Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it’s Off to Work We Go

We bought some chickens and put them in the middle bathroom tub. Well, they did what chickens do: grow. The race was on… build a chicken coop or chase adolescent chicks around the bathroom or potentially, around the house (plus it was begining to smell like a farm). You can also hear them scrapping amongst themselves in the night.

Hoffsteader’s law applies: a project takes more time and money than you anticipate.
Hoffsteader’s corollary: a project takes more time and money than you anticipate even when to take into account Hoffsteader’s Law.

No concrete piers, I'm relying on the rot resistant characteristic of burnt cedar (we'll see how it holds up).
We had 1/2 inch plywood leftover from the camp Loo (outhouse). Here I was fitting the floor.
Atlas was helping me guage the load bearing capability of the design.
I used old lumber, some of it from the cedar benches that were built into the back deck. Some were 16 ft. cedar 2x4s; can't imagine what these would cost today.

I burned them (Yakasugi) and cut to size.
The height of the floor can accomodate the high side of wheelbarrow to slip underneath to catch the shavings to ease the task of cleaning.
The plan called for two sets of french doors, thus the post in the middle.
I cut sheets to fit the openings (one on each side) and then marked the opening in pencil on the inside, to cut out later. When I cut the doors I left the bit the circurlar blade leaves behind. I attached the door panel, to the frame and then screwed in the hinges.
Using an oscillating multi-tool I cut the little bit of wood holding the doors to the panel and thereby released the hold; the doors were then able to swing open.
I cut a trap hole in the floor to cage below. The flooring material around the trap hole is formica that was left over from Hunter and Jenny's Kitchen counter project, the rest was some leftover plastic.
The final step for the doors was to use tree seal tar on the edges of the plywood to keep the rain from ruining it. If we had used T111 is probably would not have been necessary.
You can see where the tree tar bled past the mask. I was spraying with my left hand so it was harder to control.
The right door on the left panel shows the tar bleed through. You cannnot clean this stuff up.

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