# Coop Build



## Don England (Aug 19, 2019)

I start this coop a few months back, but it is still a work in progress.

View media item 2664Here is the roost area. I put down sheet vinyl to help with the clean up.

View media item 2668Here is the nesting boxes with a brooder above, still need to put sheet vinyl in the brooder.

View media item 2666This is the entrance into the coop from the storage area. You will also notice the clean out door and the water line for the automatic waterer.

View media item 2672We had just dropped the tree next to the coop and I am starting on building the pullet run. The run that you see is a temporary run until I build the new main run. As you can see the cut out area, which is the roost area in the coop.

View media item 2670This is the pullet run finally built with the new chick in it. The main run will be of the same design.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Looking really really good. 

I hate to do this to you though. For some reason the girls will all choose the same nest to lay their eggs. You might have to take a couple of dividers out after they make up their minds.


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## TomC (Apr 9, 2020)

Darn! For some reason, I'm not seeing the pics.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Try refreshing the screen. Sometimes they just don't show. I'm not sure if that's one of the gremlins the forum has been having or what. 

I've also closed the topic and come back later and find them there.


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## TomC (Apr 9, 2020)

Didn't help. The picture caption is highlighted in blue, but not underlined. When I click on it, I get this: 
*Chicken Forum - Your Online Chicken Resource and Community - Error*
You do not have permission to view media within this album.


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## Don England (Aug 19, 2019)

TomC said:


> Didn't help. The picture caption is highlighted in blue, but not underlined. When I click on it, I get this:
> *Chicken Forum - Your Online Chicken Resource and Community - Error*
> You do not have permission to view media within this album.


For some reason when I posted the pictures I didn't have the photo permissions set to allow viewing. Try it now you should be able to see them.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I hope that's the solution. I don't know what's going on but the forum seems to be buggy suddenly the past month. My guess it has to do with what is going on in the country with so many away from work.


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## Don England (Aug 19, 2019)

robin416 said:


> Looking really really good.
> 
> I hate to do this to you though. For some reason the girls will all choose the same nest to lay their eggs. You might have to take a couple of dividers out after they make up their minds.


Actually they use all of the boxes but top right one. And it is weird, I have two that no longer lay but they get up there every so often like they are still laying. Maybe later they will start laying in the same box but right now they have not picked any specific box yet.


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## TomC (Apr 9, 2020)

Thanks, Much Better. Really nice looking coop. I like the idea of the built in brooding boxes above the nests for the future, but I am NOT going to be doing any brooding anytime soon. Did you insulate the coop? I'm wanting to pipe in water also, but haven't figured out how to keep it from freezing yet. I don't want to heat the entire coop and I'm afraid that heat tape would eventually get pecked at.


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## Don England (Aug 19, 2019)

Yes I did insulate it and I will be putting in an air conditioner soon. Here we don't have too cold of a winter but the summers are HOT! Here is the panhandle of Florida. And once I have built the covered area between the shed and coop, I am putting in a forge. The flue for the forge, I am going to coil copper pipe around it and pipe into the coop and shed for heating. I am also thinking of possibly installing a climate battery for both heating and cooling.

I would recommend doing some research on climate batteries. I am looking at installing one for the house too.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Don England said:


> Actually they use all of the boxes but top right one. And it is weird, I have two that no longer lay but they get up there every so often like they are still laying. Maybe later they will start laying in the same box but right now they have not picked any specific box yet.


You're birds are weird. All of the complaints anyone has ever had is why were their birds all using the same nest box when there were others available?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Don, we don't get cold enough down here to need heat for the birds. It's only a concern when temps are in the zero degree area. I've only had to break ice in my waterers a couple of times.

Remember, they have a winter coat year round.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Tom, I can't help you with the water issue much. When I was still living further North I had a laundry tub that I ran the hose to. I could clean and fill waterers in there year round. No insulation. I drained the hose after getting done and disconnected until next time.

One thing I did do was fill multiple waterers and store them upside down in a bin. If the waterers froze, I could pull the others out and replace with the unfrozen ones. That was somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 waterers. But I did not as cold as you for the most part for long periods of time.


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## Don England (Aug 19, 2019)

robin416 said:


> Don, we don't get cold enough down here to need heat for the birds. It's only a concern when temps are in the zero degree area. I've only had to break ice in my waterers a couple of times.
> 
> Remember, they have a winter coat year round.


