Officially Day 1099, we broke ground three years and three days after closing 🙂 We though we would have chickens sooner, but we made it nonetheless! For 2021 we brought home six hens, but we wanted our project to be able to house twelve comfortably both in the coop, and in the run. Total dimensions are 8 feet wide, 25 feet long for a nice and even 200 square feet; 150 sqft of run, and 50 sqft of coop.
This entire journey percolated early in 2020 during the lockdowns and food shortages. We bartered for eggs… Never saw that coming. A plan was set, a lottery was entered, and the day to pick chicks arrived. Here are our six girls: Penny, Coco, Maisy, Lemonade, Bunny, and Goldie. The brooder box was short lived, they grew exponentially!
The girls transitioned into a kiddy pool shortly thereafter.
A wall of chicken wire was fashioned to attempt to keep them in. That lasted a week…
Penny asserted herself early, and began roosting on top of the chicken wire. This started compressing the wire downwards, and encourage more guests on top if the barrier. We needed a coop fast!
A carpenter contractor of ours was lined up, and couldn’t start until week 6 of the chicks journey. We demolished a large group of bushes, and tilled the soil to attempt to level the area.
Our great friend Scott from Gordy’s Stump Grinding came to the rescue and ground the stumps. This helped us level the area even more.
Trucks equal progress!
The first day of the project revolved around our plans and area to work with. After reviewing our ideas, we distilled our thoughts to work in the area available, as well as standard lumber lengths. 33 bags of 60lb concrete for the first run, we would end up using 45 total.
Phillip never hesitates to jump into the mix.
A load of T-111 and plywood for the floor and roof was picked up.
Our contractor picking up load four of Day 1 of this build.
Flat goods unloaded, and the last load of Day 1 was brought home. Now to move all of this to the job area.
Phillip is investigating the post holes for the run and coop.
This sucker isn’t going anywhere with 12 inch diameter holes with a minimum depth of 24 inches.
Post holes are shaping up nicely.
Sheet good selfie!
The coop posts and back wall of the run are getting plumbed and squared.
Coop is coming together quickly, it is nice to see the progress in the making. Getting these girls out of our house is a high priority at this point!
The front wall of the run is setting. Phillip has his trademarked Vacuum Power Suction Arm on with a 2×4 piece in tow.
The roof is up! One layer of 40 pound felt was laid, and asphalt shingles that match our shed were used for the coop: Owens Corning Brownwood Architectural shingles.
Roof is finished, and the T-111 is going up. We would locate and cut windows once all sheeting was put up.
Another look at sheeting progress. Our roof line meant some angle calculations which slowed progress a bit.
We had enough vinyl flooring left over from our shed and home projects to lay the coop floor. We are attempting to use the deep litter method in the coop, which self composts in place. Protection of the plywood underneath seems prudent, and all that was involved was the labor to install it.
Floor is finished and ready for 2″x8″ edging and blocking.
2″x8″ border is cut and test fit. This will be the base of the deep litter shavings.
Phillip hosting an impromptu dance party.
The girls are making a royal mess and a half in our spare room. Time to get them out of the house ASAP.
We decided to block the stud bays level with our 2″x8″ border, to keep the mess from building behind in the bays. We had enough left over pieces from other projects which saved us another trip for overpriced lumber.
All blocking and borders installed. Getting closer to getting the girls settled!
Our automatic coop door is battery powered, and uses a luminescence sensor to open and close once a day. This might be a little redundant, as this is from the coop to the fully secured run, but the security of the coop is important to us.
One of our two cameras on the run and coop. The door can be easily seen for checking it’s status.
More lumber… These trips were all painful compared to pre-Covid pricing.
Three windows were cut, and chicken wire was used to keep the girls in. All three windows are a minimum 50 inches from the ground, which adds another barrier to raccoons and other pests that might want in.
We had enough scraps of panels and studs to build an improvised loft for storage. The coop to run door has been cut, and hinges and a latch were installed to keep the girls in while the run is still under construction.
An exterior view of the windows.
Our nesting box opening was mapped and cut as well, and the same technique to secure the opening was employed. This will allow us the ability to have access to the box as needed as well.
Run side of the coop.
The run is coming together nicely. 4″x4″s are erected and ready for framing. 20 foot stringers were laid on top of the frame to support the hardware cloth for the roof.
Surplus shavings found the first home in the loft, and the bedding was starting to get laid out.
28ish cubic feet of bedding later, we are almost ready to introduce our girls to their forever home. A heat lamp was still deployed as night temps were in the low 40Fs. The first roost bar is up as well.
The girls figuring out their new world, with Phillip giving them a watchful eye.
Some home made 2″x2″ material from another project in 2015 found a home as well, as trim over the chicken wire windows. This covered up the sharp edges and helps give the interior a much more finished look.
The back window trimmed.
