# Chicken Coop Construction



## HomeCastle (Dec 27, 2012)

Hi all. I'm still kinda new here. Been soaking up as much as I can. For our first year on our new property we decided to do chickens. We decided to try building our own coop. We'll probably have about 20. We might free range them part of the time, but mostly they'll be in the run or the coop. I've got it partly framed so far. Finally got our lovely Michigan weather to cooperate for a bit last weekend. Here's some pictures of the construction. I'll post more as I go.

The front wall is 10' and the back is 8'. Both will have a regular door and a chicken door. Both side walls will have openings for 4 nesting boxes each that will be accessible from outside. The floor is 8x8.

Also notice the ducks in the one picture that are patiently waiting for their new neighbors.


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## BackwoodsBuff (Apr 25, 2013)

Very nice! Don't places for feed storage, and places for broody birds, pullets, etc. It is looking good!


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## Xplorer (Sep 23, 2010)

I thought the ducks were the inspectors/supervisors.


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## HomeCastle (Dec 27, 2012)

Worked all weekend and got the walls finished and the roof on.


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## Wolfy-hound (May 5, 2013)

Looks like a professional job to me. From how great a job you're doing, I'd expect it to be for people! Really nice.

Make sure it's got ventilation and places to store feed unless you're planning on carrying the feed from another place each time.


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## HomeCastle (Dec 27, 2012)

Xplorer said:


> I thought the ducks were the inspectors/supervisors.


They are. The ducks are always following me around and inspecting what I'm doing. Hope they're not jealous the chickens are getting a bigger house than theirs.


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## HomeCastle (Dec 27, 2012)

Wolfy-hound said:


> Looks like a professional job to me. From how great a job you're doing, I'd expect it to be for people! Really nice.
> 
> Make sure it's got ventilation and places to store feed unless you're planning on carrying the feed from another place each time.


The openings above the front and back doors are going to be vents screened in with hardware cloth.

We've got a shed nearby that we'll store feed in for now. But I'd like to come up with some kind of built-in feeding system where I can just fill up a hopper on the outside of the coop. Haven't worked out the details yet.


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

That is a very professional looking build. Can't tell from the pics, did you use hurricane clips on the roof rafters? That overhang at that angle will get a lot of "lift" from the wind.


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## HomeCastle (Dec 27, 2012)

MO_cows said:


> That is a very professional looking build. Can't tell from the pics, did you use hurricane clips on the roof rafters? That overhang at that angle will get a lot of "lift" from the wind.


I didn't. The rafters are notched and screwed to the top plate. Would you recommend hurricane clips in addition to that? Come to think of it, the front is west-facing.


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

I don't have a good picture of it, but this livestock shed has been rebuilt several times due to wind damage. The open side is south facing and we get thunderstorm wind gusts every year. Knock wood, since we rebuilt it the last time with no nails (all screws/bolts), and with hurricane clips or some form of hardware at all the key joints, it hasn't suffered any damage. (In spite of the missing front trim that hubby will get around to installing one of these years.)

You are one step ahead by setting your posts in concrete. Our "next to the last" version of our shed, the posts were 3+ feet in the ground but not in concrete, and the wind generated enough lift to actually pull the front row of posts clear out of the ground. One of the rear ones snapped and the shed disintegrated from there. So, yes, I would say add the hardware and preserve all your nice work.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

> The rafters are notched and screwed to the top plate. Would you recommend hurricane clips in addition to that?


Yes. 
And I hope you tied down to your foundation really well, too.
I've seen more than one coop flipped over from wind uplift and insufficient foundation attachment.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Looks good Homecastle ! 

Only thing you'll probably wish you did is make it bigger later on, and close in the foundation to keep skunks and such from living under there.

Ours has a small feed room in the 'hallway' where the door is, partitioned off from the main room.

We did a 10x12 (pics below), and wish now I'd gone 12x16 or bigger. We just did a "remodel" to ours, adding insulated nesting boxes that stick out on the front with a lift up door so we can collect eggs from outside....and put one of those automatic chicken doors so they are securely locked up at night.....lost a bunch of ours to racoons before we started locking them up religiously.


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## HomeCastle (Dec 27, 2012)

ErinP said:


> Yes.
> And I hope you tied down to your foundation really well, too.
> I've seen more than one coop flipped over from wind uplift and insufficient foundation attachment.


Yeah, I definitely think I'll add the hurricane clips. They're cheap anyway.

The corner posts are anchored with 4' of concrete. I really hope that's enough.


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## HomeCastle (Dec 27, 2012)

TnAndy said:


> Looks good Homecastle !
> 
> Only thing you'll probably wish you did is make it bigger later on, and close in the foundation to keep skunks and such from living under there.
> 
> ...



Nice coop, TnAndy! I'll be building my nesting boxes next. They'll stick out from both side walls and open up from the outside as well. How important is it for nest boxes that stick out like that to be insulated? And should the rest of the coop be insulated as well?

For the chicken door, what level of security would I need? I haven't decided between a sliding door and a hinged door. Would a good latch be enough, or should I have a latch and a lock?


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

In your climate, I'd definitely insulate the boxes and the coop. My thought is make it as comfortable them as possible, but then I treat all my critters that way. We also ran 120v power to the coop, and I put a couple of 'heater' bulbs in the ceiling near the roosting perches.... ( like they use in snake aquariums.....no light to them, they just heat.....think they are 100w each) which we will turn on at night when the temps dip into the teens. Keeps things in the low 30's....enough that the water can doesn't freeze inside.

