We built our coop about 12 years ago or so. It was actually a three sided horse barn that we turned into an insulated all season coop with a huge run on it. We live right next to the woods and have seen raccoon, possum and fox come out into our yard so we don't let our birds free range. To dangerous for them, sigh! Than about 5 years ago we built a beautiful miniature red barn that I use for raising broilers and turkeys in. It was built from recycled lumber, tin, windows and doors. We bought new chicken wire and wiring for lights and outlets, but most of the rest is from recycling. Since both are many years old I am not sure where the plans to either are and I doubt they qualify for the contest, but I am proud of them. Maybe next year I will be entering the contest when we move to our new property and start building there.
This picture was taken in 2010 when we built the red barn. Later we enlarged the run area on the white coop, as I could not let my girls run without supervising them to protect them from the critters who would have them for dinner! The coop and barn it behind my garden and have wooded areas on two sides and only 10 feet away on the back side.
Here is the little red barn with the loft door open before we built the run. We built this barn in April 2010, and promptly got broilers and turkeys to raise for our freezer. My husband has celiac disease so we grow most of our own foods. We have found that most of the store bought turkeys are injected with a saline solution that included wheat flour!!! And so do many of the chickens, we are told its to keep the meat moist so it doesn't dry out. My birds are just as moist if not more so than the store bought ones so I think its more to add weight for increasing the cost myself. But that is my opinion, lol!
Anyway I hope my coop and barn can inspire others just starting to built or looking for ideas. The red barn is not insulated and used only for storage in the winter where as the white coop is insulated against the cold MN winters, it also helps keep it cool in the summer months as well.
Good luck to whomever wins!!!
Hey everyone, we're going to start judging this contest SOON!! Make sure you all have your entries in, pages edited and polished etc. Best of luck to all who entered!
@pogobill that's a lovely coop! If you want to enter this contest though, you need to create a members page of your coop build and post a link to the page here. See here for more info:
I do not envy the judges one little bit! Congratulations to the winners and a huge "thank you" to all of you who shared ideas, ups and downs, and final results! The entries had a a full load of practical with just enough whimsical to make every one unique!
Thanks! Love BYC! Great people, great advice, just a great place to be whether I won or not!
And thanks to all who checked my page. I hope you found something useful on it.
Thanks again BYC!