A New Home for My Peafowl

August 16, 2016

My flock of peafowl is growing and thriving.

As many of you know, I have grown quite fond of peafowl. I now have five adults - two peacocks and three peahens, plus several peachicks I hatched in a specially made incubator.

Recently, I decided it was time to build a more suitable coop for the flock - one that was large enough to accommodate all the peafowl, and one that would coordinate well with the other outbuildings at the farm. The new coop is located in the same paddock as the original structure, not far from my stable, where we can all see the males when they display their stunning covert tail feathers. My carpenter, John, built the coop with his assistant, Oscar - it is so beautiful. Here are some photos from the first phase of the building process. Enjoy.

: There has been a lot of activity down at the peafowl pen. Now that they are all full grown and breeding, I felt it was time to expand their space and build them a new coop.

: Peafowl are territorial flocking ground birds that tend to stay where they are happy, but I keep them fully enclosed to protect them from predators.

: Earlier this month, my carpenter, John, began working on the new peafowl house.

: The first step was to build a frame. The house was to be a simple rectangular shape measuring 26-feet long by 10-feet wide.

: The frame was built using pressure-treated lumber. Once the outer frame was constructed, the joists were secured at 16-inch intervals.

: Joists are lengths of timber arranged in a parallel series to support a floor or ceiling. For this floor frame, the joists are secured using galvanized nails.

: Here is a closer look at the wooden floor frame – just a couple more joists to go.

: Once the floor framing is complete, galvanized wire mesh is used to line the entire top of the floor to prevent unwelcome critters from accessing the coop.

: Meanwhile, our landscaping friends focused on building a proper foundation set on concrete blocks.

: A self-leveling general construction laser tool is used to ensure the entire foundation is balanced and leveled properly.

: At each corner and in the center of each long side, six-to-eight inch square depressions are dug to accommodate the blocks. Crushed rock is poured into the hole, compacted with a hand tamper and then checked for level.

: This process takes a lot of time and care – a well built coop must sit on a well-built foundation.

: Everything is measured multiple times to ensure each block was perfect.

: Mason’s twine was also used to create straight lines as a guide for placing the concrete blocks.

: The area was covered with landscape fabric to suppress any weeds and prevent rocks and soil from mingling.

: And finally the area was covered with a layer of compacted crushed limestone.

: The floor frame was carried to the foundation location.

: The frame was carefully positioned onto the concrete blocks.

: Each corner was centered on the concrete.

: Most of the wood is from the farm – milled right here from felled trees. Some of it is more aged than others, but I always try to reuse, replace or recycle whenever I can.

: Each piece was cut to size – we were able to repurpose a lot of good lumber.

: Wide planks were nailed into the frame and to the joists.

: These floors are so beautiful – we used a variety of wood such as oak, maple and even mahogany.

: Pretty soon, our structure will be filled with peafowl. Next, I’ll share images from the next phase of construction – the walls and the beautiful roof.