Easy cheap ER coop ideas?

[gemd]

I need an easy, cheap er coop idea. It's 24 and windy and my existing coop isn't big enough for all, or, I've got creatures of habit who only want to roost on top of a dresser. I have 11 birds and I am attaching a badly drawn picture to explain things. I want to build something tomorrow but I am not handy and don't have the $ due to the fact we had two emergency home repairs in the past 2 days. Photo in comments.

 

[gemd]

Here is a drawing with estimated measurements too.

 

[gemd]

Of my 11 birds, 3-5 love to live on top of the dresser it's more nightstand sized. There is half doors so they go inside to lay eggs.

 

[Weeg]

What exactly do you mean by ER coop? A coop for chicken emergency's, or an additional coop for your birds? Also, do you have a dresser in your existing coop, or are you currently keeping them in the house? I could be wrong, thats just the first thing that, "the dresser" makes me think of.

 

[gemd]

I was thinking of adding wood like a lean to....?

What exactly do you mean by ER coop? A coop for chicken emergency's, or an additional coop for your birds? Also, do you have a dresser in your existing coop, or are you currently keeping them in the house? I could be wrong, thats just the first thing that, "the dresser" makes me think of.

I have a small coop plus a dresser but they go on top of the dresser instead of in. And the coop doest fit all my birds.

 

[springvalley123]

Is the wood slat fence sturdy enough to build off of, using it as one of the walls?

Temporary, emergency type ideas are:
Pound 4 t-posts into the ground (or 2 if you can use the fence as the back wall)
Run 2x4 non climb fence and hardware cloth around the posts to make a perimeter.
Brackets and 2x4 or 2x3 studs between the t-posts, to secure/support 2x4 non climb or HW cloth for a top.
Tarps on the top.
Saw horses for roosts, to keep the roosts away from the perimeter.
You could also use pallets along the perimeter, but would still need tarps and hardware cloth.

 

[springvalley123]

I was thinking of adding wood like a lean to....?

I have a small coop plus a dresser but they go on top of the dresser instead of in. And the coop doest fit all my birds.

yes! make the lean-to come off the back fence. make note of where the wind is coming from at various times of the day. I use weather underground (wunderground.com) to see this at a glance. You could frame it, use t-posts, etc.

 

[aart]

I have 11 birds and I am attaching a badly drawn picture to explain things.

3x5' is not big enough for 11 birds.

 

[3KillerBs]

The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

12 hens

• 48 square feet in the coop. 6'x8' is more practical than 4'x12' since a long, skinny coop like that would be difficult to work inside.
• 12 feet of roost
• 120 square feet in the run. 10'x12' or 8'x15' -- 8'x16' means fewer odd cuts than either of those. 6'x20' is possible, especially if your run is an open-topped, fenced area instead of fully-enclosed with a solid and/or wire roof but risks social problems because subordinate hens need to be able to pass the dominant hens at a respectful distance.
• 12 square feet of ventilation.
• 3 nest boxes.

For emergency use you could cobble something together with pallets and a tarp for a roof.

Do you have any access to scrap building materials? Chunks of random metal roofing are particularly useful.

This was my integration pen last summer: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/mini-coop-or-integration-pen-from-a-large-dog-crate.76593/

Next dry day I'm going to convert the frame of a picnic pavillion that lost its cover to a hailstorm into a run for my grow-outs by wrapping it in random chunks of wire fencing. You could do that sort of thing and add tarp walls to create a quick shelter.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Not sure how tight the budget is, but even a sheet of plywood right now is running upwards of $50 right now in my neck of the woods for anything that won't be quickly destroyed.

On the cheap, "pallet coops" (labor intensive, but the materials are often free or nearly so) and "hoop coops" with a tarp roof are your likely best bets. Both will require work to provide predator protection, more with the hoop coop. Hardware cloth is the recommend, but its expensive right now, easily upwards of $1 per linear foot to a 2.5' height.

Chicken wire keeps chickens in. It keeps NOTHING out. Its only use is as a frame work for paper mache. Best avoided.