The "Urban Feel" Chicken Coop

So I got Chickens a few weeks ago for my Birthday.  My dad helped me to build the Chicken Coop as his present for me.  He had just done a renovation on his house plus he works other construction jobs, so he rounded up all kinds of supplies to build my coop! It is not only functional but reclaimed materials so I can feel good about my chickens living in a re-purposed coop. 

We started out with the base.  We used 2X6's as the corner posts and a band of 2X4's so we can set the floor onto it.  We also added a band of 2X4's at the top too to set the roof onto but I don't have an explicit picture for that (although you can see it in the second picture). 

Getting Started!

We used 1/2in plywood for the floor, sides and roof.  We made three roof joists with an angle of 22.5 degrees at the peak. 

Taking Shape

Originally I wanted to build the nesting boxes out like most coops I've seen but since the square footage of our coop ended up so large (20 sq feet: 5ft wide and 4ft deep), we decided to build them on the inside.  We added a ply-wood roof so that the will not try to roost on top of the nesting boxes.  We made three of them each about 12 inches deep and 16 inches wide.  The dividers don't go all the way up because we didn't have a piece large enough but also when the chickens are bigger they will not be able to get on them.

Nesting boxes

We used a smaller board for the roost.  It is about 13 inches off of the floor.  I haven't seen the chickens use it yet so we might have to make a ladder for it.

 

The roost

All framed in and ready for the siding

My dad had left over closet cedar lining so we decided to make the coop look real classy with that as the siding. We started in the front and moved to the nesting box side.  We did the front door and the nesting box door separately but they match each of their sides.  We ended up running out of the cedar but Lowe's has some so we bought a few more packs!

Cedar-sided Chicken Coop

We covered the roof with extra ice and snow guard that my dad had from the roof on his house.  This protects the wood from ice creeping up from the edges.  Hopefully it will also keep the coop warmer in the Pittsburgh winters.  Then we shingled it with, you guessed it, extra shingles from his house.  We added the doors with black hinges and bolts.  I even added a little round knob to the nesting box door that I found in my dad's truck! We added two vents to either side of the coop, high enough so that the chickens don't get a breeze while sleeping.  They are just ac/heat vents from Lowe's.  The one is adjustable on the side of the coop that will get the most wind, so I'm hoping that will be a good feature for the winter.  We just fenced in the bottom of the coop with poultry wire.  We dug a trench about 10-12 inches down and laid the wire in there covered it with bricks then the soil on top.  This will hopefully deter any predators from getting in.

All read for Chickens!

The Chickens are in!

For the feeders, we used some extra PVC pipe lying around and strapped it to the corner.  We haven't designed any fancy water system yet but that will come! 

Eating food right away!

My dad calls it the "Urban Feel" coop because he doesn't know that urban means city haha.  I think he meant to say the rustic feel but my sister and I kept teasing him so it has become the "Urban Feel" Style Chicken Coop.

All finished with the run added and some of the chickens checking it out

Here is one extra picture with evidence that my dad was building!

Check back for updates and the addition of the run!

With His Love,

A