Chicken Coops on a Dime!

[Kyochan]

Okay. It's around 3pm so we've put about 4 hours into work and an hour into running to the store for hinges and L-brackets. I figured I would show you guys some 'in-progress' pictures while I stuff my face with a quick bite to eat before going out to do some more! We are hopeful that we can finish the run by today. Might be pretty ambitious since its just my mother who has a bad back (she had surgery a year and a half ago that went kind of bad) and myself who has a bad knee but I think we are managing great!


Here are the lawn timbers and 2x4's we got. Stacked next to the pallet coop.


Haha. Our messy work space.


The chain link gates.




The Chain link fence.


It's crooked and uneven but its sturdy!!


The fence going up next to the coop.



We cheated and to save on lawn timbers we attatched part of the fence to the tree. Don't worry. We will be re-enforcing it and predator proofing it later on.


The back, 10 foot wall. We are going to be putting railroad ties along the bottom to make it secure but we want to get the whole run frame up first.

 

[Kyochan]

We haven't gotten a lot done thanks to a surprise trip to go get my new horse and then a bunch of work at our boring real jobs getting dumped on us but any progress is great progress!



Finished securing the structure of this wall.


A view of the whole thing. Note the tarp we are using as a door on the coop at the moment. The pretty wicker door did not last. lol. We will build a new door this week.


The corner on the other side of the coop. The board you see going straight across is not only a support beam but will also be what I hang my feeders from.


Hooks for the feeders.


This corner near the front needed extra support for the beams and we decided to disguise them. How? A chicken spa! We put up a tarp over the support beams as the 'roof' of the spa and we will be adding in a triangle sand box 'spa' for the ladies.

 

[Kyochan]

The big coop is finished!


Outside Roosting made with an old, long pallet and two lawn timber posts.


View from my front porch.


I was unsure about my mothers idea of this as a ladder into the coop but the ladies have taken right to it with no problems!


front gate will also have a chain on it as we measured the space wrong lol.


One of the ladies made us put construction on hold while she laid an egg.


I was surprised about how tough and sturdy this netting on the top was.


Held together redneck style. Horseshoe nails and zipties! Honestly it works very well!


Banjo the Pig and Sp00n the House Chicken playing in the run.



The adult girls having a bit to eat while the cat grooms herself.


Sp00n was very happy with that perch.


Even the duck came up for a bite to eat.

 

[Kyochan]

Yesterday my flock got locked into the coop. They were fine during the day but started freaking out when night fell (they'be been free range their entire lives) and when they couldn't get to their big roosting tree beneath te flood light Dwight at the barn we had panic every where. Eventually they settled down. I was proven right about the coop being o small though. Only 5 of the hens and the only baby in that flock slept in the coop while the other 5 hens and Cas the rooster decided on top of the 'spa' was better. trying to move them to the coop was pointless as I proved there wasn't enough room so I thread roosting branches through the chain link and hung glow sticks for them. Everyone was safe and sleeping at 4am this morning so now I have to temporarily weather proof the spa while rushing to expand the coop. Ooh!

 

[Kyochan]

Work on the third 'coop' has begun. It's more of a hutch than a coop though. I'm expecting some serama chicks soon and when I saw a rabbit hutch on craigslist for free I could not pass it up. Not sure how I'm going to modify it though. Tons of research needs to be done on how to build it and how much space they need. It's 5 foot by 2.3 foot and 2.5 foot high. Not sure whether to keep it as one hutch or two hutches.

 

[Ole rooster]

My first coup I bought all the material. Well the majority of the stuff. The second I got an old garage door from a neighbor. I cut it up for the sides. I did buy some treated wood and framing, but the rest I had. The tin is what came off my house when the new roof went on. The third one was small. I converted a dog house into a 1 box setting hen house with a 4 X 10 run. The stuff for the run all bought. I covered everything to eliminate any snake hole. Last fall I had some sexlinks I bought and had them sunning in the front yard inside a pen built when I heard one of them peeping as loud as I've heard. I went over to them and found a black snake had on by the leg and had wrapped itself around the chick trying to kill it. I grabbed the snake and chick, unwrapped it from the chick, but it already had taken a chunk out the chicks leg. At any rate I killed the snake and doctored the chicks leg and it healed pretty good. I named that one drumstick.

Coups can be built our of most anything. But the garage door worked as well and any I've worked with. But for some reason it was hard to paint.

 

[Kyochan]

Ill have to keep a garage door in mind! Most of the stuff used on mine were finds off of Craigslist for free or super cheap. And I just got word a business in town is struggling to find farm fresh eggs so I'm getting to build two (or more) extra layer coops so it'll be fun seeing what I can come up with.