I'm looking for some quality control. Hoping someone can tell me if there are glaring issues with this design so far? I'm making it up as I go so any help is appreciated.
#grownostr #chickens
Discussion
No walls.
You are missing diagonal truss members, and bracing.
Looking good! Even if it’s kid size be sure to include a human size door. I regret that every time I have to dive into my chicken tractors with small doors.
I'm sure you've thought of this but I would put trim boards on the front of those nesting boxes to keep the bedding/eggs in.
Nope hadn't thought of that. Thanks a lot.
I put 1/4” hardware mesh around all walls, floor, ceiling to keep rats and snakes out. Not sure what you have to contend with there though.
I try to do the 4’ wide rolls and put trim over all overlaps. We had raccoons pull apart the overlaps with zip ties and claim some chickens in older designs.
Good luck!
Thanks for the tip.
Looks good! Mine seem to like a 1-2” lip on the inside wall of the nesting box. This can be added later of course.
I line the bottoms of chickenish things with a product called Poly Wall, it’s about 1/16th thick plastic with a very slight texture. Cleans easier than sheet vinyl, and is more durable and cheaper.
I would remove the screw for the roosting bar and mount the bar another way. When you put the siding on, it will capture the screw which makes replacement miserable. I’ve removed a lot of roosting bars.. they never seem right and chucking them is often better than cleaning them.
Mrs Jed wants me to build the nesting boxes so that they take paint trays. The hens access the angled part, the egg rolls into an area they can’t reach. They’re easy to clean. She says instagram 🫶 told her it was true, so it must be the only gospel way to do it. 😆
Haha. IG would know.
One of the non-boxed sides should be hinged and latchhooked for easy clean out. Do you have hardware cloth covering the bottom? That keeps rodents skunks and opossum out.
You want to harden the coop for predators while making it easy for you to maintain.
Looks good to me. From what I can see it looks like you have two supports running under your floor. If you plan on getting in there yourself occasionally id try that now and see how it feels. You may want to add some more supports or a leg in the middle to help support the load.
So you've seen me on a scale?
Look for scrap metal roofing for walls. Much lighter if you ever want to move it. Automate the door.
I was hoping to move it alot. It is getting pretty heavy though
Wouldn’t be too hard to put wheels on one end
That's the plan. Been trying to brainstorm a clever technique
Simplest way would be some chonky caster wheels, they make some that I’d give a go off pavement. Alternatively, piece of iron pipe and a couple of those solid rubber wheel barrow wheels and some U-bolts
Your friend has shared a link to a Home Depot product they think you would be interested in seeing.
Fixed version if you wanna make it 4wp (four wheel push)
Your friend has shared a link to a Home Depot product they think you would be interested in seeing.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/POWERTEC-8-in-Fixed-Heavy-Duty-Industrial-Caster-17053/307273942
Here is everything you need to automate your door.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G8I7HVC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NM8H5SM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B165XZS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XPSKRVL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B0XIIGE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BWFJY6C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Here is a suggestion for you as I have built 4 coups. Raise the floor & put the nesting boxes under the coup. You will use less materials & make the nesting boxes a lot easier to build. I can take a video of what I mean if you want. The eggs stay a lot cleaner this way!!!
Not quite following. That are already built but I would be interested in what you are talking about.
