EE pullets. The Cornish will be harvested starting beginning of November, and the others should be fully feathered and should winter in the turkey house over the winter. By next year, I'll risk combining a 7 hen flock with a 3 hen, 2 rooster flock, then I can finally get back to incubating eggs and raising my own meat! The older coop and run will be where next year's hatched chicks grow up. I'll go back to replacing my layers. Next Spring, I will be feeding 3yo hens, which wasn't my original plan.

 

[so lucky]

That's a nice looking chicken house. Is it 4 by 8? I like that the nest boxes are not taking up valuable room inside the coop.
Just a couple of issues that you might consider: Is it anchored to the ground in any way? I know it's heavy, but is there a possibility it could tip over in a strong wind?
And, you might need to get some more ventilation going in there. Maybe replace the people door with a wire door?
I bet the chickens will utilize the space beneath the house, too. Mine love it under their house, as it is cool and always dry. We closed off the north and west sides, so rain doesn't get to it much.

 

[ducks4you]

I like the wire door idea! Ironically, my 100 yo house and farm property (5 acres, divided) has a tool shed that used to be a chicken house and IT has a interior wire door. I think I'll construct over the winter. We've been cool this week and should only have about 2 more weeks after that that will really be hot.
Any ideas of how to construct the wire door without messing up the prefab door?