Over the past few days I, and my friends Paul and Charles, built a green-roof chicken coop in preparation for the chicken raising that will be going on in my yard this spring. I’ll be ordering three or four day-old chicks when they become available in February. We can hardly wait.
I researched and designed the coop months ago, but had been waiting for classes to let out for winter break to build, then for the holidays to pass. This left me nothing to do but pour over the designs again and again, staring at them with nothing left to tweak as a poor substitute for construction. (I have included the plans and materials list I used to build the coop — construction documents they are not, as my wife, skilled in AutoCAD, noted. I am happy to explain the plans to anyone looking to build from or modify this design. She has promised to render the plans in AutoCAD for a future post.)
Researching green roof construction proved interesting. There seems to be some consensus on the layers required to make a functional living roof, but a lot of variation exists in the materials used. Beyond ensuring the structure can hold the added weight of wet soil and biomass, the concern turns to moisture control and drainage — keeping the water off the wood. This is where the layers come in. I started by covering the plywood with 3M Flashing Tape, then covered that with this sticky, tar-backed U.S. Seal Instant Waterproof Tape. For drainage, I used a Tuftex PVC Panel, which is ribbed and will direct excess water off the roof. It will also serve as a root barrier keeping the plants from burrowing into the wood. Atop this I placed two layers of burlap to keep the soil from sloughing off down the drainage channels: Water can easily penetrate this layer, so the plants won’t drown, but the soil should mostly stay in place.
All that’s left is planting.
We chose to incorporate a living roof into the design because it gets so hot here in the summer, and the insulating properties of the roof will help keep our chickens cool. And it’s more space to grow edibles — for us and the chickens.
The coop took one full day of prep (buying materials, cutting, staining), one full day of building (framing, siding, chicken wire), and a half day of tinkering and fine tuning (hinges, latches, nest boxes, green-roof layers). Definitely a three-person job, especially when stretching and stapling the chicken wire, which tends to lacerate and stab like dried-out bougainvillea. But, overall, a smooth build for three suburbanites with zero farm-type construction experience between them.
It went together like I planned, and it looks like I imagined — success.
So, I guess we better get some chicks.
Good job, Jason and Sarah. Can’t wait to see pics of the chicks in situ!
hugs,
–aunt laura
The chickens are going to have it made. It will be like hitting the Lotto for chickens. They will have a new view condo. LOL
Mighty fine piece of work you got there Jason. All you need is some overalls, a jaunty squint, and a corncob pipe. I like how you don’t lose any yard space but gain tons of egg calories.
Thanks, all. Paul said it was a pretty good deal for the chickens, compared to other places they could have ended up. I like to think so.
And I do have a jaunty squint.
Great minds think alike. This is almost exactly the same as the chicken coop we’re hoping to build this spring or summer, including the green roof — there are only a few minor differences, mainly that I think ours is going to be a little bigger in the “house” side for storage and nest access, and we have to build a special perimeter to keep the dogs from messing with the chickens. I would definitely be interested in using your plans as a basis, if you’d be willing to share — and I’m glad to hear of what you found out about the green roof materials, as I was all prepped to do some research on this. Do you know how much you spent on materials for the coop?
Wow, this is the kind of idea that makes me want to break out the hammer and nails. I love it! I was thinking of where to stick a green roof because I like the idea of using all that dead ‘roof’ space but now I can kill two.. no I won’t use that metaphor… complete two goals at once – chickens and a green roof. Neat idea!
Meredith,
I would be happy to share the plans with you. E-mail me at eattheyard@gmail.com when you’re getting ready to build, and hopefully I’ll have some construction documents made by then. If not, I’ll pass along my sketch. As for cost, about $200, maybe a little less. And that’s for everything, from boards, to screws, to green-roof materials.
We have been really wanting to employ living-roof technology at our house ever since we came across it. But, we have no realistic scenario for converting our home’s rooftop. So, when we decided to raise a few chickens, the coop roof became the perfect opportunity. You should go for it. Build a coop. Include a green roof. Get some chickens.
I saw an ad for laying hens on craigslist 2 days ago if you’re interested in rescuing some chickens. I’ve looked before and never seen any. I wanted to build a chicken coop in my yard, but since it’s a rental and chickens can live for awhile I didn’t want to have to trust their well being to someone else should I move. That’s a very nice coop.
Hi, I was wondering where the roosts are going to be in the “house” part? What are you going to do for windows?
sheri
For the roosts I cut a branch from a tree in our yard and fixed it in the coop. It runs from inside the hen house into the open space so they can choose to roost inside or outside.
As for the windows, I cut windows into the house part of the coop, one on each side. I am making window covers out of the same siding material I used for the house that I can slip on in terrible weather. But it doesn’t get too cold here in San Diego, so I imagine the window coverings will mostly stay off.
Huh that was weird, my first post didn’t work. No matter, I just wanted to say that it’s good to know that someone else also touched on this as it was difficult finding the same info elsewhere. Yours was the first place that clarified this for me. Thanks.
it is always so hard when it comes to roofing