100% Recycled Chicken Tractor

[kristenm1975]

I can't resist a bargain, but this one goes way beyond just a good deal. I spend not one penny on the whole build, did it all myself, and it only took two days! The other amazing part is that the two little banty turkens now residing in my super-bargain tractor were free also. How can you beat it??

Here it is: (Those of you in construction, look away now. It's free, but it ain't pretty!)

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

AWESOME!!!

 

[12 Acres]

My kinda deal!

 

[IcedMochaChick]

Hey, that looks great! Well done

 

[bluey]

I love it! Simple and functional. Chicken coops really don't need to be taj mahals...

Nice job!

 

[ChickPeas]

Sweet! What make up all the building materials? THis is just what I'm looking for for my 3 roos.

 

[Jen4]

kristenm1975 - Could you tell me how you made this? I would like to make one for myself since it looks like Dh is not going to make me one right now...lol and could you post more pictures of it and the inside too....Thanks

 

[tvtaber]

Wow! I think it looks pertty good; at least I would not be embarassed to have it in my yard.

 

[kristenm1975]

Thanks all!

I made the coop out of mostly 2 x 4's that had been used as braces for concrete setting, hence the nice faded whitewash look of some of the pieces. The basic frame is some nice old faded 2" x 4" x 6' boards, 4 of them, and then the shorter pieces of the frame are about 2" x 4" x 3'. The box part where the roost, nest and food are is about 2' x 3' x 3'. I used lots of different salvaged pieces of 2" x 4"s and plywood to close in the box. That's where a lot of the concrete brace boards are used.

I had two hinges left over from dismantling an old bookshelf unit with a cupboard on the bottom (used the rest of it on my first coop build) so I put those to use for the door. The door itself is about 1 1/2' x 2' plywood with a little recycled doorknob from the cupboard. Since I didn't have any locks for the door, I just nailed a 9" x 3/4" x 2" piece of board to the left of the door which I just swing down to lock the door.

The nest box is an old bird's nest I found in the blackberry bushes out back and which is a perfect fit for the banties. I made a roost for the girls out of a thin piece of old cedar, just braced on the side walls.

The front of the box is about 49" x 48" x 3/4" plywood, nailed down on the sides to the 2" x 4" braces for the middle part of the frame. The run is enclosed with one layer of deer netting, stapled down to the frame, covered by two layers of lighter bird netting, also stapled down to the frame. I discovered the first night that the littlest of the turkens could fit through the gaps between staples so I put a couple of nice heavy 2" x 4"s all around the top and some really heavy big blocks around the bottom of the run to prevent predators from digging in. The mesh is not nearly as safe as hardware cloth, but with so many layers, I think an animal would get totally stuck in the stuff and get discouraged. At least, that's what happens to me when I work with the stuff.

Here's some more pictures:

 

[Cetawin]

I think it looks great! And you cannot beat the price. A coat of paint and no one would ever know it was all recycled wood and such. You should be proud of it, you did good!