A Shelter for Food and Water in the Pen?

[3KillerBs]

I'd like to get the food and water out of the 4'x4' coop, where they are taking up 2-3 square feet of floor space.

But since I've got an open pen surrounded by electric poultry net instead of a roofed/partially-roofed run I need ideas about how to build a free-standing, sheltered food/water station that will protect the feeder from rain and shade the waterer so that it doesn't get hot.

We just lucked into a lot of quite good pallets to take apart for wood and are going to be disassembling a peculiar structure that the previous owner built (worst horse/cow "shelter" ever in ways I can't begin to describe and not square in any dimension), to salvage even more wood and some corrugated roofing panels. DH is happy to do the building, but he wants me to provide a good sketch of what I want or, at least, some photos he can reference.

Anyone have such a thing?

 

[black_cat]

I'd like to get the food and water out of the 4'x4' coop, where they are taking up 2-3 square feet of floor space.

But since I've got an open pen surrounded by electric poultry net instead of a roofed/partially-roofed run I need ideas about how to build a free-standing, sheltered food/water station that will protect the feeder from rain and shade the waterer so that it doesn't get hot.

We just lucked into a lot of quite good pallets to take apart for wood and are going to be disassembling a peculiar structure that the previous owner built (worst horse/cow "shelter" ever in ways I can't begin to describe and not square in any dimension), to salvage even more wood and some corrugated roofing panels. DH is happy to do the building, but he wants me to provide a good sketch of what I want or, at least, some photos he can reference.

Anyone have such a thing?

I don't have anything or pictures to reference, but I imagine it would just be a little 3 walled hut (doesn't even have to be solid) with a roof.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Just something that's like a little cubby should work. The structure on the upper right is my covered food area (it was part of my old coop) - I use "covered" loosely because it's just a greenhouse panel on top of wire, but keeps the area under it pretty dry. I've recently added panels on the back and on one side as well. The chickens will even use it as a rain shelter.

(Ignore the dampness in the photo, this was taken right after a flood lol.)

 

[aart]

Just something that's like a little cubby should work. The structure on the upper right is my covered food area (it was part of my old coop) - I use "covered" loosely because it's just a greenhouse panel on top of wire, but keeps the area under it pretty dry. I've recently added panels on the back and on one side as well. The chickens will even use it as a rain shelter.

Your upper part of your old coop, what you use as a brooder, would work great too.
Just see the corner of it in lower right.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Your upper part of your old coop, what you use as a brooder, would work great too.
Just see the corner of it in lower right.

Yeah the "brooder" is a lot more solid as far as being rainproof, so when it's not in use as a brooder or isolation cage we'll open it up on rainy days as a shelter and the chickens split themselves between the brooder and the covered feed area (no one wants to go into the coop unless it's so overcast it looks like dusk.) But just for keeping food dry, the more open cubby works fine as long as there's some consideration for wind/rain directions.

 

[RW1984]

For a feeder I just took a 33 gallon trash can and some 3inch PVC 90 degree elbow joints. I trimmed one end off it and then set it on the ground and drew a circle where it met the trash can and cut the hole out. Did that 6 times total.
I used cement glue to hold it in and then I used some rubber spray to seal it.
Now I can dump two or three bags of feed in there and put the lid on and not worry about feeding them for a few weeks.
Keeps the rain out even when it rains sideways.
Couple bugs get in there sometimes but the birds eat them right up as a bonus snack. Sort of like the prize in a Cracker Jack box.

 

[aart]

Yeah the "brooder" is a lot more solid as far as being rainproof

I just love the curved roof:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/short-on-time-recycle-a-prefab-brooder.73985/

 

[rosemarythyme]

I just love the curved roof:

It really is a good design for an in-run outdoor brooder - glad I was able to reuse it without much effort (just had to remove the screws attaching it to the lower half. Too bad it's a discontinued model, though I suppose someone with woodworking ability could replicate it without too much hassle.

If I were to use it strictly as a covered feed shelter, I'd open up at least one more side (i.e. cut through the wire mesh in the back, or wood panels on side) so the birds could more readily access the feed from more than one direction. Difficult to see in my photo of my current covered feed station, but there's welded wire on one of the short sides and back - I cut away some of the welded wire on the other short side so birds won't get cornered in there while eating.

 

[3KillerBs]

I just want something simple and moveable.

I said "Just a roof up on posts with a solid hook to hang the feeder and room to put the waterer up on blocks as they grow." But DH wants photos or plans so that he isn't just winging it.

The feeder is one of those hanging, metal ones with the loose-fitted "hat" to keep them from perching that wouldn't actually keep rain out.

I thought that 2'x3' or 2'x4' would be plenty big enough.

 

[Trisseh]

This on post #26 in the thread, (or at least the top portion of it) may be of use... I was going to do something similar but wound up hanging my feeder under the coop so didn’t need it.