March
March here in Nashville has thankfully warmed up, but it seems like we've had a rainstorm every weekend! The rain has given me plenty of time to catch up on my indoor seed-starting, but it's been frustrating to be stuck inside with so much work remaining on the run and coop!
The Foundation
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| My dad loves digging and was kind enough to dig out a perimeter for us back in November when he was here for Thanksgiving. My plans changed slightly since then, so we added another foot to the perimeter to make the full structure 10 feet long instead of the original 9'. We also had to lay some cinder blocks so that the structure has something firm to rest on. Note: leveling cinder blocks is no fun. |
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| I'm pretty sure our neighbors think we are burying bodies. |
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| I decided to incorporate this stump. It'll end up fairly close to the chicken door to the coop, so I may try making a "spiral staircase" down the stump instead of a ramp. |
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| Bobby digging and contemplating why he married such a crazy woman. |
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| I managed to smash my pinky hardcore between two cinder blocks while transporting them. It was not fun. |
Coop Comes Together!!
This has been the most rewarding part of the build so far! It's so frustrating working on individual pieces and having to imagine them fitting together - it was super rewarding finally seeing everything fit together! Our buddy, Kenny, moved in with us recently so of course we put him to work helping with the build.
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| Kenny modeling the base (now reconstructed to it's proper dimension and painted) in it's final resting place atop the cinder blocks. |
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| The coop, like the sides, has an extra foot of hardware cloth which will be buried. I'm also going to put maybe 6" or a foot of hardware cloth around the exterior once done as an apron to deter diggers. |
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| We had finished the individual frames for the coop back in January but waited until we had the base up to put them together. |
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| Happy girl and tired boys. |
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| Ya'll, I've never built anything before in my life and I'm doing this completely from scratch with my own plans - I AM A BEAST!!! |
Reinforcing the Run's Sides
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| Kenny helped me add support beams to the run which will help keep the overall structure stable and will keep the hardware cloth in place better. They've also been painted with the pink fence/porch paint we procured from the Habitat Store (fun story, it looked brown at the store - it's definitely pink). |
The Coop Gets Some Siding
Last weekend was absolutely gorgeous so I spent Saturday and Sunday outside for about 10 hours each day planting my cold weather crops and getting the siding on the coop. I got a wicked sunburn, but it was worth getting to be outside in a tank top and shorts! Of course it snowed that same week (Nashville is bizarre).
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| This part was tricky. I decided to do paneling since I have all scrap wood. Most folks buy plywood and will cut one piece for a whole side, but I'm determined to make this whole thing and spend less than what I would on a cheap prefab so I had to get creative with my saws and scrap wood. |
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| Before adding the paneling I cut out hardware cloth for all the windows and staples it to the frame. Once the paneling is added it will make the hardware cloth even more secure since the panels are applied over the staples. |
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| I took a break for a few minutes to get my greens planted out front! |
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Ain't she a beaut? Since I was using scrap wood (and I suck at cutting straight lines) I will need to fill in gaps between the panels prior to painting. The coop will be painted the same pink as the rest of the structure.
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| I finished the other two sides the next day. |
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| This big open side will have double doors that open for easy cleaning access. |
Double Doors for Coop
Today was super dreary and the sky was threatening to dump rain, so I decided to work on something that could easily be done in the garage if needed. Thankfully the rain held off so I got some fresh air.
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| First off, I borrow a caulk gun from our neighbor (who also gave me some great tips for how to build the roof) and caulked those big gaps I was referring to earlier with wood filler. It's important to have good ventilation in a coop (hence the windows) but I don't want it to be drafty in the winter and I DO want it to be water proof for our frequent Tennessee downpours. |
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| Then I got started on the double doors. I wanted them to be sturdy, so I made frames for them (again, using scrap wood). Not the prettiest things you've ever seen, but the frames will be on the inside, so it doesn't matter. |
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| Then I attached plywood to the frames. A word of advice: Be aware of the length of your brad nails when using a brad nailer. I figured using the nailer would be quicker than screws, but I ended up nailing the whole thing to the table pictured above. I clipped off the extra length of nail with a wire clipper, but I wouldn't suggest that method! |
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| The front (pretty side) of the door. |
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| Slapping on some of that same pink fence/deck paint. |
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| Double doors drying in the garage. |
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| I pulled these off of the cabinet doors we removed from our original kitchen - maybe I'll use them for the doors! I plan on getting some hinges from the Habitat Store since they have pretty decent prices. |
And that's it, folks!
My goal is to have everything done by mid or late April so I can get some pullets - I'm thinking 3 hens, at least 14 weeks old.
I have so far spent a grand total of $136.11 on this project. The bulk of that was for hardware cloth off of Amazon which was $61.11, but I was able to use gift cards redeemed from my Capital One credit card points so it didn't even come out of my pocket! The cost breakdown is below:
- Roofing Shingles - $10 (Facebook Marketplace)
- Roofing Paper/Felt - $15 (Habitat Store)
- Deck Screws - $30 (Home Depot)
- Pink Deck/Porch Paint - $20 for 2 cans (Habitat Store)
- Hardware Cloth - $61.11 (Amazon)
Stay tuned for more!
