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Under-Deck Bird Housing — AI-Designed, Never Built
shelvedRear deck, Hampton, CTStarted 2026-03-14

Under-Deck Bird Housing — AI-Designed, Never Built

An AI-designed enclosure for the under-deck space — complete with 3D models, architectural drawings, and a full bill of materials. Shelved in favor of a prefab Producers Pride Universal Poultry Pen.

🧊 Interactive 3D Models

🧊 View Enclosure Volume (3D)🏠 View House + Deck CAD Drawing (3D)

Interactive models — open in a new tab, rotate and zoom freely.

Under-Deck Bird Housing — AI-Designed, Never Built

This project started as a plan to enclose the space beneath the rear deck into permanent, predator-proof bird housing. Claude designed the entire thing: measured from photos, generated interactive 3D models, produced architectural elevation drawings and floor plans, and priced out a complete bill of materials.

In the end, we went with a prefab Producers Pride Universal Poultry Pen from Tractor Supply instead — faster to deploy, good enough for the flock's needs, and up and running within a day.

What Claude Designed

Starting from a single photo of the backyard, Claude:

  1. Measured the space using a RAM 1500 truck as a scale reference
  2. Modeled the enclosure as an interactive 3D volume
  3. Produced a full CAD drawing of the house, deck, and enclosure
  4. Created architectural drawings — south elevation and floor plan
  5. Priced a complete BOM — 11 line items totaling $568

3D Models

View Enclosure Volume (3D)

View House + Deck CAD Drawing (3D)

Architectural Drawings

South elevation drawing
South Elevation — front view with gate and hardware cloth walls
Floor plan drawing
Floor Plan — trapezoidal footprint, ~168 sq ft

Why We Shelved It

The Producers Pride Universal Poultry Pen was available immediately and deploys in a day. The under-deck design would have taken weeks. The real value was proving AI can do legitimate agricultural design work.

Site Photos

Rear of house showing deck
The under-deck space that would have been enclosed
New coop installed
What we went with — Producers Pride Universal Poultry Pen
RAM 1500 scale reference
RAM 1500 — Claude used this as a scale reference

Bill of Materials — $704.50

ItemQtyUnit CostTotal
4x4x10 Pressure Treated Post7 each$14.50$101.50
2x4x10 Pressure Treated Lumber20 each$7.25$145.00
2x6x10 Pressure Treated Lumber4 each$12.50$50.00
Hardware Cloth 1/2" 4ft x 50ft Roll3 roll$72.00$216.00
Post Anchor/Standoff Bracket7 each$8.50$59.50
Fencing Staples 1lb Box5 box$6.00$30.00
Structural Screws 3" 5lb Box2 box$18.00$36.00
J-Bolt Post Anchor 1/2"7 each$4.50$31.50
90-degree Corner Brackets14 each$2.50$35.00

Diary

2026-03-14
surveyplanningspring-thaw

Spring Thaw — Initial Survey

First warm day after the thaw. Snow is gone, yard is bare and muddy. We did a full walkthrough to assess the bird situation for 2026.

The Existing Coop

The old prefab coop is done. Tarp is falling off, wood is rotted out, barely standing. It's maybe enough for 3-4 birds and we've got a full flock coming.

The New Plan: Under-Deck Enclosure

We surveyed the space under the rear deck as the new bird housing. The deck sits on a raised foundation — great clearance underneath (6.5–7.5 feet), three open sides, and a 14×12 foot footprint. That's roughly 168 square feet of covered, sheltered space — more than enough for the whole flock plus growth.

The house wall forms the north side. We'll enclose the south face, west end, and the east end (leaving a 4-foot corridor around the staircase). Hardware cloth walls, 2×4 framing, a proper gate.

Tractor Supply Run

Picked up new chicks today:

  • Rhode Island Reds (pullets)
  • Easter Eggers (premium pullets)
  • Speckled Sussex (pullets)
  • Light Brahmas (straight run)
  • Sapphire Gems (straight run)
  • Assorted ducklings
  • Broad Breasted White turkey poults

Spring is starting. This is the year we do this right.