Ended - Spring 2009 Coop Contest for a $20 Gift Cert. WINNERS!!

[Nifty-Chicken]

Who cares if you "win" the contest... the reason we have the contest is to get people to submit their coop pages to help the world see more and more examples and ideas.

Every coop will have the ability to inspire somewhere with some aspect of its design / layout.

So, forget the contest, but please provide a link to your coop page so we can add it to our system!

 

[Zahboo]

Quote:
I am doing the same thing. Getting free stuff. It's just some find more stuff. The harder you look the better stuff you find. I found awesome vinyl for free! Check my page. My tractor was below 100 and my coop so far is free!

 

[Zahboo]

When is the next contest? If you check my personal page, you can see I am already working on my next big project. I so far have my 6x4 quarentine coop, a 4x4 tractor with a 4x4 run (used to wean the chicks from indoors to out), a 3x4 tractor with a 8x3 run (in this contest), and am building me a 8x7 coop now. Today was rough!

 

[tienchinho]

Here's my coop:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=26600

We have just six chicks about seven weeks old now. We live in the middle of town with just under an acre.

 

[Debby10]

I definitely spent more on my coop than I intended. I thought I had most of what I needed but found myself filling in with more of whatever I had started the job with. If you have insulation, you need vapor barrier. To finish with the same hardware cloth throughout, there's another four foot roll, and its darn expensive! The metal roofing was the biggest item. $230 and I simply didn't have any free roofing lying around or being offered. Anyway, I wanted it to match my other buildings. I hesitate to admit how much I spent.

I really did have a huge amount of lumber, stain and insulation but things are very expensive now. It didn't take much and now I'm into the coop for around $1200. Cringe. I do have some nice new tools, thought!

The frugal streak in me really admires the thrifty and clever solutions posted on this forum. I've commented on it elsewhere. RoosterJerry, if you have some of those ideas you should definitely share them! I want (and need) to learn them, too!

The only way I can feel good about that price of my coop is to look at similar coops for sale, like those built by the Amish. They cost two and three times as much. But I'm acutely aware of how expensive this venture has been. Many times my family teased me about the cost of my eggs compared to the price of store bought. And I always said, "Clearly its not about the chickens. Its about enjoying building something, too."

So now that I'm rambling, here's a story: My grandfather was an architech who had a very successful construction company before the depression. He built hospitals and churches, etc. But he lost it all when the depression hit. At fifty years of age and with a wife and five small children, he moved back to New England, designed and built chicken barns on a rented property and sold eggs for ten years to get through the depression. Those big airy buildings were lovely. He loved colonial lines. (I sure wish I had asked more questions.) Now I get a big kick out of building a coop, too. One that my persnickity grandfather might have thought attractive. It works for me.

There's more than one way to skin a cat. (I'm sure the chickens will enjoy that saying.) And, as long as the design keeps the needs of the chickens in mind, they will be fine in a too expensive coop, just as they would be in one that is not as store pretty.

By the way, maybe I shouldn't admit this.

But, I've paid a lot more for other pretty things to have around my property, such as the many, many trees and flowers I plant. I don't have kids. That's what I spend my money on. Don't mind me, its just my way.

So there you have it...different strokes.

Debby

 

[GardeNerd]

I finally finished my coop. I used a lot a salvaged and recycled materials where I could. A lot of the items I didn't have a second hand source for I had to purchase new.

Here is my newly created page.

Beach City Coop:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=20741

 

[GopherBoyFarms]

Quote:
our first coop was almost all recycled materials, and it won....so anything is possible. Our second coops so far is all recycled materials ....sadly we will have to wait and enter it in the summer coop contest since GopherBoy is working on getting the gardens resdy right now, the 2nd coop is on hold.

Good luck to everyone...I think they are all GREAT!

As Nifty said...its not about winning...it's about getting your idea seen...it might be just what it takes to get someone else to have chickens in their backyard!!!


~Tiff~

 

[Tony K T]

There are 14 6x12x6 pens here.The whole pen size is 12x84 with pitched roof as part of the pen.In 3 pens there is a 6x6 off ground pen and in another 3 there is 4x6 for grower pens.The construction tarp on the roof stays on year round and the poly on the sides are replaced every year.The 2nd pic shows the off ground pen inside of the 6x12.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[fargosmom]

Hey GardeNerd - I love your entry!! The tractor is really cute. I think I saw that hutch (or one like it) on Craigslist and thought about grabbing it but I didn't see that particular use for it - great idea! I might have to try something like that if I come across another one. You have some lucky chicks.

 

[silkienewbiegurl]

OOPS! I've been meaning to respond to this thread a long time ago! I guess since it's 10:20pm in Hawaii, 3/31, I'm guessing I still meet the contest deadline! *grin*

This is a little coop that I built for my two silkies. It took up my evenings and weekends for about a month and a half but it was a blast to build! My girls seem to like it!

My coop build page is here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=20375-cottage-coop

Thanks folks!