New Coop for the Girls

[Dad2FourWI]

Hello All,

Compared to some of the awesome sheds/barns/buildings that everyone else is posting.... well, I feel kindof "cheeky" posting this... but here goes!

The girls (27 chickens and two ducks) needed some new "digs" for the Winter!!! (that, and to keep a black bear from bothering them!!!)

We milled all of these 3x6's from dead-standing Red Pine on the farm... this was what I was doing when I hurt my back!!!! <groan>

We ran out of time (it started to snow today here in central Wisconsin) so we decided to just use a bunch of flitches/slabs for the roof, covered by a tarp.


Lots of 3x6's to choose from... (and we still ran short!!! - go figure!)


 


The "plan"...


 


Foundation ready


 

Here we go....


 




 


Nest boxes ready...


 


Almost ready for the girls... (temporary roof!)


 

There is nothing more rewarding than to harvest a tree that was destined for bugs and rot and to turn it into something useful... in this case a new chicken coop!!!

What fun!   

Cheers!,
-Dad2FourWI

[redbeard]

That is heavy duty! Nice job.

[customsawyer]

Looks pretty good to me.

[kelLOGg]

Wow! So far my coop has kept out foxes, et. al.,  but bearproof - that's a new high standard. Keep us posted. I want to see the window and door. NICE JOB.
Bob

[clww]

Great work.

[Gasawyer]

Very nice coop! Gives me some ideas. Hope the girls liked it!

[glenn molenaar]

Great job!

[dboyt]

Here in Missouri, that would be a tornado shelter!  Nice design.

[WDH]

The girls will be tickled.  That thing is stout.

[yukon cornelius]

that looks great! we would like one too!

[thecfarm]

There's a building that would look real nice with some wooden shingles for a roof.  That looks nice.
I put some of those hinges that closes the door for me. I found some cheap at a yardsale.

[AdamT]

That is one heavy duty chicken house! It looks great.

How are your 3x6s fastened together?

[Chuck White]

Looks to be very solid, nice job!

[Dad2FourWI]

Thanks all for the kind words!!!!

My father used to call us (him and myself) "nothing but a bunch of wood-butchers" as we built and maintained the buildings on the farm... but we are slowly improving!!

We placed some vertical supports inside the walls at the corners and all openings (trap door, nest boxes, window, etc) so that if/when one of the wall boards rotted out, we could back out the 5" deck/timber screws and replace the bad beam - and not have to get into taking the whole thing apart to remove a bad "bottom" board!!!

We are kindof new to this whole bear-thing too.... I have lived here for 50 years and never saw a bear... until about two weeks ago... and s/he was _not_ small!! Standing right alongside the existing coop - AFTER having already smashed two fences to get into the yard and then into the girls' area!!!

We yelled at it and it very slowly smashed the fences again on the way out... we had another visit two nights after but still all beaks and bills are accounted for...

Today we will add a sliding door... not exactly in keeping with the "rustic look"... but highly functional.

-Dad2FourWI

[Skoalbandit78]

Great job, a new chicken coop is on my honey do list also. I am not about to show yours to my wife, then she will expect something that nice. Keep up the good work.

[Magicman]

That is a neat build.   

[hunz]

Very neat, I know my chickens wish their coop was that nice. Funny story, just got home at 8:00pm and saw 2 hens out.....very unusual so I proceed to the coop to find my first possum in it. Two broken eggs, one sacrificed chicken and one nasty dead mean possum. If I could only rig up an automated closing coop door I would be in business.

[jmouton]

thats really kool  ,  i think it will keep the bears out , hopefully

[5quarter]

The big bad wolf ain't gonna be blowin that down. Great work!

[drobertson]

I like it! bonified heavy duty, but I reckon up yonder not a bad idea. Pretty and coops really have not been associated in the past, but this one should really stand out,  nice work,   david

[manoverboard]

Wow! A bit wider and you could use it as a hunting cabin! Nice work...

[YellowHammer]

The girls should be so happy that they will have eggs dropping out every few minutes :D


YH

[bandmiller2]

That's certainly a coop de ville. Prehaps some electric fence wire around the coop would discourage that bruin.Bad comes to worse snap that bear most states allow you to protect your livestock. Frank C.

[Deese]

Very, very NICE

[Finn1903]

no better feeling then building something with wood you milled yourself

nice job!