We are using solar power for the camera, lights and light controller. Some pieces of scrap wood creating blocks to keep the girls (looking at you Penny) from roosting on top of them. The junction box will house the battery and all electronics for the coop.
The back wall of the run is using T-111 panels to provide shade, a wind and weather break, and privacy from the neighbor’s yard.
All sheets are up. It was decided that 2″x4″ framing would be easier to locate once the sheets were hung, versus mapping the entire layout first.
A little segue to one of our two food safe feeders, this one utilizing three feeding ports. Laying out the hole cuts.
A view into the bucket from above. This feeder holds approximately 20 pounds of feed.
A ramp would be needed from the run to the coop, and some more leftovers are being used as a support. The plan is for the ramp to rest and locate here.
Repurposing a length of T-111, and used more 2″x2″s for steps. We’ve read a ton of blog posts that deploy too slippery of a surface, and felt that the grooves of the panel coupled with the 2″x2″s would give plenty of texture for the claws to grasp onto.
The roof of the run will be fully wrapped with hardware cloth as well, as both Cooper’s and red tailed hawks are prevalent in our area. We want our girls to have safe access outside, and 20 foot pressure treated 2″x4″s would be the base for the cloth.
Yet another lumber run :/
We lined the interior of the run with pressure treated 2″x10″ planks. A pick axe was needed to dig these out, and this will provide a solid barrier to coyotes digging under if they could even get into this protect part of our yard with multiple fences.
More run barrier.
The barrier was cut to wrap around the concrete post holes.
The front of the run barrier.
Framing is complete, as is hardware cloth installation. We opted to use 1″x4″ trim to match our shed on the front of the run and coop.
Temps had been in the low 40s for weeks, and another heat lamp was sourced until the girls had fully feathered. That occurred quickly, as well as lows reaching the high 50s. These were set on a thermostat with wifi control, and haven’t been used past week one.
A view of our controller.
Solar panels and wiring begin roughing in, along with the battery.
A wall switch was added in parallel to the wifi light controller, giving us manual and remote control on 12 volts.
Just like our gate project, an very low draw voltage gauge was added for quick and easy troubleshooting of the system.
Our RV lights mapped and wired in, these are the same used in our shed.
Houston, we have ignition! Final wiring won’t happen until the entire project is painted.
Our second food safe feeder, and this one holds approximately 40 pounds of feed.
The girls test driving their new run, feeder, and waterer.
Time to work on the nesting box. We are building a three bay setup, which should allow us up to 15 laying hens comfortably. Measuring twice, laying out and cutting once.
Enough leftover pieces of panels and studs meant this part of the project was “free” and clear. 3/4″ ply floor, and T-111 panels and lid.
More progress late into another evening.
Nesting box mocked up and ready for another day of progress.
A little disassembly was done to allow easier access for our mounting solution. Leftover structural 6″ lag screws were used to mount the box to the coop, six in total. We think it is safe to say that this thing isn’t going anywhere on it’s own.
All six lags in, time to caulk and reassemble in place.
A reoccuring theme is playing on repeat: more leftover materials finding uses on this project, this time high end door and window caulking. All sides were lathered copiously, then screwed home again.
As it turned out, we were able to line up the face panels with the pattern of the coop.
The front of the box was eyeballed the night before, and as luck would have it the entire front was within 1/16 of an inch.
The panels all lined up and installed.
A little view of the silicone application prior to panel installation. All panels were sealed prior to, and after mounting.
The box is almost done, as a third hinge was going to be needed, along with locking and soft close hinges.
Coop trim is replaced and caulked. A small overhang of the lid was left for water run off.
The third hinge installed.
Weather stripping was added to the lid interface.
Locking and soft close assists installed, this is a nice touch that will keep the lid from getting slammed close.
Some more hardware was procured to aid in day to day use. This image shows the gate pull with return spring installed.
Handles were added to both coop and run doors, inside and out.
Coop door finished up.
Run door is now complete.
We want our painter to spray the coop, and to save time we removed all hardware and added three coats of paint underneath. This will make masking quicker, and we wont have any instances of bare wood visible.
A full five gallons of paint were left from our home project, and we went to work. This was a chore, and of course some of the screw points shifted on re-installation.
Hardware going back on for round one. The bare wood is soaking up the paint, and if we had the budget it would have been primed first.
The spot on the upper right is one thick coat after drying, it is like the paint was never there! The bottom left is three coats.
All hardware has been remounted and ready for masking and spraying, what a relief.
Hygiene is important after handling the chickens, as their innate scratching helps discover new food while covering there droppings. This means that the poop is typically scattered all over the run and in the coop, and frequent hand washing is necessary for everyone. A sink was found on Craig’s List a few minutes from our office, and Eric jumped at the chance to pick it up for free.
