Hello! I am a mother hen to 6 chickens right now. Last year was our first year in chicken ownership so we had to have a coop. We scoured the internet for free and cheap recycled materials to make a coop. We had a goal in mind of using recycled good and saving money.
We found a free kid's playhouse on craigslist & the owners were willing to deliver it to us on a trailer for $20, what a steal. Once we had it, we tore it apart to add an adult sized door and a front porch. Then we rebuilt it!
Before & After
First we tore it apart. The blue siding was cracked and falling apart. So we knew it needed replacing. My husband framed a human sized door in the center so we would be able to get in and clean. The roof was in perfect condition so we knew we had to keep that.
Then we found some free cedar fencing that we used in place of the siding. We added laying boxes to the front that would have easy egg access. I wanted it to have a front porch... so my husband made it happen!
All of the supplies so far were free and recycled! We had to replace the front porch poles with sturdier posts that were left over from fencing our yard.
Then we painted it purple with discount paint from Lowes! If you haven't seen their discount section of paint, it's our favorite place to buy paint for projects.
There's a door on the inside of the run that we can open and close with a string from the outside. I reused the red playhouse shutters after painting them tan.
The run is lined with railroad ties to prevent diggers from getting in! I cut the chickens out with a scroll saw and the coop is done!
Our chickens love it and so do we! Recycling is my favorite and it was so cheap to complete this project, I could justify buying more chickens this year!
We found a free kid's playhouse on craigslist & the owners were willing to deliver it to us on a trailer for $20, what a steal. Once we had it, we tore it apart to add an adult sized door and a front porch. Then we rebuilt it!
Before & After
First we tore it apart. The blue siding was cracked and falling apart. So we knew it needed replacing. My husband framed a human sized door in the center so we would be able to get in and clean. The roof was in perfect condition so we knew we had to keep that.
Then we found some free cedar fencing that we used in place of the siding. We added laying boxes to the front that would have easy egg access. I wanted it to have a front porch... so my husband made it happen!
All of the supplies so far were free and recycled! We had to replace the front porch poles with sturdier posts that were left over from fencing our yard.
Then we painted it purple with discount paint from Lowes! If you haven't seen their discount section of paint, it's our favorite place to buy paint for projects.
There's a door on the inside of the run that we can open and close with a string from the outside. I reused the red playhouse shutters after painting them tan.
The run is lined with railroad ties to prevent diggers from getting in! I cut the chickens out with a scroll saw and the coop is done!
Our chickens love it and so do we! Recycling is my favorite and it was so cheap to complete this project, I could justify buying more chickens this year!
Lindsay Baker
