CHICKEN HILTON PICTORIAL By Joe Saldarini April, 2009 Hi, I built my chicken Hilton recently and took a bunch of pictures in case someone was interested. Here is the final product. I will describe how it was built with some step-by-steps to follow. It consists of the hen house and a gated chicken run that extends under our deck stairs and outward. Originally, I thought I would be out of pocket about $350.00. The project ended up costing me around $600.00, even though I used some materials I had on hand made quite a bit of the trim myself from 2 X 4 s. 1
I started by framing out the front and back as semi-mirror images (the only difference was the size of the doors) as shown above with my helper, Rocky, our Boston terrier (pic-prev page.). The overall dimensions of the coop were to be 96 X 42. It stands about 6 high. Next I laid the frames on beaded pine plywood- 4 X 8 X 5/16 sheets and traced the outline (left), then cut out the shape, the doors, nailed the plywood to the frames and added roof struts, leaving a ¾ gap to allow a top roof runner strut to be added later. Next I tackled the doors, cutting out the window shapes. I cut down 2 X 4 s to make 1-1/2 X ¾ moldings to frame the doors and framed the window openings with purchased outside corner molding. I framed the door openings with 3-1/2 X ¾ material from cut down 2 X 4 s. Here is what the finished front and back looked like with the doors hinged and mounted. I later mounted clear plexi behing the circular picture window. 2
I built a base frame from treated 2 X 8 s. I bought 3 ea. 8 boards and made the frame with two cross braces- 96 X 42. My wife, Laurie & I covered the top of the baseframe with chicken wire nailed securely. I also used a single 4 X 6 X 96 cut into 4 each 2 sections. These were secured in concrete filled holes and spaced to align with the two cross struts in the baseframe so as to accommodate large bolts. It gets quite windy here and I did not want the thing blown away in a strong gust. I bolted the baseframe down to the 4 ea., 2 X 4 X 6 that were now set in concrete and secured it with 6 X 5/16 bolts. I also placed 2 each 4 x 4 x 96 beams in concrete where my chicken run would be so that I could add a full height gate to allow me access to the inside of the chx run. After painting all surfaces- the front and back, trim, interior and window trim, we were ready to mount the sections. To mount the front and back on the baseframe, I first carefully measured the places where I would want lag screws to go through the base 2 X 4 and into the baseframe 2X8 and predrilled the holes for 5 X 5/16 screws. Laurie and I carried the front and back pieces to the base frame and we screwed them down securely, using large fender washers. We secured the sections with precut 42 cross members beveled to the roof pitch and 3
then had a sturdy project. My wife had ordered the pullets for April 11 th and time was running out for construction so I fashioned the side sections and the short roof sections from the same beaded pine plywood and painted the inside surfaces white on the lawn with a roller for speed. I used tinted, corrugated plastic roofing from Home Depot for the sloped roof. This material requires the purchase of plastic cross members shaped to accommodate the corrugations of the material. Using the reccomended selfsealing screws ensures few, if any, leaks. 4
At this point I had about 4 days left before we picked up the girls and I still had to add chicken wire to all of the chicken run and secure it against predators. Laurie made a huge contribution here by installing the chicken wire fencing -while I was away on business- around the chicken run on all sides, top and bottom, even burying the fencing and backfilling the dirt to prevent critters from getting underneath. I added hinges and latches to the large back doors, the front doors, and the small hen hatch leading to their chicken run, and then built a full-height gate for entry that I mounted to open inward with sturdy hinges. I would suggest mounting the gate to open outward, as I had to change that ~ 1 year later. Next it was time to get going on the inside: I fashioned a wooden box I had into this egg-laying retreat (nesting box) for the hens and mounted it on one side in a semi-dark spot. The cover is hinged to allow us to gather the eggs easily and for the hens to enter and exit easily. 5
I built a roost with 2 X 4 s cut in half and then fashioned three ramps- one large one to get the hens to the roost, one medium one to get the hens to the nesting box, and a small one to allow them to get in and out of the henhouse to the run. In the pic you can see the clear Plexiglas on the inside of the round window. For the black trim around the circle, I used some old gas line tubing sliced lengthwise and pressed in place. We did not want the pullets to have to walk on the chx wire, so we purchased a section of vinyl cross-hatched fencing material at H-D they were selling at 80% off- ---guess no one liked the green shade. This slides out one side for rinsing chx poo and general sanitation. Chx poo drops thru the lattice and chx wire to a trough we use to collect the nitrogen-rich stuff for our compost pile. We purchased a water canister at Southern States and then I made this feeder from an old plastic pretzel jar and a plant saucer. (Pic taken thru front door window). I cut holes in the bottom of the plastic jar and attached the plant saucer with 4 ea. #10 nut, bolt & washer sets. 6
Laurie painted up a hatch I later added to make egg gathering easier: Angry Birds We found a few sharp edges and protruding nails/screws and I eliminated these so that the hens would not be injured. And at last we were ready for the hens to occupy the Chicken Hilton with the addition of the weathervane. (e-bay $14.00 + ship). So here are a few of our 6 Golden Comets and 2 Black Sex Links. We re both very excited to have the hens here and are eagerly awaiting the first eggs. If you build your own coop, send me a pic at joe.xlr8er@gmail.com. Also, if you have any questions about our project, do contact me joe@saldarini.org or my wife Laurie, laurie@saldarini.org (She knows more about chx care and feeding.) Joe Saldarini 7