External nest box-day 1

It was always the plan to have this external nest box on our coop for the girls, but last year was tough. I had to work by myself on most things sine my DH was working so much overtime. (Side note, he loves his job and we know this would happen every so often, but it makes homesteading harder on me.)

I found this plan for external nest boxes and I just lengthened it to make it work for the space we had already planned. You could do this as you build your coop a whole lot easier, but it wasn't a bad day's work with what we did get done.

I did try and get started a few weeks ago when DH was at work, but all the batteries were dead for the power tools. I made a few cuts(which actually made putting it together go a bit faster.) 

After we figured out our plan, we cut the remaining pieces and I primed them while DH made some more cuts. 

Then we cut the hole out of the coop. We had to stop and go get a hand saw for that last little bit in the top right corner. It was shaking too much with the circular saw. 

Oh NO! Now were really committed to this project since I cant leave a big hole in the coop overnight. (You can sven see my winter waterer, which Im going to leave up a bit longer.)

This part went together really fast...so I didnt take a picture until the sides and floor were up and then we secured the floor with the clamps.  Also here he is the DH himself!!

We used some old door hinges that we salvaged from our local habitat store. You should find out if your town has a local habitat for humanity restore. We find so much there, it's like a thrift store for building materials and some furniture. 

Sine my husband is a genius, he got it to only open part way, that way I wont get smacked with the door. (Cause he knows I would find a way to do it.)

Then I got the top piece attached and the handle secured. Granted Im going to have to take it off to paint again, but oh well. 

The roof was a few extra cuts to secure it and DH is a wonder with the woodworking. 

The board that seals the gap at the top (you can see it in the picture just barely, its the only one not painted) we waited to measure until the roof was secured. We are planning on putting some flashing on the outside when I shingle the roof. But we wanted to secure the chickens for the night at least. 

All thats left to do is put the dividers in for 4 nestboxes, prime the inside again, caulk the outside, paint the outside, shingle the roof, put up the bar in front of the next boxes, fill with hay and wait for more eggs. And hopefully this year at least one hen will go broody and I will get some Dominique chicks. If not I will just order more after I finish up the chicken run/pen.

I'll be updating you on those steps above on day 2 of the external nest box build. Stay tuned for that. Also, you'll get to see the inside view.