Some more scraps of 2″x4″s were available to make a frame for the sink, and brackets were bought for a shelf to hold the water jug we have used for camping for years. A simple bucket catches the drainage to keep the ground from getting muddy.
All of this was great, but there does one keep paper towels outdoors? We had a good section of flashing left over from the coop, and proceeded to bend a segment to mount beneath the shelf. This will allow a roll of towels to be mounted underneath, and keep relatively dry in theory. How it will work in the rain is another story.
Shelf is back home, mounted, flashed, and it even has a little roof shingle on top. The last bit of silicone tube was used on the wood shelf to secure the asphalt shingle.
Paper towel holder is mounted, and the first short roll is in place for testing. Conceivably speaking, the only water that could get in would be reflected from the sink below. Time will tell, as we are out of our rainy season here in San Diego County as of this writing.
A place to sit and interact with the girls seemed like a nice idea. A little trip over to Rockler yielded us some 750 pound desk hinges to stow away the bench in an attempt to keep it poop free. Hinges being leveled and plumbed (incorrectly, these were removed and reoriented.) The mounting face is 16 inches deep, and a 2″x10″x10′ was picked up to provide a five foot bench as mounted to the 4″x4″ supports.
Bench and flashing in the down position. We hope to catch or deflect the poop when the girls rest up here.
Bench in the deployed position, and the flashing tucks neatly behind it.
A misting setup was bought to test. Each summer we have been here has hit 116F, and has been in the 100s for highs for weeks on end. This is typical weather, and not conducive to poultry. Interestingly enough, San Marcos is the town next door, and they are known to have invented the modern chicken farm in a climate 10 degrees cooler.
I know for a fact the girls will survive, as we have many neighbors with coops. That said, if we can keep them less stressed we will enjoy more eggs during the heat. The goal is to use evaporative cooling as opposed to getting the girls wet. This day hit a high of 99F in April, and time will tell as we get a feel for the heat and the girls stress levels during it.
Wait, what’s with the attic?! We have four 2.4Ghz wifi devices in and around the coop: two cameras, one light controller, and one thermostat. Signal was adequate to the outside of the coop, but not inside for solid reliability. Another Ubiquiti access point was going to be installed, on the back of the house. This meant one more run of Ethernet cable would need to be pulled, as we prefer to have a hardwired POE device with cable back haul. *Yesterday* Eric left a twine across the entire attic, which would be used to make quick work to the 100′ cable.
Cable and secondary twine will be pulled in tandem. The existing twine will be saved and set in the attic if anything else needs to go that way again.
Run pulled, and twine is dumped for reuse.
Our mounting location for the access point needed to be as high as possible, while staying below the eve and fascia board for good line of sight. Our tankless water heater made for a nice work station while on the 8 foot ladder.
A good spot was eyeballed, and drilled for anchors.
The hole for the cable was placed directly behind the access point, giving it weather protection. It was also filled with caulking to seal the deal… lol.
All software settings were made indoors, as well as network adoption. This was ready to plug and play. We now have wifi speeds upwards of 300Mbps inside the coop :O
The girls’ first foray into the run, they are a little apprehensive about all of this freedom.
Goldie, Lemonade, and Penny on the roost bar.
A fourth window was added, and this will house the vent fans for air circulation.
This window used hardware cloth as opposed to chicken wire, as it is closer to the ground.
Another shelf was added in the run to store the girls scratch. The last piece of leftover plywood was perfect for this task.
2lbs of scratch was $7 at the feed store, and 75lbs was $22. Buying in bulk will save us some cash in the long run!
Our painter was bogged down in large jobs for weeks, and carved a day to come and help us out. About 15 gallons later, the coop and run are thoroughly coated. It is amazing how much bare wood can soak up the paint.
With paint finished, it was time to get back to work! Corrugated panels were used to provide a shaded area in the run below. They are sloped to drain to the back wall of the structure.
All four panels up, and ready to mount our solar panels.
A view from below. Labor Day Weekend 2020 saw a high temperature of 116F, feels like 117.5F. This will give the girls an out of the sun area to try to beat the summer heat.
Solar panels are cleaned of dirt and water spots prior to installing back on the roof. RV mounts were used due to their low profile.
Total solar power is 150 watts, one 50 watt and one 100 watt panel. The 50 watt panel has been looking for a home since 2013, after a failed proof of concept for another project. Different colors would normally be a little wrench in the works, but we have to keep telling ourselves it is a chicken coop…
Panel combiner plugs make adding these in parallel easy. Wire staples keep the wires tidy.
No corners are being cut on this one, even though the work seems to keep building.
Wires terminate through a water tight flashing, which for all intent and purpose is overkill for this application. We could have simply passed the wires through the unblocked rafters, but what fun is that?!
