Chick Inn/Coupe delux build in progress....

[MASTERS]

Masters, does your hutch/house have a floor in it? Buddy of mind suggested 3/4" flat expanded metal for a floor... It has worked great... No poop scraping under the roost! It just drops right through onto the ground... I even put free choice laying pellet feeders and chicken nipple watering system on mine... DANG I wish I'd have made it mobil like that!! Will be following along on this build!

To be honest Charlie I'm worried about the winter wind being tough on them with the expanded metal floor. Not that I've ever has a chicken freeze but I sure don't want the egg pinchers freezing/sticking to the roost in the dead of the winter. Guess I could do that and put down plywood when the northerns start rolling in.....



My original thought was to put down the 5/4 treated corral boards for the floor and make an 18'' flip up door the length of one side of the bottom of the coop and just spray it out every couple of weeks then use it for ventilation in the summer. I plan on the coop being sealed up tight every night with the chickens safe inside.

[MASTERS]

And I thought mine was over-kill! We used 2x4 welded panels on sides and top. Worked for several years, and then a couple weeks ago we started losing hens. Lost 5 out of 8. Dang fox finally found a section above a gate latch that had a 4x4 opening. That has been fixed, and he is on the shoot-on-sight list. I saw him/her several times laying out on my neighbors deck, but the wife wouldn't let me snipe him over there. His days are numbered...

Id use some tie wire and make the opening smaller. As for his days being numbered, a 110 conibear will knock his lights out in an instant!

[kae006]

Wow, that sucker is sweet! Look forward to seeing pics once you get it settled and the inhabitants moved in.

[MASTERS]

I kinda half assed looked at the title, and when I saw construction start I thought we had a deer camp quarters with a blind in the "loft" going on and I about lost it!


Hell of a chicken coup though! Strong work, man!

Thanks Dale, there's no such thing as overbuilt!

[MASTERS]

Looks like he's thought this out a little, guys. I don't reckon he's gonna build a henhouse like that...and not put a floor in it.

hahaha!

[MASTERS]

DIY projects like this make me want to learn how to weld. Is most of the frame work 2" x 2" and 2" x 4" square tubing ? Very impressive, can't wait to see the completed project

Yessir Blake, the majority of it is 2x4'' and 2x2'' 14ga red iron. There is some 1.5x1.5'' 14ga red iron in there as well as some 1.25x1.25'' 16ga tubing used for framing of the windows. the tongue is 2x2'' 3/16'' but I braced it on the backside with the 2x4'' red iron. the lite stuff is good to use but you just have to brace it right to give it the strength it needs or you'll have too much flex and it'll tear out over time. Its balanced surprisingly well with not too much tongue weight ad it'll get even lighter on the tongue when I finish out the coop.

[MASTERS]

That thing looks like a D~Mo build! You sure Dale ain't hiding around there?




Awesome coupe OP!

LOL I used to watch Dales build along's in the early days as a teen just creeping on the green screen. Dales welcome to swing by any time he's in south Texas but he's nowhere in sight now!

[MASTERS]

Chance, This is the only pic I have of one of the feeders and the "nipples"... The feeder is a 5 foot section of 6" pipe with a Tee at the bottom adapted to 3"... used a hole saw to cut the feeding ports... Just used caps on the ends of the Tee runs and a 6" cap on the top of the 6" pipe...


The nipples are mounted to 1/2" PVC and plumbed back to a 55 gallon horizontally mounted barrel. line out the bottom bung of the barrel is plumbed to the nipples (3 mounted outside the chicken house, and 2 on the inside... It gravity feeds from the barrel... Door is one of those automatic doors that opens about sunrise and closes about 20 minutes past sunset...


[ATTACH]100685[/ATTACH]


Sorry OP... didn't mean to hi-jack your thread.

By all means post away! I like the ideas. I've saw those nipple/cups but always wondered how the chickens would take to them....

[MASTERS]

Solid work bud!
I'm in the middle of a similar build right now, but it's on skids.