Last summer the heat was brutal down here and was brutal on them. That is why I am putting in the AC. And as far as the heat, last winter when it got down into the 20's they were almost standing on each other, huddled up, until I put a heat lamp out there. My birds are weird, or overly spoiled.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I get the AC but not the heat.

There is an issue too of letting them out when they've been in a climate controlled area. The difference in temps is a shock to their systems and may make things more difficult for them.

How old were your birds last year? Less than a year old? They say fully feathered is enough for chicks. I've found that not to be true. They are still developing their ability to regulate their body temps even when fully feathered at less than two months old.


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## Don England (Aug 19, 2019)

robin416 said:


> I get the AC but not the heat.
> 
> There is an issue too of letting them out when they've been in a climate controlled area. The difference in temps is a shock to their systems and may make things more difficult for them.
> 
> How old were your birds last year? Less than a year old? They say fully feathered is enough for chicks. I've found that not to be true. They are still developing their ability to regulate their body temps even when fully feathered at less than two months old.


One is about 8 years old, one about 4 years old, three that are about 2 years old and the other 3 three are right a 1 year.

I understand the shock on their system. I am going to keep the coop right at or a little bit cool than what the temperature is in the shade. But once I can figure out where and how to put in the climate battery I shouldn't even need the AC. Right now the coop is out in the sun until I get new fruit trees planted so it is hot in there in the evening.


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## TomC (Apr 9, 2020)

I've never heard of a climate battery, sounds interesting, I'll have to read about it. I'm kind of torn on insulating. During the coldest part of the year it usually stays in the 20's to 30's. We do have cold snaps when the temperature drop to 0 or a bit below, but that normally only lasts a day or two. I haven't seen a long, week or so, cold snap in several years, but it can happen. I am thinking that during normal times they should do fine, then maybe put out a couple of heat lamps during cold snaps. I'm also thinking about putting plywood on the inside, just to make cleaning easier, not so many nooks and crannies. So, I may insulate when I do that, it really wouldn't take much. But, I will do that a bit later, I'm kind of in a crunch right now and need to get the shell finished before I put all the finishing touches on. However, I am trying to design and build things so that those touches will be easier to do later.


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## Don England (Aug 19, 2019)

TomC said:


> I've never heard of a climate battery, sounds interesting, I'll have to read about it. I'm kind of torn on insulating. During the coldest part of the year it usually stays in the 20's to 30's. We do have cold snaps when the temperature drop to 0 or a bit below, but that normally only lasts a day or two. I haven't seen a long, week or so, cold snap in several years, but it can happen. I am thinking that during normal times they should do fine, then maybe put out a couple of heat lamps during cold snaps. I'm also thinking about putting plywood on the inside, just to make cleaning easier, not so many nooks and crannies. So, I may insulate when I do that, it really wouldn't take much. But, I will do that a bit later, I'm kind of in a crunch right now and need to get the shell finished before I put all the finishing touches on. However, I am trying to design and build things so that those touches will be easier to do later.


Basically a climate battery is similar to geothermal but just uses air instead of a fluid. Bury 4" corrogated pipe three or more feet deep with a single slit on the bottom for condensation to drain. Have a fan circulating the air through it back into the coop.
I would not put insulation in until you have the plywood available to put up. They will tear the insulation out of the walls if exposed. I had a friend that happened to, they had every bit of it tore out in one day.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

How are you ventilating out the moisture the birds put out? That's the most dangerous thing to birds in the northern climate when it's cold and all that moisture build up increases the chances of frostbite.


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## Don England (Aug 19, 2019)

robin416 said:


> How are you ventilating out the moisture the birds put out? That's the most dangerous thing to birds in the northern climate when it's cold and all that moisture build up increases the chances of frostbite.


That is where the single slit on the corrogated pipe comes in. Because of the temperature difference the moisture in the air condensates on the side of the pipe and then drains to slit and goes into the ground. It is best to have gravel under the pipe to aid in the drainage. This process should keep the humidity around 40-50%, which should be the perfect range.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

Don England said:


> Basically a climate battery is similar to geothermal but just uses air instead of a fluid. Bury 4" corrogated pipe three or more feet deep with a single slit on the bottom for condensation to drain. Have a fan circulating the air through it back into the coop.
> I would not put insulation in until you have the plywood available to put up. They will tear the insulation out of the walls if exposed. I had a friend that happened to, they had every bit of it tore out in one day.


So...let me see if I understand this, basically what you are putting in is a large, maybe fancier version of a swamp cooler?


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