Cheap and easy, relatively temporary coop?

[amandanicole]

Hello all. We currently have three hens and have been lucky enough to live at a place for the past three years that already had a nice big chain link dog run that was attached to a coop in the garage. The ladies have had SO much space for as long as we've had them. Unfortunately we will be moving back to our home town in a month and a half and living with my parents for 6-9 months while my husband is waiting to go off to Air Force Officer Training School. After that we'll receive our orders and be able to live somewhere for at least four years and will build a nice coop but we're sort of at a loss at what to do while we're living with my parents.

They already have a few hens, but their coop really can't hold any more and we don't want to deal with mixing the flocks for such a short time.

What do you all think the cheapest and easiest temporary-ish coop would be? I would rather not have to build something complex. We will only have a weekend to get it setup/do any minor construction. I was thinking perhaps some sort of prefab coop and then building a run around it?

Any suggestions would be wonderful. Thank you in advance!

 

[RachRed]

I would check craigslist. There are usually some little coops for sale on there.

 

[BeetleChick]

I have a little tikes playhouse for a coop in between the brooder and big coop. I would get a big playhouse and a dog pen on craigslist.

 

[amandanicole]

Yeah, the only problem with craigslist is that we'll be moving 6 hours away from where we are now. So unless we can find something the weekend we go down to get it all set up it could be complicated.

 

[dheltzel]

I have a hoop house that is movable for a summer residence:


It's 8 x 12, but you can change the dimensions as desired.


I figure it costs about $100 in materials and very feasible to build in a day.

 

[amandanicole]

Thank you! We were thinking about doing a hoop house for the run but wanted to put something more substantial inside of the hoop house run for sleeping/laying purposes. We'll be in the pacific nw and it rains an awful lot so I would like them to be able to go "inside" and I don't think a tarp will provide enough coverage...

 

[amandanicole]

Like.. Maybe something like this inside of a large hoop run?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/New-Age-Pet-Fontana-Chicken-Barn/21349300

I'd prefer even cheaper of course, but would be willing to pay more to NOT have to build something.

 

[aart]

Like.. Maybe something like this inside of a large hoop run?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/New-Age-Pet-Fontana-Chicken-Barn/21349300

I'd prefer even cheaper of course, but would be willing to pay more to NOT have to build something.

It says it's good for 6 hens....so 3 would probably fit.

Hoop coop and that thing sounds like a pretty good plan for you r situation.
Prefab coops can often leak so having it under a tarped hoop run is a good idea.

 

[amandanicole]

That's what I was thinking... Their estimates are always way off on chicken capacity.

I think that may be what we end up doing, but I'm still open to more suggestions.