Friday, July 27, 2012

New Roof for Coop - almost


We’re making headway on the new roof for the chicken coop.  After the disaster two weeks ago, we haven’t thought about much else, except making sure we never have to come across a scene like that ever again. 
Last weekend we cleaned out the bottom of the coop, added it to the garden for compost, and locked all the chickens in the actual coop itself.  Since the new flock needed to realize this would be their new home and needed an extended stay, of at least a week anyway, it worked out fine. 

If you didn't know, chickens will come "home to roost", but only after they know where the roost is.  You need to sequester them for about a week in the area you want them to come home and sleep at night, and they'll keep coming back.  
We did have some other predators chewing through the roof, and the actual chicken wire itself.  Creepy to continue to see new holes, so we were glad we locked them all in and shored things up a bit overhead.  
Speaking of predators, I heard a coyote howling off in the distance this past week.  Yeah for us, now there's something else for me to worry about.  We'll be making sure the bottom of the coop is in good order.

In what little free time we have, we got a head start on this Saturday’s project to finish the roof.  We were able to put in some posts last weekend, and during this week, we picked up some additional materials, and framed out the roof.  Now, understand the coop is not square, and not level.  We did the best we could at the time, and were not concerned with perfectly square corners.  So we had to do some finagling to get it framed out.

Now we’re ready for the actual roof itself.  We decided to use 8’ and 12’ galvanized metal sheets.  We need a roof option that didn’t break the bank.  We’re going to staple the existing chicken wire and shade cloth the underside of the new roof, just because it’s easier than removing it. 

We’ll also be letting the new chickens out of the coop to explore their new surroundings and take a dust bath or two.  We'll all need one, after dealing with the heat that is expected.  Index to reach around 105 degrees.  What luck..  More updates and photos later this weekend.

5 comments:

  1. You probably know this already and I don't know what kind of predators you have there but if you have raccoon's they can rip right through chicken wire. The other trick they use is they will reach through fencing wire, wiggle their fingers to attract a chicken then grab it and try to pull it through the wire. Needless to say this is not good for the chicken. I lost two that way a long time ago. I use 2x4 welded wire and cover that with chicken wire the bottom two feet or so. I also bring the 2x4 wire at least 18 inches to 2 feet down past the bottom of the run and bend it out at a 90 degree angle to keep diggers from digging under. The grass grows up through the wire and I can even mow over it. Just a thought.

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    1. We think it was a bobcat that got the chickens. There were paw marks. We use both chicken wire and the 2x4 wire all the way around, and the chicken wire is buried another foot down. However on the roof, we used only chicken wire and the shade cloth. A mistake we will never make again.

      I had no idea a raccoon could rip threw chicken wire.

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  2. So, how did the roof installation go, my friend? Things seem to be working out properly from this article, and I suppose the whole roofing process was a huge success. Anyway, I don’t know what particular roof you guys used, but it is really ideal if you use shed roofs. These roofs are inexpensive, durable, long lasting, and they have the capability to keep the temperature humid inside the coop.

    Allyson Sunde

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    1. Allyson,

      It went pretty well. We used galvanized sheets, and they seem to work fine. They seem to reflect the heat away from the run itself, so their summer months weren't too bad for them. Thanks for following along.

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  3. Using galvanized sheet is really a good idea, Izzy! Aside from deflecting the UV rays of the sun, it’s also durable and can last long under different weather conditions. And unlike steel, it’s highly resistant to corrosion and rust because of the zinc-based alloy.

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