Silkie Coop-hitting the home stretch

east wall , trim try on for size

Well another day working on the coop. I really feel like I didn't get that much done today, but that's because a lot of what I did was fiddly bits like trim work.

Stapled wire on the east wall, cut and fit the trim boards to go over them, then took them off to paint them.

mmmm there is something wrong with this picture

Did any of you notice that something might be wrong with the inside of the back wall in this picture from yesterday?

that's better!

I was up in the coop getting ready to put all the trim boards in when I realized "DUH!! you forgot to cut out for the vent on the inside!!!" So I popped off the back paneling and fixed that.  While I was putting it back on decided it need a coat of paint. The wood is so old and dried out it's getting crumbly. So two coats of off white interior paint. Then the trim, which I painted with the same blue paint as the back wall downstairs.

East wall with trim

Some other fiddly bits are that I added 1/4" hardware cloth over the window openings. Cut and painted the trim boards to go around the vent. Need to decide what I"m doing around the inside of the window openings. Put the trim boards back on the east side when the paint was dry.  Just before dark I got the center rafter put on but by then it was getting too dark to take a picture.

I don't think it's going to be chicken ready by this weekend. In which case I may try bringing broody mamma into the little crate in the house so I can give her the chicks when they hatch. Then move them all into the coop as soon as it's done.

Back to the day job tomorrow, so probably not much progress to be made the next few days, we shall see.

It's Coming Along

Where I left off on Friday

Worked all day on the new Silkie coop. Well here's where I left off Friday evening, with the back wall done, the vent installed.

with a coat of Kilz

and here it is with a coat of Kilz on it

front wall done

Then I made two more rafters, put one on the front edge and boarded up the top of the front wall. The whole open space will have a door that drops down for clean out and to reach the birds. From front to back the interior space is 40" and I can reach to the back wall through the opening.

east end wall

I have some loose panes of glass from old windows that the frames have rotted out. I'm building a small window to go here. This is the east end wall, boarded up and coated with Kilz.

front wall painted

I painted the front wall while I was at it. As you can see it was almost dark when I quit and picked up my tools. I am now totally out of Kilz. I'll have to check the paint cupboard and see what else is in there for a primer coat.

Tomorrow I'll work on the west end wall and fool with the windows some more. After that, work on the interior, then put the roof on.