Chase Somero's blog

Chicken home

Created: March 28, 2023 5:38 PM Tags: Building, Carpentry, Chickens, Published, Sketchup

Product research

First, I looked up prices for the lynchpin products I would need, in order for my conception of the project to be viable

A wire chicken run

ECOLINEAR Outdoor Large Metal Chicken Coop Walk-in Hen House 10’Lx6.6’Wx6.6’H Poultry Pet Hutch w/ Cover Garden Backyard Cage for Farm Use https://a.co/d/1FeX17J

$170

1/2 inch hardware cloth

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Acorn-International-1-2-in-x-4-ft-x-50-ft-Hardware-Cloth-HC24850/300180179

$100

Chicken wire

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-in-Mesh-x-4-ft-x-50-ft-20-Gauge-Galvanized-Steel-Poultry-Netting-308431EB/205960875

$50

Use galvanized staples and an air gun for attaching to wood

Zipties for attaching to the chicken wire

Use PT everywhere except the bed/nest floor

Chicken ports for hanging buckets

ZenxyHoC DIY Chicken Feeders No Waste, Poultry Feeder with Covers Gravity Feed Kit Ports 4 -1 Hole Saw for Buckets Barrels Bins Troughs

https://a.co/d/9kbDgBs

$18

Chicken water ports VandanCoop Horizontal Chicken Water Nipples Automatic Poultry Waterer Nipples Kit Drinker with Drill Bit(10) https://a.co/d/ioo9KjS

Try smaller bucket for water

Bucket hd $8 https://www.homedepot.com/p/The-Home-Depot-5-Gal-Homer-Bucket-05GLHD2/100087613

Get lid too https://www.homedepot.com/p/The-Home-Depot-5-gal-Orange-Leakproof-Bucket-Lid-with-Gasket-5GLD-ORANGE-LID-for-5GL-HOMER-PAIL/202264044

This lid might fit on our smaller white buckets:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leaktite-2-gal-Bucket-Lid-210655/202264036

Use for the floor under the roost bar

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-2-in-Mesh-x-2-ft-x-5-ft-19-Gauge-Galvanized-Steel-Hardware-Cloth-308221EB/205960835

$12

2 of these? https://www.homedepot.com/p/15-32-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-CCX-Pine-Ground-Contact-Pressure-Treated-Plywood-288883/301895480

Rough drafts

Next I roughed it out to see if the lynchpin products, combined with a spartan enough design, could fit under a tight budget.

Need to start a plan to get estimate of 2x4s - rough draft

This draft was drawn in the Cursive app on my chromebook with a pen

Next draft

Smoothing it out now that I’ve roughed over it

Draft 3

Sketchup draft (draft 4)

https://app.sketchup.com/share/tc/northAmerica/Io37ZoiIgTw?stoken=8Dvmfu12Id4WC_CbT7mbb4FuGqZGQgXmH4YD32-ZyBXbGUSjZ6M2ih-dvxATkxLP&source=web

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15UbaHo-1BxTvt4chhunDqzp0HXhklYR3Jc9szzh4UFk/edit?usp=drivesdk

Operations

Now I start building it. These pictures were used on my phone outside, to get measurements.

Review

Finished product

Came back after years to Sketchup (want to build a greenhouse now)

Just rediscovering everything in my Sketchup project:

I had a put-together model of it, with supply pieces nearby:

An exploded copy of it for getting the measurements to use for prefab:

And a laid-out organized area for laying out how many of each type of piece I’d need:

The scrap piece of plywood (top left) would get stored in the shed for years and used rarely for a sawhorse table here and there; and eventually get used for a jig for the July 4 2026 fireworks.

I also did an overhang of 4 inches but I could maybe add 2 inches of overhang for each side, for even better weather resistance. The weather side of the coop now is starting to fall apart, although it’s really not bad for just having one thin layer of Olympic water seal on it.