Pretty much any product you smear on a fastener will fail sooner than later. As the metal heats and cools it's going to do so at a different rate than epoxy or caulking.
You're best bet is to replace the nails with the screws intended for metal
I treat my window openings just like the pop door. Hinged at the top and covered like the roof.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/funky-chicken-coop
I used to scavenge glass off of craigslist, and make windows but then I realized they were open almost 100% of the time anyway. So now it's...
Water does not want to flow "uphill". With extremely high winds you may get some water in under there but I've never had a wet nest box, and the wind blows at my house 355 days a year rain, shine, or snow.
The other thing that really helps is to put the nest box on the sides of the coop and...
Exactly. Screw some 2x4's to the legs might even suggest some diagonal bracing out of scraps. Get a three round fence posts. Put two of them under the 2x4's and roll it adding one post to the front and removing one from the back as you go. If you don't need the posts when you are done, save...
Fellow Idahoan checking in.
Skip the insulation, unless you like to provide free housing to mice. Every outbuilding I've ever seen with insulation turns into a mouse hotel with the quickness.
Skip the heat unless you're brooding chicks. Chickens have one of the best forms on insulation...
I've stretched the coop in the "Small coop tutorial" to as big as 4x8 on four different occasions (once as a crooked coop). 2x2 framing holds up just fine to everything the outside world throws at it including the winters where we get 10+ feet of snow.
If you think about it the coops primary...
Typically I use the corner trim for a "fence" when making the side cuts, and draw lines for the top and bottom cuts. Plunge cut everything with a jig saw starting with the bottom, then sides, and lastly the top cut. Some trim attached to the edges of the door cover the gap for weather, but...
Cedar shavings are...even with that some folks will disagree, but on the whole it's a good idea to avoid them.
Cedar building materials are safe.
Seems like I spend a whole lot of time defending the use of cedar building materials here.
The fundamental difference between the two is surface...
Didn't see it mentioned so just another data point. Mine are raised off the ground because I don't need one more thing to dig the snow out from around. With the doors a couple feet off the ground I almost never have to dig out just to open the door.
Since you're looking at 4-6 birds...
I used to use glass all the time. After numerous broken panes from things as stupid as a lawnmower I gave up.
Now I'm all about these shutter type windows. Nothing to break easy to build and they work awesome. In fact my other coop has a broken window in it right now. Before it gets a new...
I've played with metal tins and light bulbs, submersible thermostats, and block heaters.
For my money this is the best solution.
http://www.amazon.com/Farm-Innovators-Aluminum-Submergible-H-49/dp/B000FK03E8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1390866071&sr=8-4&keywords=bucket+heater
Install the nipples...
By the time you figure you need 250 watts per heat lamp, you're going to be eating some expensive eggs.
You're going to need quite an expensive panel (panels)
Lots of batteries (doesn't do you any good if the heat doesn't come on at night)
And an inverter capable of running enough amperage...
The issue with pretty much all bulbs isn't cold, it's wet vs the heat they produce (hot glass cold water). Look around the houses in your area and I guarantee you have every single bulb style ever sold or on the shelf at Home Depot is represented on porches and garages. With the wind at my...
Assuming here that the bottom of your pop door is level with the floor?
Typically I cut the opening for the pop door 8" or so above the floor. this way they have to go up to get out, and the shavings stay put. For the doors I use to access the coop I fabricate removable litter dams, that...