Dreamers Nook
Songster
- Aug 17, 2023
- 171
- 652
- 156
I've been pondering awhile if I should even post this, being there's so many critics in this group.
I'm a homesteader, and DIY. But both I and my husband are retired, on a fixed income and taking care of my mother. Most of what I have used we had leftovers from (building my parents) and remodeling (us). So, after a horrid winter that demolished old coop and my 7 chickens, I decided to buy a pre-made shed. It's not cheap, but given situation, was best choice for us. I hope to share, for those that don't have a lot of money, to give them some ideas.
I'm raising multi purpose, pets, layers and meat, being we have family that could use help.
I wanted to insulate (did partially) with foam board and plywood. Just, I had half in foam, trust me chickens love foam, don't use unless you have plywood. They go through cardboard to get foam. I didn't have another grand after already investing that much for windows and etc. I partially insulated because where we are in Colorado, we have high winds with below zero Temps at times. So I made do with cardboard, plywood some bad peck areas, and some straw insulation. I'd like to have Eggs in winter, so I have light, and heat. Our coop is next to 3 houses on our property, so, we all keep an eye on them even at night. Where we are, we don't have raccoons, we do coyotes, but coop is between houses with 3 large dogs on property they don't come too close.
I have a covered 12 x10 pen and two fenced grazing pens for spring, so they always have greens.
I'm a homesteader, and DIY. But both I and my husband are retired, on a fixed income and taking care of my mother. Most of what I have used we had leftovers from (building my parents) and remodeling (us). So, after a horrid winter that demolished old coop and my 7 chickens, I decided to buy a pre-made shed. It's not cheap, but given situation, was best choice for us. I hope to share, for those that don't have a lot of money, to give them some ideas.
I'm raising multi purpose, pets, layers and meat, being we have family that could use help.
I wanted to insulate (did partially) with foam board and plywood. Just, I had half in foam, trust me chickens love foam, don't use unless you have plywood. They go through cardboard to get foam. I didn't have another grand after already investing that much for windows and etc. I partially insulated because where we are in Colorado, we have high winds with below zero Temps at times. So I made do with cardboard, plywood some bad peck areas, and some straw insulation. I'd like to have Eggs in winter, so I have light, and heat. Our coop is next to 3 houses on our property, so, we all keep an eye on them even at night. Where we are, we don't have raccoons, we do coyotes, but coop is between houses with 3 large dogs on property they don't come too close.
I have a covered 12 x10 pen and two fenced grazing pens for spring, so they always have greens.