The Chicken Coop

Some bright lights

Last week we were on the home stretch with the interior of the shop. We had made a lot of big progress in a short amount of time. This week was more of the same. Since the interior was painted, the first thing we did was to install new LED light fixtures. They’re bright. I mean they’re really bright. Pictures don’t do it justice. Bud and Diana stopped by one evening around dusk and Bud commented on how bright they were. Diana said “they’re not that bright” and Bud responded with “that’s because you’re wearing sunglasses.” After the sunglasses were removed, she was blinded by the light.

Prepping for concrete paint

I opted to paint the shop floor so that the floor will look more seamless as opposed to the 4 separate concrete slabs that it is. Before painting I did a fair bit of prep work. I ended up doing another small round of self leveling concrete to patch some bigger holes and cracks throughout the slabs. After that set up I went back and ground all the edges perfectly smooth so there was no transition between the old and the new.

Acid washing the concrete

Once the grinding was complete, I acid washed the concrete floor to etch it and get it ready to hold the floor paint. After acid washing, I rinsed the floor off 3 times with the garden hose. This was really interesting as it showed the high and low spots based on how the water moved across the floor.

The coop build begins

With the acid washing complete, I was no longer able to work inside of the shop so I turned my sights towards the chicken and duck coop. We decided we wanted to keep our animals and bring them with us. We currently have a good batch of laying chickens, a tiny but good rooster (we’ve had a lot of bad/mean roosters), and a batch of ducks who also regularly lay eggs. I started out laying out for the posts and began digging holes. Sand is so nice to dig in, especially when it’s not full of roots. My dad and I got a handful of posts set and then laid out and set the main support beams. It got dark on us so we called it a night.

One step forward, two steps back

The next morning (not sure what day, they’ve all blended together anymore) we did the first coat of concrete paint on the floor. The floor looks so much better but it definitely needs a second coat.

Once again we’re no longer able to be in the shop so it was back to the chicken coop. I wasn’t happy with the proportions of the coop so I opted to take everything back down and start over. Fortunately the way it was designed allowed it to come apart quickly so the changes could be made. Much better. I proceeded on with laying out, cutting, and installing the rafters. One of the beams had a nasty bend in it so we ended up hooking a ratchet strap from one beam all the way across to the beam on the other side of the coop and ratcheting it in until everything lined up. We then got the sheathing on and once again ran out of daylight.

The floor looks great

The next morning we got the second coat of paint on the shop floor while the roof plywood dried out a little from the overnight rains. We were able to get the metal drip edge and then the peel and seal underlayment installed (just like on the shop roof) so that the coop can be considered dried in. With the roof dried in, it was time to start installing the fencing and rails around the coop.

Goodbye floating dock

As we were working on the rails, we were pleasantly interrupted by Tom on his tractor. He offered to help us pull the old dilapidated floating dock out of the water and help it find its way into the dumpster. We were all quite impressed with his ability to maneuver the water logged dock through a few obstacles and right into the dumpster. Awesome. Back to building out the coop. I was able to get everything done except the 3 gates.

Building the gates

First thing the next morning I got started building the gates. There will be a smaller gate on the front for if/when we decide to let the ducks and chickens out. Hidden in the front privacy fence is another gate that will give you access to a smaller fenced off area in the coop where we can feed the chickens and collect the eggs without having to actually go inside the coop. Lastly there’s another self closing gate to get into the coop. The double door setup idea came from chickens sneaking out as you’re trying to get into the coop to give them food and water before leaving for a long weekend.

Stain the coop, not yourself, Jake

With the gates built, it was time to apply some stain. We used the same stain as the shop siding but this time I opted to spray it on. As is customary when I spray – I got completely covered. Oceana thought it was pretty funny so she took my picture. Enjoy! After the white stain set up, we came back and brush applied the blue. The white and blue is a stunning combo. I really like it. As soon as we finished the blue staining, we got right into installing the hardware cloth.

Hardware cloth

I prefer hardware cloth on coops versus chicken wire. With chicken wire, the racoons can still reach through the wire and grab a chicken. And racoons really like chicken heads. With the smaller squares of the hardware cloth, this won’t happen. We also bury the hardware cloth about 16″ down into the sand to help prevent burrowing predators. We got about half of the hardware cloth done and once again ran out of daylight.

The classy tub for the ducks

The next day we buttoned up the hardware cloth and then it was time for the big dig. We’re planning to install a pond for the ducks and then Tom had the great idea to use a tub that we were originally going to use for the master bathroom but it was too big. So I dug a big hole and leveled out the bottom. I also hooked up the drain and overflow. With the plumbing complete, I set the tub in the hole. Success. To allow the tub to drain, I buried a 55 gallon drum just outside of the tank and ran the drain line into it. I put a big shut off valve on the drain line that we can open to drain the tub for cleaning. Simple and effective. I backfilled around the tub and 55 gallon drum and that was it. The coop is complete.

The shop move begins

Wednesday we made a trip to Loxahatchee and put a big dent into clearing out the shop. I used my van and enclosed trailer and then rented a box truck that my dad drove. We loaded both of them down and made the trek back to Lake Byrd. We got unloaded just in time for bed. Thursday we made another trip. We loaded the box truck with our remaining house supplies such as the bed, sofa, TV, etc. that we had left in place as staging. I loaded the van and trailer with more shop stuff. Another trip back and a late evening unload. Good progress. Still more shop stuff to move but I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

That’s all, folks

That’s all for this week. Thanks for following along with our crazy journey.