Cob chicken coop???

[New adventure]

I love cob buildings! I think it would be a great way to build a coop, especially with the additions of wire already mentioned. Check out Mother Earth News archives to see if they have any "cob coops". Wow, try saying that 3 times fast. Make sure to take pics!

 

[Big dreams]

I think that would be really cool, and we do need to see pictures when you are done. Do you build nesting boxes and such right into the walls of the building?

 

[DarkWolf]

Or if you want to have a LOT of fun building a coop... That is, if you can still stand afterward.. How about a beer bottle coop?

 

[nwmud]

if cost is the driving factor.....
Pallets make a good source for wood. Depending on where you live I may have a source of metal roofing if you not too cocerned about it all being the same color and matching. PM me seperately if you in the greater Seattle area.

there are lots of ways to get this done.

 

[geareduplyn]

Where now a days do you find enough whole cobs?

 

[DarkWolf]

Cob building doesn't use "corn" cobs.. It's just the name, as deceptive as it is.

Cob is mad up of balls of clay, sand, straw, water, and earth.

Information About Cob Building

EDIT: Fixed link.

 

[Puck-Puck]

Hi, Socks.

You say you have $300 CDN and you live on the wet coast--er, the west coast. Which makes me assume you're in B.C. As I sit here looking at the rain outside, I am wondering if this cob construction is the best choice for the climate?

Farbeit from me to cramp your artistic style, but I would urge you to have a back-up plan. I know for a fact that you can build a coop and still have LOTS of change from your $300, if you do a little scrounging like nwmud suggests. Demolition sites, building sites, warehouses with broken pallets, and dumps with ??? are excellent places to find free materials. And buying two sheets of metal roof for a coop, or a bit of roll roofing, won't set you back very far. The coast is mild, so you probably don't have to insulate, but you WILL have to keep the chooks dry. Do you have a friend or neighbour who can give you a hand without trying to tell you the "right" way to do things?

 

[socks]

Thanks again everybody for the encouragement and feedback...
The driving factor I think is both cost and the fact that I have only ever lifted a saw to cut off a tree limb and um....as it turns out I am kind of a perfectionist so want to work in a way that I think I can without letting my expectations down. I've been a potter in the past and am a Felter so understand how to realize my 3d imaginings that way but somehow the idea of sawing and measuring and improvising with salvaged wood seems just beyond me and yes, I am just drawn to alternative buildings (Thanks Darkwolf for the beerbottle pic) and prefer rounded shapes to right angles. (of course with my lack of skills in woodwork I probably wouldn't achieve right angles anyway

[/img]
You're right Duck-duck the west coast is a challenge for cob although oddly enough that is where it is most popular in Canada and of course has been done in England for centuries. A rubble rock foundation is necessary and a wide overhung roof. (And yes, Big Dreams, I would build the nest boxes directly in)

I did talk to the leader of the cob workshop I took last year and his response was the same as you and others i.e. it is much easier to throw a coop together out of scrap wood but I think that assumes an understanding of basic construction that I just don't have.

A friend suggested fiberglass although that might be quite expensive and is probably a pretty toxic alternative but would maybe make it portable . On a quick search I have found absolutely nothing about that so I'm guessing there is a reason for that. I also thought about ferro-cement because it would be quicker and there is an image out there of one.

I do love cob but there is the time factor too as I will need this coop by the first week of July and while the wall with bench that we built took only about 3 weekends there were a lot of volunteers coming and going so it is hard to estimate how much time it would take me to do it. I thought I'd throw in a picture of the wall for those who don't know cob and because I don't feel I can scoop other peoples pics on the net.

I have had an intense hankering to build something out of cob since I first saw it but perhaps this isn't the right project.......still researching (Thanks New adventure for the tip on Mother Earth Archives) and it is quite possible I will have to come up with something wooden and portable first to house my 6 soon to be chickens and leave the cob for when I really know what and where I want a coop to be
Thanks nwmud for the offer but I am above you on a Gulf Island in Canada so think the trip and the border would be unreasonable

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[socks]

off topic but if anyone can help me with the emoticons....ie. doing the way I've read,

[/img] with the url in between the img does create the picture but as you can see I have 'img' on either side of it......I hate to ask....is it me or my mac?

[[/img]

 

[Puck-Puck]

Hi, Socks!

Just click on the emoticon above where you're typing

and it will automatically put the BB code in the text for you. (You can go back and add the code yourself; the code is usually either a graphic representation using letters and symbols, or the tag between a pair of colons.)

Aha, on a Gulf Island, as I guessed. Saltspring?