Easy cheap ER coop ideas?

[gemd]

I was thinking of adding wood like a lean to....? I can get pallets but they're not solid they have huge gaps so I guess I add some fence slats or...? Metal? Plastic? I don't have a saw and don't know where to get wood cut unless I purchase it new and buy it where they cut it, well over an hour away. So I'm trying a hillbilly fixing type coop. I want to integrate the dresser if I can as they love their dresser. Not sure if to built a lean to on top of of or around it.

 

[3KillerBs]

I was thinking of adding wood like a lean to....? I can get pallets but they're not solid they have huge gaps so I guess I add some fence slats or...? Metal? Plastic? I don't have a saw and don't know where to get wood cut unless I purchase it new and buy it where they cut it, well over an hour away. So I'm trying a hillbilly fixing type coop. I want to integrate the dresser if I can as they love their dresser. Not sure if to built a lean to on top of of or around it.

If you have minimal tools and minimal woodworking skills then a hoop coop is the easiest build and the cheapest in material costs.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/23607034/

This one doesn't use wood at all, just the cattle panel, the t-posts, and wire with tarp and pallets:

 

[gemd]

Anyway I am discussing with my family as well so we can come up with a solution. All birds were alive this am. I gave them warm oats. It's 17°f but very windy so I might also add more wind protection from the north

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I was thinking of adding wood like a lean to....? I can get pallets but they're not solid they have huge gaps so I guess I add some fence slats or...? Metal? Plastic? I don't have a saw and don't know where to get wood cut unless I purchase it new and buy it where they cut it, well over an hour away. So I'm trying a hillbilly fixing type coop. I want to integrate the dresser if I can as they love their dresser. Not sure if to built a lean to on top of of or around it.

Typically, the slats of one pallet are harvested, then nailed onto another. Being in N Texas, your primary climate concerns for your birds will be heat, not cold - shade, ventilation, and protection from drafts (particularly winter drafts) are your biggest concerns.

BYC has some excellent examples in small and medium coop articles.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Anyway I am discussing with my family as well so we can come up with a solution. All birds were alive this am. I gave them warm oats. It's 17°f but very windy so I might also add more wind protection from the north

DEFINITELY add wind protection, even if only temporary before you head to the store/dump/pallet sale - preserving the bird's down coats is most of what's needed to protect them in cool weather. If the winds can't part their feathers to the skin, they have clean water, and good food, they are generally ok at those temps.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Final thought. While I am not a poultry (or any other animal) feed expert, a veterinarian, or any other qualified thing, I have done a lot of reading on the subject of late.

Oats are very high in beta-glucans, which have the habit of contributing to sticky poops. Particularly in freezing winter conditions, that's something you want to try and avoid, more so if any of your birds ore of the feather footed varieties (i.e. Brahmas). Oats, or any other treat, should not exceed 10% of the bird's daily ration, by weight. This is a case where corn might actually be a better choice, though it pains me to say it. Wheat better still. Best practice remains offering a nutritionally complete feed without adjuncts like additional corn, oats, rye, wheat, etc - more so if you offer a low protein feed (16% or lower) such as the typical "layer" ration.

Mixing complete feed with cool or cold water in the summer, or heated water in the winter, to make an oatmeal-like consistency is an activity many of us engage in to help reduce temperature stresses with our birds. Its called a "wet mash". If you cover the feed with water and allow a few days, you will have "fermented feed".

 

[gemd]

Here is what I have so far, I am taking the photo from the NW.

 

[gemd]

Wait let me try that again. The photo with the yellow dresser and chickens is taken from the nw corner and the next one of the whole coop and run taken from the w. That dresser is loved by them. And then you can see my too small for all birds coop too.

 

[gemd]

Wait let me try that again. The photo with the yellow dresser and chickens is taken from the nw corner and the next one of the whole coop and run taken from the w. That dresser is loved by them. And then you can see my too small for all birds coop too.

Well kinda you can see their coop is to the right but it's covered in trash bags.

 

[3KillerBs]

Well kinda you can see their coop is to the right but it's covered in trash bags.

I suggest taking the plastic off the coop to allow better airflow.

Instead, use a tarp to make a side wall off the frame that's supporting the cover. Not closing it off completely, but just blocking the wind/rain in the area next to the coop.