Chickens for eggs and meat

[bcauz3y]

Just wanted to post this little "how I did it" for my chickens.

Started by obtaining materials.

$350 total in materials

7x60 lbs bag of quickcrete
20x2"x4"x8' pressure treated lumber
8x4"x4"x8' pressure treated lumber
8x7/16"x4'x8' OSB
Rolled chicken wire 25'x3'
Metal Roofing 24"x10'
Metal roofing screws
Hinges
door latch

Now a few notes on materials.
I chose to build a coop that is 8'x8' because it saves on cutting, and waste of material. OSB comes in 4x8 sheets, and metal roofing comes in 8' or 10' long sheets (remember your overhang) You'll have to cut down the 10' because 12" of overhang will catch the wind.

Also the 4x8 size makes it super easy to frame the roof up (2x4s come in 8' lengths, among other sizes.

OSB isn't weather treated so you'll eventually need to paint it, preferably asap and with good quality outdoor paint that is oil based.

Some people use weather flashing material for the base of the coop so predators can't dig in. Instead, to save on cost and effort, I simply ran my chicken wire down about 6" into a trench and then concreted the whole thing in.





Frame up the roof first.



Set the load bearing 4x4s. I dig 1 foot down and one inch OD larger so I can concrete it in.



Sit the roof on it.



Frame the bottom so it is parallel with the ground.



Shoot your OSB roof boards on.



Wall in your roost and laying box areas.



Build your door and hang it up. We found that building the door was easiest if we just cut it "close" and put it together in the frame.



Run your wire into the ground after you dig a 6"x4" trench as close to the baseboards as possible.



Install the metal on the roof with specialized roofing screws.



Buy chickens.



Imagine how good that breakfast will be...



Also, a note on the breed I chose. Rhode Island Reds are a good middle of the road breed IMO because they hatch their own eggs, and lay nicely, in addition to being a decent meat bird. Just a well rounded bird.

Huge thanks to my father, who helps me with all my preps, and especially in tactical and construction matters.

[bcauz3y]

Also, here are the roosts and laying boxes.

[coxmw]

Nice job!!

[maric]

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing! :)

[bcauz3y]

A few interesting tid-bits about the chickens I've noticed.

They were probably 2 weeks old when I got them, and were deathly afraid of being handled.

Since this is the first generation, and I plan to keep them for hatching and laying, I wanted them to be people friendly.

My kids and my wife and I all handle them multiple times a day.

In the week that I've had them, they are now nearly 7 inches tall, and LOVE people. They will swarm to you every time you open the cage, and want to perch on your hands or arms or at least be close to you. If they even so much as see a person, they flock to the front of the cage and chirp like crazy to be let out.

At first, they huddled together for warmth under the heat lamp, but now they lay apart mostly because they have enough feathers to keep themselves warm. They don't even really use the heat lamp much.

They are very sound sensitive. If I sneeze or cough, they freak out.

They love eating out of your hand, and just being petted like a cat.




For now, they stay in a spare room with tile floor (easy cleanup because they are MESSY) until they are old enough to be let into the coop.

I'm a little worried because the coop is just out of the range of the dogs wireless collars, and there is a pack of coyotes around here. I hear them a few nights a week.

[Echo2]

cool....we are almost done with ours....I'll post pics soon...:)

[maric]

Echo love to see the pics!
becauz3y, the pic of your eggs and bacon and taters made me hungry... ! Good job!
We cant have chicken in the shity, I mean city..l. but "one of these days".....

[PT945]

Nice coop. Great job.

[emergprep]

I like mine overeasy

Really nice job, you may not be an expert but you sure aren't a novice!

[Dawg Fan]

Nice job. Hope they lay and reproduce well for you.

[Oscar Wilde]

Nice coop .... thanks for the step by step.

O.W.

[Snow Walker]

Very nice job on the thread and the chicken house! You have the right idea for sure, so many people around here are doing the same thing. Where ever you go you see "sub divisions" of chicken houses popping up. lol We have numerous Amish families in the area and it's amazing to see how they are rubbing off on so many others.

Thanks for posting pictures it helped alot!

[collector]

Cool chicken coop, if you have coyotes in the area make sure that it is very secure because they will try their darndest to get in, several times we'ved had to chase them away from ours, although with time predators will learn to stay away, we've had chickens for about 6 years now and have'nt had any real problems in the last two or so years, I don't know if you're planning on free roaming them but if you are just make sure to monitor them for the first few times they are out and they will quickly learn where their home is, we've always freeroamed ours and we've yet to lose one (knock on wood). that open design will help when cleaning as more enclosed ones like ours, which is a converted shed, can be very very nasty, well good luck with your chicken endevours.

[maric]

Thanks for sharing, as well!

[bcauz3y]

Cool chicken coop, if you have coyotes in the area make sure that it is very secure because they will try their darndest to get in, several times we'ved had to chase them away from ours, although with time predators will learn to stay away, we've had chickens for about 6 years now and have'nt had any real problems in the last two or so years, I don't know if you're planning on free roaming them but if you are just make sure to monitor them for the first few times they are out and they will quickly learn where their home is, we've always freeroamed ours and we've yet to lose one (knock on wood). that open design will help when cleaning as more enclosed ones like ours, which is a converted shed, can be very very nasty, well good luck with your chicken endevours. [ATTACH=CONFIG]1972[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1973[/ATTACH]

Awesome!!!! Your setup rocks.

We do plan to free roam them a few weeks after they are settled in to the coop.

I'm hoping I can just spray the floor out with a hose and put more hay in there for cleaning. We shall see!!