Da Chicken Bus
Back in the early spring my dog and I found and old school bus out in my friend's woods. I got it for free and had it towed to my place where I sized it up for a serious re-fit to be used as a coop. Below are some pics and short description of the process of turning a short bus into a dee-lux chicken coop. The wife thought I was nuts, but that's already been confirmed. Soooo, with all my tools and limited carpentry skills me and my Bassetthound mix, Odie, jumped in head first with the goal of havin' us a chicken bus by gawd!!
This is how we found it. All alone and un-loved in a barren field. The hood, motor, and tranny had already been removed. Odie and I knew we had us a new chicken coop!
The inside was, well, a freaking mess. Odie jumped in, looked around, urinated on the drivers seat, and walked out muttering something about my being crazy.
We had my buddy tow the thing to my place where I removed the wheels and set it on blocks. Odie posed for this pic. The wife took one look at it and told me there would not be a damned bus setting in her back yard! The answer? Hide it in plain sight!
Sooooo, I took some old fence boards I had piled up,.....
......and we made the bus disapear!! A little crack filling, and a little paint, and the wifey was quite pleased. Now for the interior of our little chicken den.
We gutted the inside and pressure washed the whole thing. Now for the fun part!!
A little fast forwarding and viola!! We have us a hen house! Notice all the light and space! There's 11 nest boxes and enough roost space for lotsa birds. All opening windows are wired over and I added a wind turbine ventalator on the roof to keep the girls cool. Odie looks on in approval. He and the chickens are great friends.
I used dog kennel panels I picked up used for cheap for the run and topped it off with a hawk net. I put a roof over the front for sun/weather protection, and a smaller roof over the backside windows to keep rain out. Add a nice coat of burgundy paint (wifey says it's purple, but I AM color blind).
The girls have a nice dirt box for dust bathing and a few places to hide and climb around. The roosters like to play King-of-the-Hill on the tree branch. That was Odie's idea.
Well, that's about it folks. I have a total of about $200 invested in the entire project and around 25 hours of time. I figure 80% of the materials were re-cycled form stuff I had laying around and the bus was free. The chickens seem to like the set-up and they are about as predator safe as you can get them. Odie made a good supervisor, and was always there for moral/technical support and help me eat my sandwich at lunch break. I have to say it was a blast to do and very satisfying to know I did it myself and I think it turned out pretty well.
Sooooo, I took some old fence boards I had piled up,.....
......and we made the bus disapear!! A little crack filling, and a little paint, and the wifey was quite pleased. Now for the interior of our little chicken den.
We gutted the inside and pressure washed the whole thing. Now for the fun part!!
A little fast forwarding and viola!! We have us a hen house! Notice all the light and space! There's 11 nest boxes and enough roost space for lotsa birds. All opening windows are wired over and I added a wind turbine ventalator on the roof to keep the girls cool. Odie looks on in approval. He and the chickens are great friends.
I used dog kennel panels I picked up used for cheap for the run and topped it off with a hawk net. I put a roof over the front for sun/weather protection, and a smaller roof over the backside windows to keep rain out. Add a nice coat of burgundy paint (wifey says it's purple, but I AM color blind).
The girls have a nice dirt box for dust bathing and a few places to hide and climb around. The roosters like to play King-of-the-Hill on the tree branch. That was Odie's idea.
Well, that's about it folks. I have a total of about $200 invested in the entire project and around 25 hours of time. I figure 80% of the materials were re-cycled form stuff I had laying around and the bus was free. The chickens seem to like the set-up and they are about as predator safe as you can get them. Odie made a good supervisor, and was always there for moral/technical support and help me eat my sandwich at lunch break. I have to say it was a blast to do and very satisfying to know I did it myself and I think it turned out pretty well.
