During the winter we decided it was time to get some chickens. Partly for the eggs and partly because Sue really needs to to nurture some fluffy animals and we most definitely have enough cats.

There’s plenty of discussions on what chicks to buy and how to build coops as long as you live someone nice and sunny, say California. There’s not too much talk about keeping the coop warm during a -30 degrees Celsius degree blizzard, which is the extreme end of the weather we get around here. So I was plenty surprised to find some plans from someone local. They weren’t that cheap, at $35, but I was dithering about what to build and Sue has already pencilled in the date for buying the chicks so in the end the ease of having it done for you won out.

Although having got them (emailed pdf) I was a little disappointed that they where written instructions as opposed to proper draft plans. Oh well, it’s all good. It’s not like I’m a professional or anything!

So one trip to Home Depot later and check out the size of my trolley -

Lumber
Lumber

There was another cart with the insulation in. I didn’t buy any of the hardware - bolts, hinges and whatnot - as I’ll muddle through getting most of the pieces cut to size before needing to assemble any of that. Also, I’m hoping to use some of the spare stuff I have lying around, like odd bits of 2x4 and old hinges, that kind of thing. There should be some shingles (roof tiles) in the utility shed left over from the garden shed that I need to dig out.

The instructions say that 10 days should be sufficient to build it. Well I don’t have 10 full days but I do have odd hours in the evening and most of the weekend so let’s see what we can do.