Ok, enough of that. I finally made it over to my father-in-laws to chat about the coop design from a carpentry standpoint. Gotta love having a Master Carpenter in the family. Anyway, he was a big help, even if he did keep relating all our fancy coops, brooders and research to his previous experience with chicken raising. All he did back in the day was let them free range and collect a few eggs a week. That sure is one way to do it. What I found out about our design is that it's solidly built and should work well for us. To make mine lighter I'll use 2x3s instead of 2x4s except for the trex on the bottom to keep it from rotting. I also found I should use tons of L brackets to firm up the structure so it doesn't torque if and when it's moved. Speaking of moving, since I don't plan on moving it regularly, we're not going to put wheels on it. Instead we'll just use a hand truck to drag it where it needs to go. Lastly, he recommended for a natural light source to take the entry door for coop cleaning an feeding and make it out of plexiglass. That side gets late evening sun so hopefully it won't heat up the place too much. Oh and of course he offered to help build it... YAY!
I finally got digital copies of my coop design so I thought I'd upload them here. Feel free to comment on them, though I warn you, they've been altered a bit, especially in the roof design.
The new roof design will be a slant shed-type roof to reduce the weight. No trusses. Oh and of course aside from the bottom 2x4, the rest will be 2x3s now. Also at the roofline will be a 6 inch gap in the plywood wall to allow for ventilation. I hope that adding louver vents in the back side will create appropriate air flow rather than that dreaded draft!
Let's see, what else. The chicken wire is going to be welded wire or the like to keep out predators. We've got a bad raccoon problem, and that'll keep them and anything else, out.
As you can see by the last pic, we'll have 2 nesting boxes and an electrical hook-up. It'll be one that requires an extension cord to power the outlets on the inside.
Enjoy your garden!
Hello blogger. I like your blog about
ReplyDeleteSinfonian’s Square Foot Garden | February 9, 2011.
I was wondering, i am planning to make a blog for myself. I want to use wordpress like you. Where did you get your template? If you post your answer below mine, i will read this in the next couple of day's.
Thanks Brandklasse
That looks like a great design!
ReplyDeleteWow whered you go to college Harvard, lol, newayz your a great writer, any tips?
ReplyDeleteSpot on with this write-up, I truly think this website needs much more consideration. I’ll probably be again to read much more, thanks for that info.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the chicks!
ReplyDeleteBrandklasse, I got my theme from the wordpress site. In my wordpress admin tools there is a link and I just found the one I liked and clicked install. Fairly simple.
ReplyDeleteThanks folks for commenting. Feel free to come back and share your garden stories.
I believe your weblog is nice! I found it on Bing today. I believe I will come back on day, thank you.
ReplyDeleteSee, you have more comments already :) It is like gardening, you plant a seed and it takes a while to grow. You've been on a break for a while, it will take some time for people to find you again. I have your blog linked in my sidebar.
ReplyDeleteI like the design of your coop and can't wait to see it all built. I would like to have chickens eventually, but I still have a lot to learn.
Trex is a composite composed of PVC and sawdust. It will rot and deteriorate there is many controversy out there about it, I wouldn't spend my money on it. 100% PVC will not rot, if you can find it.
ReplyDeleteOn our coop we just stained regular wood with two coats.
You could use treated wood for these pieces just stain them so they are sealed so they won't leach. You must buy a stain that can go on fresh pressure treated wood or buy it and wait a few months or the stain won't adhere.
I've never heard of 2x3's, you may be referring to 2x2's and if you are they will be sufficient for what you are doing. 1x3's probably would too.
Use wood glue and screws on everything and you shouldn't have a problem with things twisting when you move it around.
If you are going to have bedding inside the coop you may consider Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP) panels over plywood so you can clean everything easily. If you won't have bedding this may be too slippery for the birds. We just stained our floor with two coats and haven't had any problems.