the trail less traveled: the Coop!

They were so little

Wow! I had no idea how long this project would take! I brought our new chicks home at the end of February and it took until the beginning of May to complete! One thing that we have learned in the process is that we are not carpenters! It has been a good experience though and we have learned a lot about building and working together :).

After searching websites, and Pinterest of course, we came up with a plan of what we wanted - something big enough for at least 6 hens with a run large enough so that if necessary they could stay in it without being overcrowded. Of course we will let them roam the property, but we have a large dog who likes the taste of chicken, so we have to be able to keep them penned at times.

And it had to have some style, right. Hence the paint job. I wanted to build it from scratch, but Papawizzy had other ideas. He found a shed for sale on Craigslist that he thought would be simple to convert to the main coop section. I think it saved us some money, but the process of conversion was a bit challenging!

I decided that I wanted the nesting boxes to be accessible from the outside so that it would leave extra space inside for the chickens and we wouldn't have to go into the coop to gather eggs. That part took a good three days to figure out and construct. At one point, after we had cut the hole in the side of the shed, I was wishing we could go back and just have the nesting boxes inside! But there was no turning back!! You Tube videos and Backyard Chickens websites were visited often!

Next we constructed the run. Again, in my brain this looked like a simple task - nope :). First, because the shed wasn't dropped square with the fence next to it we had to angle the run a little so we could get the lawn mower around it. Secondly, figuring out the roofing and how to attach it to the coop so that we wouldn't have trouble with wind and rain was a bit challenging. During one of our recent downpours I stood under the roof in the run and I'm happy to report - no leaks!

Putting up the hardware cloth was the next step, and the question was, do we start at the bottom and go up or the top and go down? We opted for going from the top down. The hardware cloth (it's actually a stiff wire mesh) comes in 4ft x 25ft rolls and is a bit cumbersome - and has very sharp edges. We attached it to the top of the framing and stretched it out and around the 4x4in posts. It's a bit like wrapping a package, only harder - much harder :)! Once we had the hardware cloth installed we secured the seams with 1x6in boards and finished up with the painting. Lots of painting! More gallons that I thought would be necessary :).

So the end product is not perfect, but the chickens love it and we have learned a lot in the process. There are a few things I would change if I did it again, but that's not happening anytime soon!!

It's funny, and humbling how the process of actually doing something can really change your prospective on a subject. You know the saying, don't judge until you've walked a mile in someone else's shoes. As a result, I have much more appreciation for our home and the people who built it.

So another project complete and many more to go!