Homesteading Chicken Coop Build, Chickens, Pond, Garden & Projects

Hey got tp.

 

I've spent my weekend working on a new coop with a run attached.


Site prep and layout...


Post holes all dug...

Digging through shale by hand in 95* weather was not much fun. I should have weighed myself before and after. Lots of water breaks.....this step took a lot longer than planned.


Some shale in the bottom of the holes for posts to sit on...
Day one finished. Posts all set. I forgot to mention I lost about 3 1/2 hrs of working time cause my wife cut her leg pretty bad and I had to take her to get stitches on day 1 of the build...

Day 2 got the floor framed before having to take a break for an Independence Day picnic.

Day 2 finished. Got back from the picnic and framed 2 walls. Also installed the Best Nest Box my FIL got for my wife as a Christmas gift a few years ago. I went a little overboard on supporting the nesting box. Its really not that heavy.


I'm fairly pleased with the progress so far considering I'm definitely a beginner when it comes to building things.

 

It looks good.

 

Looking great. Site prep and setting posts is the hardest/least fun part at least for me.

You musta got that lumber awhile ago? PT is unobtanium around here.

 

Looks good. Hope your wife heals up just fine!

 

Looks great Marvin

 

X2 ^^^

 

Thanks everyone! I made a little bit of progress yesterday afternoon. I had a few hours before dark to work at it. I got the access door wall framed and the top plates installed. I'm gonna pick up some 12 foot 2x4s today to start on the rafters this afternoon.

DaveGunter I agree site prep sucks! I have 2 more posts to put in for the mandoor in to the run and am not looking forward to it. As far as lumber goes I have had no issue finding it around me. Crazy how different areas are affected in different ways.

 

Nothing like homegrown chicken, a couple of weeks after butchering!

 

What was their weight dressed out? I’ve never weighed them until they’ve been cleaned

 

Chvymn99 that is the plan once I get to that step. I'm gonna dig a 2-3 inch (maybe a bit more, we'll see how the digging goes) around the coop to bury wire in.

Quick update of the last few days progress....not a lot cause of some long work days but progress anyway.

Run door posts are in...


I had a helper for that job...


I got the last wall of the coop framed...


Then last night I finished installing top plates and put some vinyl flooring down for easier clean up....


Next step is sheeting the coop walls and putting on the roof. That will be a bit of a challenge cause I apparently wasn't as careful as I thought I was putting posts in. The coop ended up a little wider than the door end of the run. Im hoping it won't be a problem. I'm thinking I will just have to take extra time and measure each rafter instead of making one and using it as a template. We will see...

 

That little guy is sure cute. Who is he
Coop looking good.

 

Thank you Chazsbetterhalf! Thats my boy Miles. He will be 2 in September.

 

Over the “Bug” time we got 16 chickens. Figured it would be a good way to teach the kids some responsibility and would provide good eggs to us.

I really lucked out. My parents had chickens for several years, but recently decided to get rid of them. They were using the coop as a generator building. When we told them we were getting chickens they offered us their old coop. Me, my brother and my father were all carpenters for many years, and everything he builds is way overkill. This coop has 2x8 floor joists 16" o.c. and 2x6 16" o.c.rafters. The hardest part was moving it to my house which is about 6 miles from his house. Luckily we have good sized machinery and were able to get it done. He also gave me his old run.







After getting the coop set up, I installed a predator apron around the perimter of where the run was going and installed the run, with a covered ramp in-between the two. I made a water and food system that will be easy for my kids to refill.








The most recent update has been a small storage building to house the food, grit, shovel, diatomaceous earth, grit, oyster shells, pine shavings, etc. Still need to side it. I built it on a pallet so I can move it if need be. The coop and run are on the small side for the amount of chickens we have, but we free range them everyday and at least 2 of the 16 are roosters which we will probably be getting rid of.