the new coop

[farmgal]

My new coop is fairing the weather well. Heres a pic, since I just learned how to post them. sorry if they are big I need to learn how to resize 'em. The coop is 12'x9' by 10' high. the coop has 2- 6x9' rooms. I have the front room for the chickens. they can go where they please out the side door. The peafowl have a side door also leading to their flight pen. The flight pen is 8'high , 12' wide by 17' long. They have roosts inside and out. The materials for the flight pen and the wind breaking wall was all free scraps. We built the coop inside of our pole barn. we had just enough room to drag it out to put the shingles on. with only 1 inch on each side to spare.




We have pictures of every step of the process, if you are interested in building your own I can send them to you. It was fairly simple and dont require making stud walls.

[okcamman]

That's very cool. I recently saw pics in a book of a coop made from straw bales with chicken wire used in strategic locations.

[JIL]

does the coop stay open all the time or is there a way to shut it? we have coon,fox, coyote, dog and Opossum issues.

[uncle Will in In.]

Are the windows on the back side?? What will ventilate it in hot weather? Unk

[CarolynRenee]

Your coop looks BEAUTIFUL!! I wish ours looked as nice.

I would like to make one comment though, and please don't take offence to it; You definately need a wire with smaller holes. Didn't take note of where you lived, but a possum or weasel could just slip right through there & kill all your little biddies in a blink of an eye. A good guard dog or some hot wire could also help, but it seems a tighter woven wire would help best.

Hope your birds are enjoying their new home!

EDIT: well, now that I look a bit more closely at it, maybe the holes are small enough.

[seedspreader]

Farmgal, we're near neighbors. (Bear Lake, Pa, just south of Ashville)

[seedspreader]

Is that hemlock? Did you use one of the local mills?

[Kmac15]

that looks so nice, thank you for sharing.

[Minelson]

Great job!! Really looks nice and solid I wish I was as talented

[Homesteader at Heart]

Nice.

[ejagno]

Farmgal;

Thank you for posting the coop pics. I'm just getting started and would love to see your step by step photos. I learn so much here. Thank you for sharing.

[shanzone2001]

I think that is the same chicken coop I dreamt about last night.....is it weird that I dream about beautiful chicken coops and barns????

[farmgal]

Thank you ....I'll post all the pictures on a site and post the site addy here later.

and no offense tak'n carolyn

Hi neighbor seedspreader....Your not far at all. I shop the kayak store in ashville. we need to have a homesteading meetin' close to here some day.

Yes, the wood is ruff cut hemlock from the amish neighbors. On the inside I have slide down doors on both bird exits. we close them befor sundown, open them about 6 am. I havent had time to install the windows yet. I will in march, at snow thaw. Theres only 3 adult and one juvenial peafowl and about 8 chickens, mainly banty size, in that coop. it isnt like its packed full and stinkin.....lol we have another chicken pen else where. but the windows need yet to be installed. I have electricity in there with lights on timers.

The fencing for the peafowl is (I think) 2" x 4" stuff. I've had my share of fox, coon and hawks. We never had any preditors small enough for that size fence and I've been here 11 years with chickens in that size wire, knock on wood....

minelson-I'm not that talented. It took my friend, my 13 y/o son and me 4 days of spare time to build it(we worked like amish) except we had an air nailer for the batten and shingles. We just took a long good look at an amish shed the lumber guy sells and copied his design. Thats legal right? Except I left a little overhang on the front like a porch roof...it actually seems to help with keeping the snow far from the door. Its was very heavy to pull and move. Its built on skids so I wont be taxed.

All the birds love it and I havent heard any fowl language from them about it...

[shanzone2001]

All the birds love it and I havent heard any fowl language from them about it...[/QUOTE]

That just cracked me up!!!

[salmonslayer]

Very nice and please do post a link to the construction pictures. Thats nice enough for guest quarters around our homestead....for inlaws!!

[geo in mi]

You've made a lot of birds verrry happy....... Not second guessing, but did you nail your battens on one side only? That allows for slippage when the boards expand and contract without breaking or splitting. Just a thought.

[MN Gardener]

It's beautiful! I am trying to get DH to help me build something like that.

[farmgal]

okies here is the slide show of the process. I may have missed a few things like we placed beams around on the floor, but you will get the idea. And yes we were able to nail both sides of the batten only becuz it was dry enough to do so.

http://s770.photobucket.com/home/app...view=slideshow

Let me know what you think. And I cant seem to make it go slow enough to read every thing. maybe you can figure it out..

wow after watching it...lmao.. There are lots of typo's but hopefully you get the jist.. If you put it on slow and let the curser be off to the side you can read it better...the pictres on the bottom disappear. After the slideshow you can access the pics themselves and read the comments there. Well this is the best I can do in the time I had. My dad is having his 1st chemo treatment today and I am off to be there. God Bless everyone. Prayers are welcome. He's a real father/husband man.. they dont make em like this anymore..

[moonspirit]

It looks awesome. I can see all the work that went into it. Do you plan on painting it?

[GoldenCityMuse]

Very nice.

A coat of stain would be helpful in preserving the wood for the long term.