Feel free to post a pic or two. I built one on skids for my father in law several years back.....

[MASTERS]

Spent too much time in the garden this morning, just barely had time to frame out and hang the door to the run before heading in to work the evening shift.....

[MASTERS]

I am having a chicken tractor built right now, it is an 8 x 10 and 6 1/2 feet tall, I am ordering chicken coop wheels for mine, flip the lever one way and wheels down, the other way and wheels up. The man building it said " my God, you will never get enough eggs to pay for this thing " I told him these were Southlake chickens, they are used to living in fancy houses, lol

We are playing the same tune brother!

[MLAH]

^

[Dale Moser]

To be honest Charlie I'm worried about the winter wind being tough on them with the expanded metal floor. Not that I've ever has a chicken freeze but I sure don't want the egg pinchers freezing/sticking to the roost in the dead of the winter. Guess I could do that and put down plywood when the northerns start rolling in.....



My original thought was to put down the 5/4 treated corral boards for the floor and make an 18'' flip up door the length of one side of the bottom of the coop and just spray it out every couple of weeks then use it for ventilation in the summer. I plan on the coop being sealed up tight every night with the chickens safe inside.

All I know about a chicken is how to cook'em, how to eat'em, and which end the eggs come out. But I think I'd weld some 1"X1"X1/8" angle iron "slides" under the coop, to slide 3/4" plywood under the expanded metal for the big cold fronts.

[SaltwaterSlick]

All I know about a chicken is how to cook'em, how to eat'em, and which end the eggs come out. But I think I'd weld some 1"X1"X1/8" angle iron "slides" under the coop, to slide 3/4" plywood under the expanded metal for the big cold fronts.

Yep, pretty common thing to do too... If you use 1 X 1 angle, you can frame out a floor with 3/4 or 1/2 angle and get away with 1/2" plywood...


However, if this tractor is in South Texas, you probably wouldn't have to use that more than a night or two a year... My wife's "girls" have done very well in their coop for the last 4 years... Laying boxes are on the outside with outside access and they are solid. I used galvanized expanded metal to so the crap wouldn't corrode it so bad. So far, it has held up quite well.... I sprayed my welds with that spray galvanizing cold spray... No rust yet...


You gonna put an automatic door in yours?


This is the one I used and so far, it has performed flawlessly for 4 years (be 5 in October)... Has a small PLC that you program your Lat/Lon and set time and time zone. It calculates sunrise and sunset as it changes throughout the year... The door opens/closes depending on how you set it up with respect to open at X minutes before/after sunrise and Closes at Y minutes before/after sunset... Slicker'n snot on a brass door knob!

https://www.flemingoutdoors.com/hen-house-automatic-chicken-coop-door-advanced.html

[MASTERS]

Yep, pretty common thing to do too... If you use 1 X 1 angle, you can frame out a floor with 3/4 or 1/2 angle and get away with 1/2" plywood...


However, if this tractor is in South Texas, you probably wouldn't have to use that more than a night or two a year... My wife's "girls" have done very well in their coop for the last 4 years... Laying boxes are on the outside with outside access and they are solid. I used galvanized expanded metal to so the crap wouldn't corrode it so bad. So far, it has held up quite well.... I sprayed my welds with that spray galvanizing cold spray... No rust yet...


You gonna put an automatic door in yours?


This is the one I used and so far, it has performed flawlessly for 4 years (be 5 in October)... Has a small PLC that you program your Lat/Lon and set time and time zone. It calculates sunrise and sunset as it changes throughout the year... The door opens/closes depending on how you set it up with respect to open at X minutes before/after sunrise and Closes at Y minutes before/after sunset... Slicker'n snot on a brass door knob!



https://www.flemingoutdoors.com/hen-...-advanced.html

Thanks Charlie, I’m planning on the auto door. My father in law has one just like the link you’ve posted, only problem is they are out of stock right now.

https://chickendoors.com

I was going to give these guys a try as they are a somewhat local Texas company.....