Coop Ideas ...

I would hire out some local guys, or young boys with FFA style carpentry skills, that might inspire your own guys to help OR, the hired help could do it entirely, either way, youve won. Having enough carpentry skills to build a coop, or even convert an existing building is easy, its knowing where to start thats hard. Once someone shows you a little bit, im sure u will gain confidence and jump right in. You might inquire at a local feed store about cheap hired help. Possibly you have a "day worker" center or odd jobs office in conjunction with the local unemployment office that could offer a place to find help.

I build all my own coops, barns, runs, etc, and am pretty good at it now, but my animals have seen plenty of UGLY shelters over the years, as I was learning. good luck!

 

We are in the process of expanding--I have 17 guinea keets that have almost outgrown the brooder. We are building a pen using landscape timbers for posts and what we call dog fencing (welded wire with 2" x 4" spaces). We have three other pens all built similarly, and they are sturdy and offer secure protection from predators. We use the fencing on the top of the pen also and have a covered and enclosed area (usually sheets of tin roofing) at one end of the pen for a roosting and nesting area out of the weather. It's fairly easy to build and fairly inexpensive this way. Maybe this will give you some ideas depending on what you have on hand.

 

I can't give you any ideas about how to persuade your family to build you the coop that you want.

However, while growing up on a big farm, I mucked out many a barn. You "can" get in there and clean the four foot of old bedding and manure from the pens that your chickens are in. It is not going to be easy work. In fact, it will be downright hard work. However, you CAN do it. You will need to spend many hours to do it, but your birds will be healthier for it. Then it will be easier to reduce the mite population, too.

You'll need a wheelbarrow or a good garden cart, a shovel, and maybe a rake to break things up. If there is a lot of old straw or hay down in there you may need to break thins up with a pitchfork or garden fork. Perhaps if your brothers and dad see you working hard at tasks like this in order to do the best for your birds they will pitch in and help you. It might even be a way to show that you are willing to do some super hard work for your girls and might help you get the coop that you want sooner!

Edited to add: It's not a job you will do in a day, or maybe even a week with the size of your pens. Start on the end closest to the door and clean out a section at a time -- maybe a 3x3 foot section. That way, you'll see progress!

 

mayber try to put that "flooring" edgeways around where your "used to be run" is, to keep the horses from pushing the wire in, then put more wire at the top. you could trim up the branches on that tree and just attatch the wire over head to the trunk as far up as the lowest branch will allow. Mucking out those big pens will be crazy hard, but determination will see u through, and maybe enlist the help of your county agent, or 4-H agent about your mite problem, u can do it, and by the way, COOL OLD BARN!!

 

Mrs. Fluffy Puffy :

We have all the supplies to build a LARGE COOP/RUN but .... the boys are never home and when they are home they wonna rest.
It doesn't help none that they kind of dislike my poultry addiction ...

Pfft. Who says you have to wait on the guys to build a coop/run? If I'd waited on DH we'd have NEVER gotten it done. Not that I don't understand, between work and school he's lucky to be able to walk, but still. It's not perfect, and I did have to call in the troops for the final assembly (heavy) but mostly I did it myself. Just like the shocks in the truck... boy oh boy the look on my FIL's face... priceless.

Think about what you want, add in your skills, and hop to it.

On the mites thing check out the threads, there are tons of ideas around here... though it sounds like your case is scary. Maybe just getting all of them out for X time would do it. Without a food source they'll die... figure out what that timetable is and do the do.

That's about all I've got... not much, but hope it helps.​

 

I am going to agree with what Rozzie stated in her post. Just start working at it section by section, your dad and brothers will see how hard you are willing to work for it and might just pitch in to help you out. Thats what happened with me. I had my "dream henhouse" in my mind for the longest time and I couldnt get my son or husband motivated to build it for me because there were around 100 banana trees that needed to be dug out, the trees needed to be replanted, and the ground would need to be tilled before constructing. I knew it was going to be alot of hard work digging out those trees, so I started digging them out, one by one, day by day. All the men in the family realized how badly I wanted this henhouse and were ashamed to see me work so hard so they all pitched in and within two days, all the trees were removed and replanted. They still werent motivated to help me further, so I rented a tiller and started to plow the area myself; again, they all pitched in and took turns helping me plow. At that point, my husband realized how much the "dream henhouse" meant to me, but since he lacks carpentry skills, he hired someone to build my henhouse, and within a week, my girls were moving in! Lucky for you, your dad and brother have the skills to rebuild yours.

Like you, I was having issues with how I had to keep my chickens housed, and though my chickens were healthy, they looked terrible! I had individual coops for each of my 30 birds where they were only housed at night, they would free range all day; but they would try and get out of the small hole in the mornings that held their feeder cups and all their neck feathers were missing. When it would rain, which wasnt too often, I would have to leave them cooped in there all day. It was so depressing to me, can you imagine how the chickens felt? Today, they have a big beautiful 20 x 8 henhouse to retire in after a long day of ranging, and the only chickens without their neck feathers are my Turkens!