What makes a chicken coop easy to live with?

[Kenilchick]

Now the weather has improved we have been 'ignoring the kids' and working on the chickens fancy new home. Been busy and here are some (quite alot progress photos.....

 

 

Getting started on leveling the sleepers (last Sunday afternoon)

 

 

Everyone wants to help!(there were lots of worms )

 

 

Had to shift what seemed like loads of soil to the bottom of the garden to level everything out

 

 

Layer of MOT followed by sharp sand

 

 

Slabs down - a mixture of 600 square (ones we already had) and 400 square (new ones from B&Q)

 

 

First 4 foot panel made

 

 

More & more panels - but had to give up tonight after 9 x 4 foot panels assembled (well we did have to feed the kids )

 

Hope to get the remaining ones done before next weekend when we'll put it all together.

 

So - we're getting there - can't wait to see it all come together.

Edited April 25, 2010 by Guest

[Lewis]

Lots of hard work!

 

Looks good

[Janty]

Looks great so far...really sturdy panels.

 

[Ain't Nobody Here]

It all looks very professional . It's going to look fabulous .

 

Keep those photos coming .

[Space Chick]

Can't wait to see the continued progress, well done on what you have achieved so far

[ClaireG]

Looks great

[Plum]

Well done, It's looking good. How come your garden doesn't look like steptoe's yard while you are working.

[Kenilchick]

You should see what's just out of view of the camera

Plus I am chief - advisor, helper, runner, refreshment provider and.... tidier upper.

[atsw]

Fantastic series of photo's, I love the one where the chickens are 'helping'. Mine did exactly the same to me when I was building my run .

 

Keep the photo's coming, it helps those contemplating building a WIR to understand what's involved at each stage (and to see that, while it certainly involves lots of hard work as you've shown, it is also quite straightforward once you get going). Best of luck, and fingers crossed for good weather this coming weekend .

 

Andrew

[Kenilchick]

Sorry - LOTS more photos but I know how I liked to check out all the WIR's when I was planning this one

 

After this weekend we''re getting there - but really not looking forward to doing the roof .

Here goes..

 

All the panels built and ready for weldmesh. We haven't put in a cross bar half-way up but they seem sturdy enough. We've used decking board at the bottom.

Bought 3 foot and 4 foot wide weldmesh (1" x 1/2") from Hills of Devon (after seeing info on forum )

This took along time but eventually - lots of staples later....

and

 

Now the enjoyable bit of putting the panels together...

 

We are now sorting out the panel to the right of the door for the eglu which is going on the outside but we need to raise it up above the kickboard.

Have bought green onduline from Wickes for roof but haven't quite worked out how we're going to put it in yet

 

Watch this space - unfortunately we're away next weekend so won't be finished for a while yet.

 

The chickens are keeping a close eye on us to make sure we're meeting their very strict brief...

[Lewis]

Looks great

 

Really well made too

Chucks will love it !

[Plum]

Looks really good Lot of hard work gone in to that.

[veggiemad]

wow- it all looks fab , and i'm pleased to find another warwickshire omleteer!! Good luck with the roof- pick a good weather day!

[captaincollins]

Hi,

 

That looks amazing!

[susanb]

Hello....we have been inspired ...thanks for your photos. My OH asks: "what type of wood did you use, is it something like pressure treated timber?", "where did you get the wood from?" and also "how did you cut the weld mesh?" Hope you can answer....thanks!!

[enpekt]

Very impressive!

I like the idea of having more viewing area, and the rigid weldmesh will keep nice and flat.

The rolled-up mesh twists and sags, so yours will be really neat!

Well done!

 

To give the roof support and drain-off, I used 6" gravelboard cut into long wedges, although our run is only 6' wide, so you might not get enough height.

 

The chooks will love the space, and the slabs will be so easy to keep clean.

Buy a s"Ooops, word censored!"er, like a broom but with a 6" wide blade, works a treat!

Edited May 4, 2010 by Guest

[DonnaS]

Wow - really impressed - and as one who's recently been paving and just putting together already made WIR panels, I must say I am very impressed that you are building from scratch! Just screwing the panels together is hard work - never mind making them to begin with!

 

You are putting my very slow progress to shame. I look forward to seeing the finished pics. Mine is modelled on atsw's - so you can compare our pictures when I'm finally done!

 

Our ex-batts will be arriving on 23 May! One more weekend and we should be ready for them!

 

Cheers.

[Kenilchick]

Hello again,

Sorry we've been away for the bank holiday weekend (Madrid - sunshine, no cooking and no kids.... HEAVEN ) so haven't got any progress to report - hopefully next weekend we'll get started on the roof . DH wants the challenge of building an 'apex' roof but has never done one before. I just want a roof ASAP....

 

Thanks for all your comments. I love this forum - it inspired me to get chickens although my 'non-chicken loving friends' think it's hilarious there is such a thing as a 'chicken forum'

 

Hi Susanb - I'm happy to answer any questions .

yes we used 47 x 50 mm pressure treated timber. Got it from our local Building and Plumbing Supplies (BPS) in 3.6M lengths (bought 35 @ £2.54 each- don't know if that's good or bad ) and brought them home on the S-max roof rack (very carefully ). We bought the sleepers from there last year to make a dedicated area for the eglu and run.

The weldmesh came from Hills of Devon (3ft and 4ft widths). It arrives on a roll and having assembled a panel (which was made to be slightly wider than the mesh by 1 inch to minimise any cutting), we clamped the top in place on the panel and then cut across the width using 'tinsnips' - my hubby has some really old ones he inherited somewhere!. Think you can buy them for about £12 from screwfix though. Make sure you're wearing gloves when handling the weldmesh!!!! The mesh came on a roll and you have to be careful to unroll it somewhere flat or you get bends and kinks in it (as we found out - hence some of the panels look better than others). Just waiting for kids to kick the football into it to see what that does to it!! The first panel was fiddly but we soon got into a routine. Can't wait to carry on but have to wait till the weekend now

 

DonnaS - good luck with finishing your run. Looking forward to seeing your new chickens in your lovely new run .

[susanb]

thanks for info! I expect you will be putting your roof on this weekend - so I will keep watching for new photos! I think you got a very good proce on your timber.....have been looking around and have not found anything that good.

 

Another quick question - is your weld mesh the 1.0mm or the 1.6mm thick ..... and are you happy with what you got?

 

Have a good weekend!