My Chicken Coop Build (The Fluffy Butt Hut)

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I'm going to see how a build thread plays out as I've never done one before. I have a couple threads in Rural Living asking for help and ideas. This is the result of a few questions answered and ideas floating around in my head.

My family and I moved on to about a dozen acres last summer. Sold the house and bought a used mobile home to stay in until material prices go down... That's a whole other story, stuff is still expensive! We aren't really city slickers, but also haven't had our own land until now so, we are wide eyed and quickly trying to start all the little projects and hobbies that we have been thinking about for so long.

We got a few chickens and ducks in the early spring, almost as soon as the chicks became available around us. The picture below was after a week or two. 4 ducks and 14 chickens, one of each died. Chicken got the crusty butt and not sure why on the duck. He was fine the night before and dead the next morning.

I built the duck house first so they could be separated. (It's the little one).

Then I started dreading building the chicken coop. I had no idea how to start but found this. Too expensive and small to buy so I decided to build something like it.

More to follow.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

This is the first project I can remember that I did not have enough of an idea to sketch it up before building. So I finally quit procrastinating and just blindly bought some lumber.

Did some quick measurements on the temporary pen I had them in and decided that a little more than double should be a good enough size. So I started with a 6' by 8' floor.

Wire mesh sounds good enough for the floor. Maybe the poop will go through?

Now some legs to hold it up. How tall should I make it? No idea, about this tall should work?

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Again, no plan, just started putting some pieces of wood together to get an idea of what the gable end should look like.

Seems ok. I'll go with that and make the other end.

This spacing should work for nesting boxes, and wall construction.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Finished the other side with just 2 nesting boxes and a larger open area. Also decided on a roof line. Yep a little bit of random bracing, not that professional, I know.

Around here is when I noticed my first oops... Remember that I didn't draw this out first. I was not forward thinking enough and made it 8'3" long, this board should have been on the inside... Sheet goods are only 8' long that is going to bite me.

I decided wood is getting a bit expensive. So I cut the cost in half, so to speak.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Test fit some window openings and a roost with a ramp.

Windows and roost are installed. Inspection is being performed.

Inspection passed.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Intermission for garden tilling. It has been really wet this spring and there was finally a break long enough to till. Still a little wet for my liking but it worked. Poor goose wanted to help so bad. At the old place he would be beside me the whole time while I tilled with the walk behind. He would dig so long and hard he would have a hard time walking after it was over.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Break is over, back to work. Starting to put a little skin on now. I opted for Hardy (cement) board. It's intended for outdoor siding and to be overlapped at the joints. I just butted it up for a smoother look. It won't be perfectly water tight, but the windows are made of wire mesh anyway so I'm not worried about that. Price was just a little higher than plywood siding. But this will last forever and the long wall is 8'3" and the Hardy board is 12" x 12' so it will cover the whole length.

Oops number 2. One of my door openings is not square. Not to worry, I just made the door a bit more "custom"

This is how I'll get the eggs:

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

One more look at the interior before it is forever soiled. It looks like a miniature horse barn to me.

A little paint and the beginning of the trim.

A little more trim and the rest of the decking back on.

Automatic door installed:

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Completed Fluffy Butt Hut.

Chickens are very happy. I do need to find a better ridge cap. The only one I could find was made out of aluminum foil I think. It looks bad.

It's not perfect and I'm sure there are better ways to do it. But, I'm happy with how it turned out for the most part.

 

[nybirdman]

Looks good;from someone who has raised birds for 35+years;put an Electric fence up around it(mine is 120v with a dusk and dawn timer).Keeps the nite "critters" away but safe for kids and dogs during the day.

 

[npalen]

Does this ever bring back memories of growing up on the farm back in the 1950's! Had to feed and water the chickens every day, which was bad enough, but cleaning out the chicken house, ugh! Seems like Dad always reserved that for a hot muggy smelly summer morning after a rain that kept us out of the fieldwork.

I still have dreams to this day, seventy years later, of forgetting to feed the chickens, close the chicken house at night etc.

 

[Bearsixty7]

Completed Fluffy Butt Hut.

Chickens are very happy. I do need to find a better ridge cap. The only one I could find was made out of aluminum foil I think. It looks bad.

It's not perfect and I'm sure there are better ways to do it. But, I'm happy with how it turned out for the most part.

View attachment 747327

So now that it's been a couple years, how satisfied with it are you? Any changes you would make if starting today?
We bought a small cheap (relatively) years ago but now the wife has 10 more chicks we have to make room for and none of the prebuilt today seem worth the money or even half of their price, so going to build our own.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

It was perfect for the size flock we had. Since then we have added birds and it's a bit small. We have not had problems with snakes on this one, I assume it's because the floor is very elevated.

Overall we have been very happy with it. No rot, still as solid as the day I built it. The automatic door is amazing, I will never be without one. If it was just a rectangle and not old barn shaped you could fit another full length roosting board so double the birds could roost at night on the same footprint. But then it would look totally different. I guess you could widen the high portion and have the same shape but then your footprint would be wider. I never did change the ridge cap. It seems fine now, guess I was a little hyper critical.

 

[Bearsixty7]

It was perfect for the size flock we had. Since then we have added birds and it's a bit small. We have not had problems with snakes on this one, I assume it's because the floor is very elevated.

Overall we have been very happy with it. No rot, still as solid as the day I built it. The automatic door is amazing, I will never be without one. If it was just a rectangle and not old barn shaped you could fit another full length roosting board so double the birds could roost at night on the same footprint. But then it would look totally different. I guess you could widen the high portion and have the same shape but then your footprint would be wider. I never did change the ridge cap. It seems fine now, guess I was a little hyper critical.

We have this one we bought about 5 years ago on sale for 150 or so. Wife and son wanted to have some chickens and so it was cheap and easy (My son actually assembled it) to start with and see how long their "interest" held (My son was done with them in a few months, no surprise!).
It only took a couple weeks to decide we needed an automatic door so I added one of those on the house part. We leave the run open and they "free range " on the back of our fenced in acre.
It still works for the 3 hens we have. The roof over the "run" rotted last year and a neighbor had discarded some barn tin so I got it for free and redid that portion of the roof.
But the wife wanted more chicks and got 10 free from the elementary school that a class hatched out so we need a place for them.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

One similar to that is what I based the shape and style of mine on. Just scaled WAY up.