The Build - Part 7

The way I look at it, people can worry the first year there is little rain.  By the second year, prayers start heading upwards for water to fall downwards.  The state was in drought for three years.  We have just had a record setting wet Spring.  So where ever they go, prayers take two years to get there. April showers usually bring May flowers, but this year April showers brought May's deluge.  The amount of rain has been insane.

Anyway, let's get back to the coop shall we?

The exterior is DONE!  I have moved work to the inside.  The projects just never seem to end. I swear I owned the only "to do" board where I would scratch one item off and add two more.  I moved the nesting box inside so that I was better able to see where, and how high to make the poop board and roost. I decided on an "L" shaped board and roost beside the door and along the back wall. I used simple shelf brackets from the ReStore to hold up the weight of the poop board.  This allowed me to keep all of my floor space. 

I used a wide, prefabricated shelf board, MDF, from the hardware store, as it was 24inches wide, and was straight and hearty.

Here you can see the waterproof blackjack 57 floor coating, which I took 12 inches up the walls as well. The floor needed sealed, I lucked out on two days in the 70s for that to go down and cure. Treat yourself to one of those metal paint stirring sticks that goes on an electric drill.  Get the one that has a squared insert for the drill, so it doesn't spin in the drill head.

When you open your bucket, it will look like black water.  In the bottom half of the bucket will be a very thick tar blob.    A stick will not mix that mess.  When you start mixing it, the blob will break down and look like you are trying to mix oil and water, and it will look like it will NEVER come together.  It does and looks like thick black cream.  Like a thick black paint.  Then you can simply pour it on the clean wood floor and spread it with a roller or a brush !  I did two coats.

The roost is 8 inches above the poop board and has since changed.  But I will post that change later.  I didn't want it too high for the sake of my heavier breeds. It is a 2x3 turned on it's side.

 I also gave the interior two quick coats of paint.

For the ramp, I used one of those slatted wood shelves you can find at the hardware store.  It was on clearance for $5, it's teak, LOL.  I spray painted it to get all the nooks and hidey holes, and then put on a quick coat of paint with a roller and tossed on a bunch of sand.  I let that dry, and repeated for a non skid walking area.  It is attached simply with eye hooks on the poop board and cup hooks on the end of the ramp.  I filled the poop board with sweet PDZ and the back half of the coop with pine shavings.  The cool thing about this poop board, besides the easy clean up, is that I can hang wood frames with hardware cloth on them, and create a broody coop area in the main coop.

 

 

 

The front, open area, of the coop has a blackjack-coated 4x4 post as a divider.  The front portion was filled with sand.  After a week of use, I decided I didn't like sand, and filled the area with sweet PDZ.  It is more pricey, but it is lighter, easier on the floor, and dries much faster than sand.  It is also cooler than sand.

 

 Now we move OUTSIDE.