Chickens; the Gateway Farm Animal

They say Chickens are the gateway animal for rural residents.  Everyone starts with chickens which are relatively easy to care for and produce wonderful eggs and; we are told, hours of entertainment.  Once hooked one moves on to "harder" animals like goats and pigs. 

So you cannot have chickens without a place for them to live safely
from the many predators that are out there.  So I went to CleanCoops.com and for $35 I bought a 41 page set of plans to build a coop from the ground up suitable for up to 12 chickens.  The exterior framing dimensions are 4' x 8' so it should be a manageable construction project.

The plans had a great materials list so I sent the major items to HD and my locall lumber yard and get a couple of quotes.  2 days and $600 later the lumber load was delivered.  

Here is the cover photo from the plans, so this is what it should look like when complete.  Follow along and we will discover together how close I can come.

 The most important part of any building construction is to get your foundation dimensions precise and square.  I decided to use 10' 4 x 4 pressure treated posts set in concrete for the basic support structure.  That meant setting up batten boards and string to mark where to dig the holes.  The post hole digger that attaches to my tractor made the hole digging a lot easier than pick and shovel.  Once the holes were dug, Dee helped me set the posts in exactly the right position. 

 

Photo bombs by Gabriel

 I let the posts sit overnight to set and was ready to start framing on Saturday morning.

Floor framing gets done first.

And then the sidewall framing

And then the back wall framing.  And Dee made a good suggestion that instead of just leaving the bare plywood floor, we cover it with linoleum to make it easier to clean and moisture proof.  She ran to HD and picked up a 12' x 4' piece in a nice faux tile pattern that I'm sure the chickens will like.

....and the front wall.  Starting to look like something now.

All together about 14 hours of my labor so far.   That's it for this weekend.  Next post we will be adding the exterior sheathing and we will start on the roof framing.