coops of recycled material

[marytoast]

I would like to see coops made from other materials. Recycled materials. I need some inexpensive ideas.

 

[Mahonri]

When I was a kid, my brother made some extra coops out of empty old WWII bomb boxes.

Bottoms to the outside openings to the inside... Made great nest boxes.

I've seen coops made of used wooden pallets.

I've seen coops made of old corrugated plastic for a roof and cheap chicken wire for the sides... but that's in Phoenix where you want airflow and SHADE.

 

[ranchhand]

Hello and

There are a zillion coops of all different types and sizes here! All can be done using recycled materials, there's even a topic right now of someone using pallets to add on to a coop! You can easily get to all the coops from the home page. The most important recycled material is your imagination!

Good luck, post the pics- everyone will chime in with ideas!

 

[ranchhand]

"I've seen coops made of old corrugated plastic for a roof and cheap chicken wire for the sides... "

Wow, Mahonri, I didn't know you'd seen my #2 coop and pen! Next time, stop in for coffee.

 

[tackyrama]

I have a large coop I designed and built myself using my own trees for lumber made by me with a chainsaw mill. The roofing and siding is used steel roofing from a salvage yard. I mixed the cement using class five gravel from an old railroad bed. The thermopane windows I bought used at a local auction for 2$ each. I bought very little new. Such items as hinges, paint, caulking etc cannot be had used. I couldn't be happier with the performance of my coop. Check it out on my BYC web page(s) for all the details.

 

[vermontgal]

Actually, you can get recycled paint, which is made out of "leftover" paints mixed together. Here it is made by the solid waste district, but they sell it in some local retail outlets. Somehow they make decent colors out of it, too. A reused building materials store will also have used hinges. I bought used hinges for my chicken tractor, and also used latches for the doors. Used caulking - now

that's a good one! Occasionally the reused building materials store will have a tube that someone bought and then didn't use.

My coop is built into the corner of a 100% reused 100+ year old barn (reusing 2 of the existing walls). Inside the barn, some of the new walls are made out of some hollow-core bifold doors that I had from rehabbing my tenant's unit. This worked very well, as the doors were like large sheets of lumber. I bought very little for my coop - most of it was built from odds and ends I had lying around the barn.

For roofing, in addition to tackyrama's salvage yard idea, you can get the "cover sheet" from a delivery of metal roofing from a new building materials center. The cover sheet is scratched up by the strapping around the bundle of roofing, so they can't sell it for full price. I dickered with my building materials guys for a good price, for the roof of my chicken tractor.

I'm very excited that a new reused building materials store is opening near me soon. Currently I have to drive 40-50 miles to get to one (combined with other errands, of course).

I really liked the idea of the kitchen cabinet coop, too, that someone posted about recently. It looked very nice when all painted the same color.

 

[tackyrama]

Quote:
Wow! Used Paint? Didn't know there was such a thing. In my case I had to use a special paint formulated for galvanized metal. Any other paint would have just flaked off. There is such a thing as the right product for the right job otherwise you may just be throwing your money away no matter how cheap it was. As for used hinges, yes I did use a used set for one of the doors and could have scrounged another set up, however after already saving several thousand dollars I didn't feel like spending any more time (hours/days) looking (maybe in vain) for another set in order to save 4$.

There is nothing like saving money by doing something your own way with your own alternative materials. Applied intelligence and common sense are also a vital part of the equation.

 

[Apopka Cluckers]

My coop was built from almost 100% recycled material except the cost of hinges and nails.

It was recycled to me because the wood was reused from an old deck that I tore apart. The roof and wall material were old fiberglass panels that I found on a nursery site and they were given to me. Even the wire in the front was pulled from another section of fence that was no longer used.

Total cost for that coop was around 25$

You can check out the pics at http://deodar.multiply.com/photos/album/13/Chickens_Coop_and_Puppies

 

[Hattie the Hen]

I made my coop out bunk beds thrown away by my neighbor--he was about to burn them. I designed it so that a 4'x4'x4'6''high coop sits up on 28''high legs so they can shelter underneath if it's raining. I used the bedheads and bottoms for the lower part---the slats I used for the floor of the coop; they were already cut to size. For the sides I used some old oak kichen cupboard doors. The laying box on the back was part of an old double school desk so already had a sloping lid; by good luck it was the right width. I then made the front, with it's pop-hole and a big window covered with mesh, out of various bits of lumber I had around. It's also got a cover for the window for night-time. The whole 4'x4' front can be lifted off so I can clean it out really easily. The only money I spent on it was for long brass screw to fasten it together incase it has to be moved. it's great, the chickens love it and it is so easy to clean because it's at table height. I designed it like that becaus my first coop is hell to clean, you have to climb inside it and you can't stand up straight! I inherited it when I bought the house which was good but after using it I was determined not to have another with the same problem. It amused my male neighbors to see an old lady set too and make her own coop out of recycled bits & pieces; they were full of praise by the time I had painted it blue to match my barn/garage. I can't show pictures yrt, my camera is sick; I need to get another.

 

[mybelle5]

Ours is 90% recycled.... We found the counter in a vacant lot and with the counter we found piles of wood.. The paint was also recycled exterior paint...
It cost us 80.00 for the wire, additional pieces of wood for the run, gate nails and screws..

,

,

,