95% DONE!

100% reclaimed wood and screws. Old paint that's been laying around. Screws I reused from an old fishtank stand I built.
Bought hinges and chickenwire. Didn't include chickenwire in cost as I use for countless projects around the house (Garden, kids crafts, art projects, etc.)
Grand total so far is about $4.
WOOHOO!!!

P.S.
Yes, the shade shack (AKA "The Ghetto Grotto") is crooked. Sun did a number on the frame and gave it a decent warp.
#Character

$4 ? nice

provide some cover (for shade) on sunny days for your chickens

i prefer them stay outside in the run instead of the coop (unless it's raining)

BruceAZ said:

$4 ?  nice

provide some cover (for shade) on sunny days for your chickens

i prefer them stay outside in the run instead of the coop (unless it's raining)

Click to expand...

The small shack on end will be their shade shack. I will be placing this on the north side of my house, not where it is now, which will get a little AM sun and a bit of late afternoon sun (house blocks out from 10-4/5) Minimal DIRECT. They will be free ranging for most of the time and I've planned on setting up a few shade/watering stations around the yard. I'm also going to cage in under the coop. Do the birds NEED ample sun?
Thanks for the reply, Bruce.
I appreciate all the advice I can get and all the knowledge I can acquire.
The birds make the permanent move to outside in roughly 2 weeks!

Edit: Also, the run will be in dirt as someone suggested that the birds would prefer the dirt.
In your opinion does this sound correct?

BirdsInParadise said:

The small shack on end will be their shade shack. I will be placing this on the north side of my house, not where it is now, which will get a little AM sun and a bit of late afternoon sun (house blocks out from 10-4/5) Minimal DIRECT. They will be free ranging for most of the time and I've planned on setting up a few shade/watering stations around the yard. I'm also going to cage in under the coop. Do the birds NEED ample sun?
Thanks for the reply, Bruce.
I appreciate all the advice I can get and all the knowledge I can acquire.
The birds make the permanent move to outside in roughly 2 weeks!

Edit: Also, the run will be in dirt as someone suggested that the birds would prefer the dirt.
In your opinion does this sound correct?

Click to expand...

chickens will take dirt and sun bath.. so provide them access to the sunlight and dirt would be ideal

i tried various things ..

shredded papers, bare earth ground, cardboard, pine shavings

now i use pine shavings in the coop and half of the run.. the other half of the run i left it plain dirt if they want to dig

but i noticed they like my garden soil more .. since it's a lot easily to dig into soft/loose soil..

bare earth is fine but cover it with pine shavings for odor and moisture control.. i didn't use any pine shavings for the run the first few weeks and there are flies everywhere and the smell is pretty bad. You can smell it when you walk closer to the run so i use pine shavings for the run floor too over bare earth

pine shavings will also allow the chickens to dig if they want

personally i like pine shavings-- less/zero dust/ odor and moisture control and it's pretty easy to clean the floor of the coop and run.

i bought my pine shavings from wal-mart.. but tractor supply company also have pine shavings(cheaper) (fine or flake)

We're getting there, folks!

you have any waterproof finish ? to help the roof against exposure to the sun and rain ..

but then again.. it's probably not necessary

BruceAZ said:

you have any waterproof finish ?  to help the roof against exposure to the sun and rain ..

but then again.. it's probably not necessary

Click to expand...

I'm gonna throw a coat or two of paint down, water seal it and then shingle it also.

BirdsInParadise said:

I'm gonna throw a coat or two of paint down, water seal it and then shingle it also.

Click to expand...

exterior paint?

i found a gallon of waterproof finish in the garage.. put 2-3 layers on the wood and it ended up like this..
http://www.homedepot.com/p/BEHR-1-g...ent-Waterproofing-Wood-Finish-40001/100211079


it looks stained but just waterproof finish

but honestly.. painting or waterproof plywood.. i don't know how long it will last though.. but at least those are easy to replace for my coop

it's getting hot so i'll add more ventilation holes on the wall of the coop..

BruceAZ said:

exterior paint?

Click to expand...

Yep. I'm of the opinion that I'm actually going overboard being that I'm going to shingle the roof
also.
Time will tell, LOL!

AND...
If this whole "Chicken math" thing comes to pass, I'll be building a whole new setup...

BirdsInParadise said:

Yep. I'm of the opinion that I'm actually going overboard being that I'm going to shingle the roof
also.
Time will tell, LOL!

AND...
If this whole "Chicken math" thing comes to pass, I'll be building a whole new setup...

Click to expand...

some of the users i talked to here stated that they spent about $1000 for their coop and run..

that's great if they have the budget for it..

for now my chickens are fine where they are

i added more ventilation holes and also some shade screen around the size to reduce the amount of the sunlight during the day and lights at night coming in from the ventilation holes/gap

i'll also put up full shade screen 6'x8' above the coop for extra shading.

111-113-- i feel bad for the chickens being outside all day like this. .but doing what i can to keep them cool

water on bricks+ice cubes+shade, etc..