Once upon a time, my eight year old son was a lot smaller and fit into his twin bed just fine. But he grew, as all kids do and wanted a bigger bed. So his old twin bed went up to the attic where it was taking up too much space. Then we got chickens! And needed to build a coop ASAP. So my thought was, let's turn the old bed into a coop! My husband was not as thrilled with the idea. He likes to follow a plan, and there was no plan for this. It was definitely a figure things out as you build type of project!
First we had to build the basic frame for the coop and nesting boxes, as well as make a solid floor.
Then we moved the structure outside and added siding as well as frame for the run. The coop is 4x6, and the run is 6x8(ish). I learned quickly it would have been wise to first make the door to the run. I got stuck climbing in and out of the window for the coop multiple times.
One of our biggest problems was figuring out how to cover the headboard. While we did have hardware cloth up, I didn't like that you could see the bed. Then I discovered our local Re-Store Humanity store, and found all kinds of things I could add to the coop! For the headboard, we got an old cabinet face for $5 and attached it. The roost is right inside this area, so I wanted lots of ventilation for our hot summers, but also be able to close it in the winter. My husband attached it farther down, so even when doors are closed there's still ventilation.
We used corrugated polycarbonate for the roof. Clear over the run to let in light, and a rust color over coop to let in some light. There's also a hardware cloth skirt around the entire structure. We also positioned nest boxes at the front of coop for easy access, and so that we don't catch water run-off from angled roof. Roof extends over nest boxes, and my husband made a seal for hinges on nest box using a bike tire tube. We also had two small "helpers" that made this project take a lot longer than it should have!
I also grabbed a couple gallons of exterior paint from the Re-Purpose store to paint outside, and also caulked and white-washed inside of coop. We covered hardware cloth skirt with river rock, and temporarily edged the rock with a bunch of old logs. Originally we were going to put more pavers around outside of rocks, but now everyone uses the logs as seats to watch chicken tv! So I guess the logs are staying!
Now that our chickens are four months old, we will be extending the run with a 10x10 dog kennel that was given to us. We just haven't got that far yet. We only have bantams, but of course the chicken math hit us hard. We went from 2 to 5 to 7 then we were also given a Silkie. So up next we will extend the run, and also be adding a second coop! Because this little farmer is about to outgrow his crib and guess what momma has planned for his old crib?!
And of course, here's our chickies!
First we had to build the basic frame for the coop and nesting boxes, as well as make a solid floor.
Then we moved the structure outside and added siding as well as frame for the run. The coop is 4x6, and the run is 6x8(ish). I learned quickly it would have been wise to first make the door to the run. I got stuck climbing in and out of the window for the coop multiple times.
One of our biggest problems was figuring out how to cover the headboard. While we did have hardware cloth up, I didn't like that you could see the bed. Then I discovered our local Re-Store Humanity store, and found all kinds of things I could add to the coop! For the headboard, we got an old cabinet face for $5 and attached it. The roost is right inside this area, so I wanted lots of ventilation for our hot summers, but also be able to close it in the winter. My husband attached it farther down, so even when doors are closed there's still ventilation.
We used corrugated polycarbonate for the roof. Clear over the run to let in light, and a rust color over coop to let in some light. There's also a hardware cloth skirt around the entire structure. We also positioned nest boxes at the front of coop for easy access, and so that we don't catch water run-off from angled roof. Roof extends over nest boxes, and my husband made a seal for hinges on nest box using a bike tire tube. We also had two small "helpers" that made this project take a lot longer than it should have!
I also grabbed a couple gallons of exterior paint from the Re-Purpose store to paint outside, and also caulked and white-washed inside of coop. We covered hardware cloth skirt with river rock, and temporarily edged the rock with a bunch of old logs. Originally we were going to put more pavers around outside of rocks, but now everyone uses the logs as seats to watch chicken tv! So I guess the logs are staying!
Now that our chickens are four months old, we will be extending the run with a 10x10 dog kennel that was given to us. We just haven't got that far yet. We only have bantams, but of course the chicken math hit us hard. We went from 2 to 5 to 7 then we were also given a Silkie. So up next we will extend the run, and also be adding a second coop! Because this little farmer is about to outgrow his crib and guess what momma has planned for his old crib?!
And of course, here's our chickies!
