Plans for a chicken coop?

[Balog]

My wife and I will be adding chickens to our animal repetoire soon, and I'm getting ready to build a coop for them. I have: rudimentary woodworking skills, friends who are willing and able to help out, access to a full wood shop and tools (including nail gun) through work, a big ole pile of wolfordized (is that how you spell it? The fancy pressure treated stuff) 4"x4"x8' lumber, and a burning hatred of carpentry. I loathe it, and if it was practical I'd weld the damn thing up instead.

So, I'm looking for some basic, easy to follow plans for a coop large enough to hold 4-5 chickens, ideally modular for future expansion, that will withstand the cold and damp PNW weather. Anyone have any advice?

[GigaBuist]

The world you were looking for: Wolmanized.

And that completed my entire working knowledge of carpentry.  I have nothing left to offer.

[never_retreat]

Here you go.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=www.freechickencoopplans.com%2F

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

how many birds?  with or without a hoa?  i've seen real nice instant coops made from truck caps  and they are moble so you can spread the manure goodness around

[Balog]

Here you go.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=www.freechickencoopplans.com%2F

Yeah, thanks for the unhelpful smart assery. I know I can just google it and come up with a metric crap ton of sites of dubious value. I'm asking people who actually know what the hell those plans represent what is a good idea and what is not.

how many birds?  with or without a hoa?  i've seen real nice instant coops made from truck caps  and they are moble so you can spread the manure goodness around

See OP for first question, 4-5 ideally with modularity for more. I'm not sure about the HOA. I was told when buying the place that there was not one, but then some random lady from down the street came to the door and said she was HOA president. But that there were no dues or obligations placed on the community. I dunno if she's a crazy lady with delusions of importance, or if there is some sort of stealth HOA I don't know about that doesn't actually seem to do anything.

[never_retreat]

Yeah, thanks for the unhelpful smart assery. I know I can just google it and come up with a metric crap ton of sites of dubious value. I'm asking people who actually know what the hell those plans represent what is a good idea and what is not.

I was trying to be funny, but also that first site on the list had some nice plans.
You could also try looking at some of the pre-fab ones they sell. Same Amish that make sheds usually make coops also.

[Balog]

I was trying to be funny, but also that first site on the list had some nice plans.
You could also try looking at some of the pre-fab ones they sell. Same Amish that make sheds usually make coops also.

Sorry, probably snappy of me, and I didn't fully specify that I was looking for help evaluating what is out there in light of my own inability to discern quality from crap.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

you find an old truck cap on free cycle or a junkyard.  best is one on the small truck ones with the extra high bulge at the rear.  you mount a shelf at that end for nesting boxes.  if you wanna drag it around yard like a chicken tractor build a rectangular 2 x6 frame to mount it to with the long pieces beveled to act as skids.  you open the tailgate to let em out during the day.  put a light in it at sundown and they will return to it to roost and you can lock em up for the night. i used one that had sliding glass windows on the side and i fastened heavy wire mesh over them  leave em open for ventilation in summer  close em in the winter.

[GigaBuist]

you find an old truck cap on free cycle or a junkyard.  best is one on the small truck ones with the extra high bulge at the rear.  you mount a shelf at that end for nesting boxes.  if you wanna drag it around yard like a chicken tractor build a rectangular 2 x6 frame to mount it to with the long pieces beveled to act as skids.  you open the tailgate to let em out during the day.  put a light in it at sundown and they will return to it to roost and you can lock em up for the night. i used one that had sliding glass windows on the side and i fastened heavy wire mesh over them  leave em open for ventilation in summer  close em in the winter.

Interesting.  I wonder if that'd work in Michigan winters.

[Balog]

Wait, I'll confused. What would the truck cap be mounted on? You mention lowering the tailgate... do you mean getting a truck bed with the cap mounted on it?

[41magsnub]

I think he means the rear hatch on the topper.

[Balog]

So would it just be sitting at or near ground level? Seems like that would be difficuto clean...

[GigaBuist]

So would it just be sitting at or near ground level? Seems like that would be difficuto clean...

Just flip it upside down or lean it up against the house and spray it out.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

I think he means the rear hatch on the topper.

 

yup

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Interesting.  I wonder if that'd work in Michigan winters.

  you'd be surprised how much heat some birds generate in a small place  i put a 100 watt  bulb in my coop with a thermostat on the plug  kicks in at 45 degrees.  up north i'd make a better insulated box   the trick is making it just big enough and keeping the wind and elements out.  and i lock mine in at nite  close the door.  i worry more down here about over heating the birds in summer

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

So would it just be sitting at or near ground level? Seems like that would be difficuto clean...

what it this clean you speak of?
its open to the ground on the bottom
 i just move it from place to place in yard  it keeps the manure spread out and they spread it more scratching.  i flip it over once or twice a year and power wash it

[roo_ster]

CSD's chicken coop savvy is manifest to all.  I almost want to buy some now.

If you still want to build out of wood, here are some mods to make your coop nearly as poultry-rific as CSD's truck cap deal:
1.No bottom.
2. Strong wheels on the bottom at one end that only touch the ground when you lever the coop up ant an angle to the ground.
3. For modularity, build an extra-long frame in contact with the ground, kinda like a side-saddle chicken rickshaw.  Want more chickens?  Builds another coop or knock out the wall and tack it on to teh existing structure.  Long frame/lever also makes moving it easier.

[zxcvbob]

For just that many birds, search for "chicken tractors". 
You may want to get some foil-backed insulating foam (etc) to make a cover for the winter.

[roo_ster]

For just that many birds, search for "chicken tractors". 
You may want to get some foil-backed insulating foam (etc) to make a cover for the winter.

WTH?!?!  It is never a good idea to let a chicken drive!  On road or off.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

chicken tractor  pull it right down the garden rows

http://fredericksburg.craigslist.org/grd/2489126817.html

[lupinus]

Everything you need to know-

How To Raise Chickens

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

i don't clip my birds wings. i like em to be abkle to fly in case they need to get away from a critter

[GigaBuist]

  you'd be surprised how much heat some birds generate in a small place

I worked two summers in a 170 yard long chicken barn populated by 100,000 birds.  I am more than aware of how much heat those things can produce.

I suggested the pickup topper idea to my wife, as she's thought about raising chickens before, but it was shot down because she doesn't want the yard looking like trash.  She might have married the wrong dude.  If you'd ever seen my yard, you'd know.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

i need to take picture of my yard  my neighbor has an excavating company  when he moved in he was so concerned. "i've got some privacy fencing i'll put up"  i laughed and told him he can park next to the fence and hang the buckets over the fence for all i care.

[Tallpine]

When we first got chickens we started them out in a large doghouse. 

A couple cleats and a 2x4 served for a roost, and we built a freestanding single nextbox.  We still use it for a "brood house".

We built a 6x8 plywood shed for a coop.  It has a floor so it is predator proof (short of a bear).  Framed it mostly like a house except one wall a foot taller than the other three to support a shed roof.  The roof has only a couple inches overhang, and the siding runs from the bottom of the joists up to the top of the rafters to hold everything together solid (I wanted to be able to load it on a trailer and move it) and seal everything up tight (no need for "bird stops" between rafters).

I made guillotine style chicken door and hardware cloth vents by cutting the outside opening smaller than the gap between the studs, and then putting a cleat on each adjoining stud to provide a channel for the door/shutter to slide in.

The windows (non-opening) I built similar: just cut the siding about 3/4" smaller than the framed opening, set in the glass, and tacked stops on the inside.

The main door I built myself out of OSB and 2x4 flat rim & brace.