Black wallnut
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When we purchased our house one of the reasons for buying outside of the city limits was so we could hobby farm. This year i finally spent the money to build a chicken coop. If you've ever had farm fresh eggs or home raised chicken meat you'll know why we wanted to do this. It is really not cost effective that is to say it is not a way to get lower cost food but it is a great way to get better tasting food. Some will even claim that it is more healthy but I'm not one of those. I decided to build my coop into the last stall of my equipment shed, or on the opposite end from the wood shop. When we purchased the property the previous owners had finished half the roof on the equipment shed with a roof under layment and steel roofing. First I need to finish the back half and went two sheets wide on the under-layment of 7/16 OSB then 30# felt and steel roofing in 3' wide panels. Next came the floor framing. There was already a floor about 8' wide in along the back wall of the equipment shed; I think at one time it was used to store feed and it actually had a livestock feeder when we bought the place. I had long since torn that out btw. I built the floor framing and decked it with 3/4" CDX plywood. Next was framing and since neither of the two walls were load bearing I went with 2' centers. It stayed in this stage for a few weeks.
One of our local feed stores was having "free chick day" yesterday which turned out to be all the inspiration I needed to finish the coop. Just had to run a bit of electrical cable, wire in outlets and a light. Then hang the wall sheathing. 50' of 12/2 that had to be purchased plus what I had left from the shop re-wire from several years ago, three 20 amp outlets, a few boxes and wire nuts later and I was done.
After taking Thomas to an Easter egg hunt yesterday morning we went to the feed store and picked up the rest of what we needed and the chicks. The deal was buy a bag of chick starter and get 10 chicks free, which compared to ordering chicks online is a can't pass up type of bargain. We get the chicks home and move them into a lager box while I finished the electrical then off to the lumber store to pick up the plywood to finish. Yesterday I finished the walls and screened off 8 sq. feet for ventilation, will add more later. Moved the chicks into their permanent home last night. This morning finished up the walls above the header, not 100% done but close enough that I feel the chicks will be safe and be able to stay warm. I still have some windows to make and install as well as a cupola for improved ventilation.
Guess it is time for a few pics: coming soon, guess I need to shrink them...
Oh yeah in one pic the darker plywood is stuff I'm re-purposing from what had been in place in that stall of the shed.
One of our local feed stores was having "free chick day" yesterday which turned out to be all the inspiration I needed to finish the coop. Just had to run a bit of electrical cable, wire in outlets and a light. Then hang the wall sheathing. 50' of 12/2 that had to be purchased plus what I had left from the shop re-wire from several years ago, three 20 amp outlets, a few boxes and wire nuts later and I was done.
After taking Thomas to an Easter egg hunt yesterday morning we went to the feed store and picked up the rest of what we needed and the chicks. The deal was buy a bag of chick starter and get 10 chicks free, which compared to ordering chicks online is a can't pass up type of bargain. We get the chicks home and move them into a lager box while I finished the electrical then off to the lumber store to pick up the plywood to finish. Yesterday I finished the walls and screened off 8 sq. feet for ventilation, will add more later. Moved the chicks into their permanent home last night. This morning finished up the walls above the header, not 100% done but close enough that I feel the chicks will be safe and be able to stay warm. I still have some windows to make and install as well as a cupola for improved ventilation.
Guess it is time for a few pics: coming soon, guess I need to shrink them...
Oh yeah in one pic the darker plywood is stuff I'm re-purposing from what had been in place in that stall of the shed.
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