Today I took advantage of some fine weather to do a bit more on the coop, including mounting the poop door, and installing hardware cloth under the coop.

This is the poop door — a hatch below the roosts, that will enable me to more easily clean out the coop. The door is missing a handle on the left side currently. Though maybe I should move the handle to the middle? Not sure having handles on each side is all that useful after all.

Digging a trench below the edge of the wall.

Stapled on some hardware cloth (wire fencing), to keep the chickens (and other animals) out from under the coop. The top will be covered by the bottom of the siding.

Buried. Chickens are diggers, so burying it about a foot underground will prevent them from digging under it.

It was a bit drizzly yesterday and this morning, but this afternoon we both did some work on the coop. 

Jenn painted the window & door frames a bright pink, while I did some small stuff: I tweaked the front door frames, built a pop door, and pop controller internal door.

Just one picture today, showing some of Jenn’s work.

My original design for the coop didn’t include window boxes, but Jenn asked about it, and I figured I could add them below the two side windows. So this morning I did.

The boxes are cedar, with a plastic liner to help protect the coop and make it easier to plant. There is a plywood backer to give some vertical space from the bottom of the window, since that will hinge from the top. 

They’ll not only make the coop look a little nicer, but have practical benefits, if we plant things like mint and such that help to repel flies. 

I spent some time today finishing off the trim, including the corners and around the vents at the back.

Here you can see the trim on the corners and back vents.

A closer view.

Over the weekend Jenn started painting the coop in vibrant colors, inspired by Caribbean styles.

The latest update on the chicken coop: soffits. Those are the panels under the eaves. Not vitally necessary, but make it look nicer.

First step: boxing under the eaves, in line with the gable ends.

I then stapled insect screen in the gap between the underside of the roof and the top of the wall, between each rafter. This will serve as additional ventilation on both sides.

Here’s what the screen looks like from inside, before the soffit was installed.

Then I added a beam to the top of the wall, to help mount the soffit panels.

Here’s the first soffit panel in place. You can see the holes for the vents, plus temporary blocks on the wall to hold it while I nailed it. The gap between the soffit and opening below is sized for a trim board, to be added later.

The south soffit finished, with the vent covers in place. (Well, it still needs caulk and paint, of course.)

Same thing on the north side.

Then there’s the soffit on the east side.

And the west.