New Chicken Coop, Phase 5

Well, it's just about finished.  You can even see the beginnings of the chicken run behind the first picture.  I have all of the posts hammered into the ground, I just need to get wire to attach the fence, and a lighter weight chicken wire for the roof of the run. 

 

Thanks again to Chris for the help today.  We made some great progress.

 

So, as you can see from the first couple pictures, the board and batten siding is nearly complete.  I have to remove the shutters on the back of the coop (the side that looks like the front), and then I will be able to complete the finish work.

 

Technically this is the back of the coop, but who's checking...

On the far side of the coop there are still some very tedious cuts to be made for the trim work on the upper portion (pictured below).  Then I will be able to finish the battens on that portion and the side will be complete.  I have just a couple pieces to add to the bird doors and they can be mounted.  I also need to build the ramps.

Front - The three bird doors you see are just boarded up because I don't have the hinges for them, and I didn't have time to finish them anyway.  They will have a little framing added to them and will look similar to the main door (pictured above).

Inside the coop there is little left.  I managed to get a very thick layer of sawdust down for them, as well as straw in the layer boxes.  I still need to staple a small piece of chicken wire to the eve created by the roof extension so the chickens don't fill it with droppings. 



Inside the coop - The layer boxes

Inside the coop - The roosts.

The chickens have already been moved in! Elaine and I spent two grueling hours carrying 30 chickens and 2 roosters, that were VERY reluctant to move, two-by-two to the new coop. It was actually a lot of fun, and even Elaine thought so!






















Hopefully tomorrow I will find the time to finish the chicken run.  I want to let them out of the coop, but I'm affraid that they will not head back into the coop for the night when the sun goes down.  The chicken run won't allow them much of a choice. 

Thanks for reading,
-Jay