All 12 volt wiring is routed into our junction box, which houses the solar controller, battery, WiFi controller for lights, and voltage gauge. The panels were removed for over 24 hours for paint, and the girls were kept in the coop with the lights on for 10 hours, and camera running the entire time. Our battery only dropped 0.1 volts with a full load, which gives us the confidence that we have enough supply and storage for our needs.
Next up, adding a grey water discharge for the sink to a nearby planter. 1.5″ ABS was used, since we had some surplus supplies laying around. This keeps the dirt from becoming mud on dry days.
Our drain running six feet out. We are using biodegradable soap, and have no fear of any kind of contamination in the yard. The volumes of liquid are also very small.
Our original backup water supply was dismantled and water barrels sold to find another home. All of the PVC was saved to salvage for another project yet, and today is the day! All unions were saved to use for the water supply portion of the coop.
Our misters and shade area were designed to work hand in hand: the shade area was designed to allow for a full perimeter of the misting setup. Our goal is to provide evaporative cooling, not to get the girls wet. Time will tell this summer, and we will experiment with our temperature sensor to see if this makes a difference.
Misting system fully stapled and supported.
3/4″ supply line coming in at the top of the run.
1″ electrical conduit clamps are used to mount all PVC piping.
Garden hose supply, and sink spigot mapped out and installed. A ball valve was placed before the misting set up, so the timer can be removed and/or turned off when not needed.
A long day waiting for the delivery, but the misting timer is in! This one allows for as little as 5 seconds on per 1 minute of time, allowing for really granular timing of the misters.
Hooked up and ready to test. Eric’s first measurement of the top connector was a hair long, and it is the cause of the out of plumb look you are seeing. A project for another day…
Our sacrificial hose, which we added a 2 way splitter for the additional line. We still have 60ish feet of garden hose on this side of the yard for watering.
Now that all of the plumbing is done, it felt time to add some shavings to the run. About 2.5 bales (27 cubic feet) were added to the run.
All spread out and ready for the girls to explore, again.
We installed a roosting bar that gets sun and shade in the run, about 18 inches off the ground at the lowest. This will give the girls another option when they are outside.
We have a two tier roost setup inside the coop, with roughly the same height from the floor, 18 inches. A support was set on the floor after a hole was made through the deep bed of shavings.
All set! The girls have two tiers to rest on, and no fear of getting pooped on if they are on a bar.
Not two minutes after the interior door was opened, the flock was inside checking out this new invader of their space. It seems they approve!
It was finally time to trim the tops of our latches off, so they would fit flush with our nesting box lid. Latch one is perfect!
Latch two, not so much. One of the downsides of pushing this project late into the evening a few times: The lid didn’t get cut perfectly square. As such, it was necessary to find a flush place to mount the latch on this side. It is what it is… The important part is that the door cannot be opened while the latches are locked.
Speaking of doors, we installed two of these Sensitive door strips to monitor the coop and run doors. Alerts are sent to our phone upon any change in status, and we can verify the door positions with our Run camera.
Our Outdoor group, which includes sensors for the shed, run, and coop. This is where we can check the switch status in our SmartThings app.
The final piece of the project was to fabricate a fan shroud for the circulation fans. Laying out my measurements on a sheet to start the process.
My sheet metal has been trimmed to size, corners notched for bends, and centerline marked out. Here you can also see the fan height mocked up with a second line running horizontally.
The irony: the last time this radius adapter was used, it was for this project we posted in House Hacks, video on YouTube. What does that mean? The radius was already exactly where it needed to be, as we are using the same brand of 120v fans.
As it turns out, the material grabbed out of the surplus pile was stainless steel. This made a little more sense why there was more difficulty working the material than expected. Holes cut, and the edges were left in the roughed out stage.
The metal brake we have access to is broken, but it can still mange to work some angles. Ready to mount the fans.
Fans mounted in the correct orientation, and clocking to match the power inputs.
The screws were trimmed down, since they are extra long for any number of mounting scenarios.
Installed in the coop! The end is near, finally. Chicken wire was wrapped over the front to help keep curious girls away from the fans.
A view from outside with the trap door open. It will be closed in the cooler months, and between the door and shroud, it should keep cold drafts to a minimum.
What our app for the thermostat looks like on the phone. We now have remote heating and “cooling” for the girls if needed.
Our final task was adding a barrier around the exterior of the coop. We opted for a 1/2″ to 3″ rock blend from a local supplier, and purchased one cubic yard.
A nice thick layer is shaping up around the back of the run. A number of finches had found their way in, and we hope to stop that from happening. These had to be loaded in five gallon buckets to fit in the narrow gap between the run and fence.
We were able to use our wheel barrow to load the rocks around the front of the run.
The last load of material was loaded into our tractor, and will be used for a ramp to the coop door. This freed up Eric’s truck for the weekend, which meant room for more material!
That’s a wrap! This project broke ground on April 10, 2021 and finished June 18, 2021. We are taking bets on which chick lays the first egg.