Coop Construction (originally published in February 2018)

In 2016, Wendy and I decided to repair and renovate a shed that up until now had been slowly falling down and turn that structure into a barn. With a recent change in the City ordinances and laws that allowed homeowners to keep up to 6 chickens, it fit right in with our focus in wanting to raise more than just vegetables.

With permit in hand, I set to work to build our chicken coop. Constructed of 6”x 6” posts on concrete piers set 3’ into the ground, this treated lumber place was framed with T-11 paneling and a 14 gauge tin roof.

Inside the coop…. 

In designing this coop, I knew that I needed to take into consideration several environmental concerns and issues related to wind and flooding. With the threat of seasonal flooding from nor’easters, it made sense to adjust my design where possible for these natural disasters.

In my design, I created a double insulated exterior wall on the North and East sides of the barn as well as a false ceiling that that would allow me to manage the heat during the summer. After roughing in the window and coop door, I was ready to build the nest boxes, entry door and interior PVC paneling. The nest boxes are raised about 2’ off the ground and built to allow the birds access to the top of the boxes; this was one of those design features that I talked about earlier in the event of flooding.

The interior floor is made up of four layers that includes; 14 gauge chain-link, a bed of #57 limestone topped with sand and 12” x 12”concrete pavers. Additionally, an interior predator guard made up of ½ x ½ inch hardware cloth was laid down to insure that rodents would be kept out.

As if I hadn’t challenge myself enough on the timeline to build this coop, I added to that with the purchase of two Barred Rocks after visiting a farmer to talk about raising chickens! Oops….

Building the inside of the Henhouse