The Quest for the Mouse-proof Chicken Coop: Chapter 3

The next step was to design a coop that would provide the clucky ladies with all the creature comforts but not provide other creatures with comfort. Mice are not the only creatures that invade chicken coops. Raccoons, possums, cats, coyotes, foxes, and dogs are also looking for opportunities to come in and they are more interested in chicken dinners than in chicken feed. Everyone loves chickens. They are more popular than Paris Hilton and a lot more useful.

The old house did pretty well keeping big critters out as long as I remembered to shut the coop door at night. I decided to use the basic design of the old coop. It would still be 4x4. The sides would still be held together with bolts that could be unfastened to tear it down and move it. The materials, however, had to change. They had to be mouse-proof. The old house had been built with exterior siding left over from building a large shed. It looked good but the mice chewed through it like cardboard. It was also pretty heavy. Lighter would be better.

About the only thing that mice don't chew is metal so I decided to use aluminum. I had never worked with aluminum before but that didn't slow me down. I looked around and finally went with 20" wide aluminum roof flashing. I found a 50' roll for $45 dollars. I also ran across some aluminum siding soffit material at a garage sale for a couple of dollars. Add few construction grade 2x4s some screws, aluminum roofing nails and other assorted hardware and I thought I was ready to make some sawdust. "...what fools these mortals be."

(to be continued)