Started building a new chicken coop this week. Used the LX with clamp-on forks to move and set the frame on some cross ties. Gotta love me some Hydrostatic transmission. That made handling the coop frame so easy and gentle.
Before anyone berates me for my clamp-on forks, they do what I need done most of the time, and cost a fraction of what something I'd normally leave outside to rust. Takes all of about 5 minutes to put them on, and best of all, they cost very little. IIRC, I got 'em for $149. Hard to argue with success.
Here's the framing for the new coop. I'm pretty sure it's gonna keep the chickens in and the vermin out when I get done with it.
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I can go back and add a solid floor later if I choose to, but I figure the dirt floor will be almost as easy to clean and I won't have to worry about washing it. Gonna build the run with 2x3 welded mesh 48 inches high at the bottom (as well as chicken wire) to keep the 'yotes out during the day. Automatic door on the coop should keep other critters out at night. The siding on the coop is gonna be some retired 5/4 x 6 Pressure Treated decking that I stripped off my neighbor's deck and salvaged. The framing 4x4s are all lap spliced short pieces. The 2x10 band at the bottom is from my deck that I completely replaced back in 2008. The windows are repurposed bathroom windows from having siding, windows, and doors done in 2010. So far, my costs in this are electricity and a few hundred screws.