A few weeks ago, @CO and I packed the old family van with all of our battery-powered tools and drove nearly 1300 miles to work on a very special project for my father. For his entire life, my father has raised homing pigeons, but in the back of his mind he's also always wanted to raise chickens.
This year, we decided to build him a chicken coop so he could realize his dream. We brainstormed and captured our research in a 3D Whiteboard...
...and then used xDesign to quickly model our first idea in 3D. That helped us make quick decisions on modifications to the design.
Then we used SOLIDWORKS to detail out all of the pieces.
We used weldments functionality to design the 4x4 and 2x4 frame and used the cut list to purchase all of the material.
To escape the summer heat, we pre-built as much as we could inside the garage. We used our tablet to access our dimensioned drawings from the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform.
Final construction happened way out in the back of my parent's yard. We endured sweltering temperatures, afternoon downpours, and long work days, but in the end we had a beautiful chicken coop to be very proud of!
Check out the full video to see how the whole project came together:
...and check out last week's video that shows even more about how we came up with the design:
Be sure to check out next week's video where we wrap up the project and build an awesome raised bed garden and chicken run.