I trimmed the coop with pine boards. I had 8' 2x8 boards in the barn when we moved in, so I ripped them at 2.5 inches and was able to get 3 boards out of each one. In total it required five 8 foot boards.
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| Trim in progress |
I decided to reinforce all of the doors. The small doors have 2 sheets of OSB attached to them and the man door has a full 2x3 frame.
For electricity, I put in a ceramic light fixture with a 100 watt bulb. I also wired up a receptacle so that I could plug a water heater in during the winter. The receptacle is covered so the chickens can't get to it and all of the wire is in conduit.
In thinking about design and security for the chicken door, I went through several different ideas before coming to the finished product. The chicken door hinges from the top and has a barrel latch on the inside. To open/close the door, we will first have to open the "man" door, but that also gives us a chance to see how the conditions inside the coop are on a daily basis.
I was hoping to plant some cool weather crops today, but it looks like it will have to wait until later in the week. Turnips, beets, radishes, lettuce, spinach, and onions are all going in the ground. The peppers seedlings look great. I think I'll take them out of their mini-greenhouse by the weekend. According to the weather forecast, spring is only a couple of days away. I know we can't wait.