For the door, that's really more up to you. I went with a top down slider initially that was connected to a light pc of rope thru a couple eye hooks out into the feed room. We'd step into the feed room, and pull the rope to raise the door. It had no latches, just used the weight of the door, and the fact the door side of the coop was on a WELL fenced in area to keep out predators. Never had one get in IF we closed the door religiously. That is the easiest type of door to build.

Just recently, I add an automatic top down slider, which we LOVE. Now, the door opens at 6:30, and I have it set to close at 9pm, which is well after they are all on the roost. ( easy to change times, it uses a simple appliance timer ). Well worth the cost of the door, IMHO.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

In the pic above, the door that is down low ( pic where I'm on the ladder ) to the right is a clean out door.....flips up to the inside.....so we can shovel out the chips/poop every so often. After I built the coop, I added a worm bed to the side ( see below ) and we shovel the stuff directly into the worm bed, where the worms break it down, then I feed worms to the chickens....kinda of a closed cycle....ahahahaaa.

In a previous remodel ( no, you NEVER get it right the first time or two....ahahahahaa), I added a shed roof over the side of the pen where the worm bed is, so the chickens would have some shade and a dry place to be outside, even if raining.

In the remodel, I took out that door, moved it to the left corner, running vertical instead ( door is the width of our shovel ) (door now located about where the yellow pitchfork is ) and used that space for 4 nesting boxes that now stick out toward the driveway side.

Worm bed is about 4x10, built out of 4" cinderblock, laid double wall with a hunk of 3/4 styrofoam board between to keep the ground from getting too cold.


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## MoCat (Nov 7, 2012)

TnAndy said:


> Just recently, I add an* automatic *top down slider, which we LOVE. Now, the door opens at 6:30, and I have it set to close at 9pm, which is well after they are all on the roost. ( easy to change times, it uses a simple appliance timer ). Well worth the cost of the door, IMHO.


Where did you get the automatic door?


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

I got the "guts" ( motor, timer, wall transformer 120/12v ) from this guy:

http://www.automaticchickencoopdoor.com/

He gets $125 for the 'guts', and you build the door (which is easy).

or he gets $185 for the whole assembled door w/motor/etc ready to install in a hole in your wall.


BUT since I got mine, and saw what it was ( which is a 12v drapery control motor, etc ), I found you can buy the EXACT same motor ( called a D-20 ) at Smarthome for $76 bucks, only difference being you have to add a 120vAC appliance timer, (like you plug a lamp into to come on automatically ) which you can buy a bunch of places for 10 bucks or less. ( in fact, Smarthome has one equal to the one the Chicken door guy sells, and its $7.73
http://www.smarthome.com/56207/Sylvania-SA-100-15-Amp-Lamp-and-Appliance-Timer/p.aspx )


Motor and transformer:


http://www.smarthome.com/31427/Add-A-Motor-D20-Chicken-Coop-Motor/p.aspx

So even with shipping from Smarthome, you'll get off 30-40 bucks cheaper than the chicken door guy.


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## Joe.G (Jun 26, 2012)

Looking good, Bigger is always better when it comes to out buildings.


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## HomeCastle (Dec 27, 2012)

It's been a while since I've had a chance to post here. I've made some more (slow) progress on the coop.

I built the nest boxes on the sides. They'll be split up into 4 separate boxes on each side for a total of 8.

Got some plywood up for the walls. Built and installed doors on the front and back. Primed the walls. Eventually it will all be painted green with white trim. Both big doors have a sliding chicken door at the bottom.

I still need to install the vents in the holes above the doors. And still need to put up trim boards at all the corners and seams in the plywood.

Just finished putting corrugated metal up for the roof. Will put the same stuff on the nest box lids.

My simple sliding chicken doors will soon be replace by a self-locking motorized sliding door. The last two pictures show my prototype. Inside the door are two spring-loaded locking arms that keep the door from raising once it's down. When the motor lifts the door it also disengages the locks. It's mounted on some drawer sliders on a frame. My prototype was using an electric screwdriver motor, but I found out that it was not strong enough, so I'm upgrading to an 18 volt drill motor. Once I get it working I'll have to build a duplicate to go on the other door. They'll be operated by switches on the outside of the coop.

The chickens are already living in it and they love it so far.


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## Ostie82 (Jul 19, 2013)

Wow. Two very nice chicken coops. Also, Homecastle, I'm very interested in your locking mechanism. When you get it installed, maybe you could post a video for us to see it in action. Great work guys!


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## HomeCastle (Dec 27, 2012)

I finally got my motorized coop door finished and installed. Here are some pictures. I'll try to post a video of it somewhere. It's working great so far. I had to take off the battery today to recharge after being in operation for a week. I think it will last longer than that in warmer weather, last week was really cold here. Now I need to build another one for the back door.

I had to switch from an electric screwdriver motor which wasn't strong enough to a drill motor which was too strong. After about 5 tests it broke the winch axle. So I had to find a speed control that would work to dial back the speed of the motor.


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## Joe.G (Jun 26, 2012)

Seems like a lot of work, Wouldn't it have been cheaper to buy a Elec Opener that is meant for coops? Nice job either way.


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## HomeCastle (Dec 27, 2012)

Joe.G said:


> Seems like a lot of work, Wouldn't it have been cheaper to buy a Elec Opener that is meant for coops? Nice job either way.


Yeah, but not as fun.


Here's a video of it installed:

[ame="http://youtu.be/Q5Tc18WgI4Q"]http://youtu.be/Q5Tc18WgI4Q[/ame]


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## Joe.G (Jun 26, 2012)

Works real nice, Good job


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