Starting the Chicken Coop

The most time consuming aspect of building is the plans and site prep. We wanted the chicken coop to be situated east/west as so make the most of the sun's warmth in the winter and no sun coming in to the coop in the summer. We had to plan the building to be safe from any possible trees falling down on it.

The coop is going to be a pole barn structure, so we started with the corner posts to determine the length and width of 18 feet X 12 feet. This will allow enough room for about 24 chickens and a storage room for the grain.

Once the poles were in, we established the level of the roof line from the grade using a level to make sure it was all straight. We cut the poles at the top after we did this, it is so much easier than figuring this out before hand. As you can see we have a slope, a change of about a foot in grade. This is good because the rain will drain easily away from the coop. We plan on putting gutters and a tank for rain water collection.

Next the doors and windows are framed out, this is all predetermined from sketching the plans on paper. It is always easier to change things on paper than move lumber around, plus you can imagine the finished project and think of how things need to change in order to make the building more practical.

We used old air conditioning vents for the sides, hardware cloth and an old medal frame operable window in the front.
Next the rafters go on, the widest part of the lumber vertical to the ground. This is where the strength of the board is. We then trimmed out the roof to add strength and a place to attach the chicken wire for the yard.
The metal roofing sheets go on next . this is where you also have to plan ahead. There needs to be an overhang of the roof by about 1/2 to 1 inch so it protects the wood underneath.

The baby chicks will be here soon so we really have to get moving........