Do you have 2 chickens and want a cheap coop/run LOOK !

[Kansaseq]

Awesome job, Kristenm!

 

[urban dreamer]

I bought one just like that except it was for rabbits. We converted it to a chicken coop for two standard hens and it was the worst 200 I spent! The wood is very thin and it leaks, bad. We built a run onto it and we have to cover it with a tarp to keep the rain out. It is light so it can be pushed over easy. All in all, to make it chicken sutable cost us nearly 400 dollars! We are useing it as a temporary coop and we have since built a 8x8x6 coop for about 350 dollars (hardware cloth, covered run, feed, the chickens, the works). Just my 2 cents. I think they are a rip off.

 

[emvickrey]

Quote:
My boyfriend made one a bit bigger similar to that one that we put chicks in. They have since graduated to a larger enclosure and we put the latest 4 week olds in the tractor. He installed a heat lamp for it too and we cover the run area with a tarp and wrap it around to keep the heat in during the night and cold or rainy days. It works great. We first put 6 EE 3 week olds in it. Now we have 2 EE 1 PR and 4 AO 4 week old chicks in it. They love it.

If you used it for grown chickens I would only use it for a pair of small breed or a broody hen.

 

[emvickrey]

Quote:
I agree with the cheap wood statement. Although a tractor is suppose to be able to be moved, the "light" issue can be bad. Anythng even the wind can knock it over and the wood will rot faster. Good old home made ones are better. Maybe not as pretty but more "servicable".

As I said in my previous post, my boyfriend made one similar. He used heavy guage wire like would be used as a fence for livestock, cut in half and made into a V shape, but upside down. Then he covered that with chicken wire and held it all together with wood strips. It is framed with wood. Then for the house part he used some metal he had left over from a roof job and covered half of the tractor and made an inside wall with a small doorway and the outside wall with a door for access to feed and water. The heat lamp is fed through the top corner which also makes it accessable to change bulbs when needed and keeps water from freezing. He used the bent metel to go along the top to keep out rain and snow and heat in. He put it near our outside electric outlet so it plugs in right there and the cord isn't too tight where rain will run down it into the light and tractor.

I'll get a pic one day and put it on here. He also made a small coop and run for the ones that graduated to a larger space out of a gardening table he made. He just added walls and a run with a cover out of figerglass sheeting so they can get out even in the rain. Added a perch and door and they are as happy as pigs in........well you know what in.

It's real handy having a carpenter in the house that gets bored easily

 

[kristenm1975]

Thanks Kansaseg!

I spent many a happy hour sitting beside that little broody hut watching first the ducklings hatch, and then the chicks, several weeks later. What an incredible experience! It was the first time I'd ever seen anything hatch, except on television. This was the best "television" ever!

I'm so looking forward to being able to go through the whole process again possibly this spring.