New House for the Ladies: Backyard Shed-Turned-Coop

Dubbed the "eBay coop"

Almost two months ago now, hubby and I finally acted on our plan to have backyard chickens. After much research and budgeting/planning, we bought a small coop on eBay and went to pick up the chickens from a local farm. 

The coop I ordered was cute but very small. I knew that going into it and planned on using it only temporarily with just two chickens.  Unfortunately, a little while ago a predator got one of my hens and we were devastated. Of course we knew that could happen but we got much more attached to the chickens than we had anticipated that we would. My desire for a larger and safer coop was rekindled.

Again, after much research we decided to convert our unused shed into a larger coop. Great idea, right? Well, yes if you can ever get it done. Haha. Not so easy with three small children underfoot. Last weekend we FINALLY got all of the materials we needed and started in on the work. We didn't have a detailed plan but I knew I  needed it to be safer than the eBay coop.

We bought some lumbar, hardware cloth, wood screws, washers and we already had the cordless screwdriver, drill bits, and jigsaw.

Before starting

 We are not really "handy" people; we don't build stuff for fun or on a regular basis. But in an effort to save money and use the resources we had, I scoured Pinterest for ideas. (The ones I mostly looked at are HERE and HERE, if you are interested.)

We built a doorframe, and then a door, and then framed out the rest of the entry. Little by little we attached the hardware cloth with wood screws and washers.

Door frame and beginning to attach the hardware cloth

Almost there!

 I won't lie, it was exhausting...and then it started pouring rain. BUT we came back to it the next weekend. We also kept underestimating how much sand we would need to cover the bottom of the coop, so we finished that up the next weekend as well. 

Sweet success!

This weekend we celebrated by picking up some more chickens to add to our little flock. I know it doesn't look like much, but we did it ourselves and the chickens seem to feel at home. I call that a success!  
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Anyone reading have chickens? I'd love to hear your stories.