Step 4: Angled the roof & added walls & door

The angle of the roof was calculated with a highly precision method of "if it fits here, it's staying here." Basically, we took the 2x6" stud from the upper wall frame (best seen in the photo on the left of Patrick), and it was angled.

Although this may not be the traditional way to build a chicken coop or

install walls, windows, or doors... it worked. And, they are chickens! They don't really care if it isn't perfect. We were working with reclaimed materials, for the most part and they are a bit of 'give and take' to begin with. Nothing is absolute or perfect... and we were okay with that.

So, the walls went up, after the pitch on the roof was decided; and the lower end (where Patrick's legs are hanging over) were cut to the appropriate size. The walls made it really come together fast, and from there on in; we had hope that the coop would meet our deadline which was fast approaching for the auction!

At this point, the roof has not been installed (in the photo above), however framing pieces to hold the roof were put in place and were strong enough to hold Patrick climbing all over it!

The door was made of the same chipboard material that the walls were constructed from. The hinges for the door were purchased at the auction (where the window and plastic were purchased)... for again, only $5.00 for a tub of them. I couldn't beat those deals.

The door is held secure at night with two blocks which are screwed into studs. They twist to tighten the door tight, and open it easy for humans to feed the birds. No door handle is required.

The hinges were mounted to an extra piece of 4x4 stud, which runs from the underside of the roof, to the ground outside. This gives the coop more stability on the corner which the hinges will be swinging from.

The roof was made with wafer board, as well.

Unfortunately time being the biggest factor in this rush to get the coop built; we didn't have a chance to reclaim as much lumber as we'd hoped. We opted for the wafer board because of the cost; just moving into our new house only weeks before the coop went up (not even a month) we were pressed for cash and time. We had to build it on a very tight budget. The roof went up in two pieces. The first being the easiest for Patrick to reach, because he could get up and down off the chicken boxes inside the coop. Then, he had to figure a new way to get on and off the coop. With no ladder. So, my little climber made sure every wall was secure and climbed up and down by the window. This is after he carefully installed the wood for the roof.

The metal for the roof, was part of a reclaim project that Patrick undertook at a local hardware store (they had recently undergone a minor face-lift to an outside portion of their building and had 10 square pieces of metal, and some odds of lumber which Patrick gladly filled my van with!). Patrick banged the metal out, as best he could; then one by one I passed them up to him, to install.

The roof itself has one job to be completed on it, but it is for the most part done. After all the rain we have had in the past 72 hours, it isn't leaking, so that is the main thing. Anything else, is just for looks.

This is Patrick, putting the metal roof on. It took a few pain staking tries to get the nails to go through all that metal... but once he got the swing of it... that hammer wouldn't stop! (notice he has now graduated to wearing a coat while working!)

What I Bought at the Auction!

Well, after much preparation (the Chicken Coop!) the day finally arrived where I could go to my first livestock auction. I was terribly excited to see the animals and find if the auction was run basically like other auctions (I love auctioning). Unfortunately, Patrick had a previous engagement and couldn't join me (and he was so disappointed, but his duty was to his Scout troop).

So, off I went to the auction solo. I didn't know a soul, and was hoping to meet up with a few birds that would like to come and live in my newly built chicken chalet... (LOL).

I took my list of potential breeds to look for, and to my dismay, the auction wasn't quite as organized as I was... LOL... if the breed type was listed on the tag, I was lucky. But, more than not, it wasn't listed... just as "rooster" or "hen." So, I kept looking, and I wrote down all of the lots I was interested in.

The boxes were listed with a receipt like tag, it had a letter and number on it, and basically if you were the seller, you were given a number. Your boxes were given individual letters, by you, but the number was always the same for that seller. (example: seller 23 could have a 23 A, 23 B, etc) and in each box, could be one, two, three or more birds.

The boxes were mostly hard to see into, so I'll be bringing a flashlight next sale. One lady did that, because she learned from her previous experience that a flashlight would be helpful.

I dutifully wrote down the numbers/letters and what was in the box that I was interested in viewing/purchasing/bidding, etc.

I wrote down other livestock too, as I had gone there with the intent to bring home a bunny too.

The auction was set up in such a way that it was organized, but could have had just one thing more to make it "perfect" organization for me. It would have been very helpful to know the lot number/letter as we were going along. I only knew the boxes by the labels, not the actual sight of the creature... it was just not possible to get a good view!

There were several volunteers, the adults loaded the next animal up for bids into a large wire cage on a table. There were about 4 cages or so; that way they could keep loading and unloading, while the auctioneer proceeded onto another cage.

Bidding was incredibly low for some animals, but it was my first auction; I wasn't used to prices in the 25cent range!!

The animals were loaded back into their boxes and delivered, and paid for immediately, by some youth volunteers. This process worked very well, the livestock was bought and paid for instantly and no wait at the end of the auction. Also, no tax. Shhh. All cash sales.

The bunny, a Polish Blue, 10 weeks old; went up for bids and the price started at 50cents! I couldn't believe my ears... I figured with a price like that, I would be in trouble, I'd bid on everything!! I bid, someone raised it to $1 and then I bought him for $1.50 can you believe that? A baby bunny, great little fella... for under $2!! (Picture will be posted). His name, Topaz (because he is, BLUE!).

I bid on a few other things, including some incubators, cages and other equipment; but mostly I was there for the chickens. I was after a few good layers, and a bunny. LOL

I bought 3 boxes of birds. Each box is auctioned separately, with the contents being the MULTIPLIER. (you bid on one bird in the box and you get all the birds in the same box, for that amount of money EACH). Example: 4 birds in a box. You bid $1.00 and your bid is the one accepted at the end of the sale, then you would pay $4.00 for the box of birds in total. You would pay, $1.00 per bird x 4 birds= $4.00

The one box of birds had a white chicken (unknown gender of this one) and red chicken (layer for sure).

The next box of birds had two red hens, both layers.

The next box contained 2 baby birds. Not tiny chicks, but still young enough that gender wasn't noted. One is black and one is brown/multi coloured. Very cute, they both "peep" still.

So, in total I bought 3 boxes of birds and one bunny. The birds were $8, $8 and $10; the bunny was $1.50. I spent $27.50 on animals! (I didn't win any bids for anything else at the auction).

Then off to the feed store. I needed a bag of food for chickens and bunny, and a new bunny bottle (already had everything else for the bunny).

That part of the trip cost more than the animals! ($14 for chicken feed, $4 for bunny feed, and almost $9 for a bottle for the bunny!) They were sold out (and still are!) of straw, so we are using wood chips, which we already had from the hamster my son has.

So, there you have it... all I brought home to a very happy 12 year old son; and happy he was! (and is!!) he loves his chickens and bunny, and our dog loves the bunny and chickens too.

The dog (mother was a pure collie), loves to keep them rounded up... and the chickens don't mind him a bit!

Great start to our mini-farm experience. Plans are well underway for the spring additions (and I am eagerly anticipating THAT auction!)... a goat, pig, lamb, turkeys, chickens for meat, chickens for laying... can't wait!!

It will keep us busy. THAT, and the 11 cords of wood in my driveway (on the wrong side of the house) that needs to be stacked before it rains again. LOL

Thanks for reading! Here are some CHICKEN PICTURES the black chicken has rusty brown feathers in the front (can be seen where I am holding it).