Have you looked at as many coops and plans as I have?

[LeftAtAlbuquerque]

DH is ready to shoot me, ha ha. I've showed him soooo many pictures and plans. Every day I show him one and say "OOOH, look at this idea!"

I took this picture a few weeks ago of one of the chicks, and didn't realize what was in the background - I think it should say "STOP LOOKING AT ALL THOSE PLANS AND JUST BUILD THE D@MNED THING!!!!!!"

 

[Ms.FuzzyButts]

Ah, a fellow over thinker! Nice to meet ya! Yep, just build it. Or not. I mean, you want it to look good, be functional, sturdy, predator proof, cost efficient.. Yep, just put the books away and go build.

 

[PineappleMama]

You have NO idea... I filled a whole spiral notebook with ideas... some of them quite odd before we settled on what we have.

Scary part is that now that ours is built I haven't stopped! I keep getting more crazy ideas for 'someday'

 

[DerbyChook]

I can totally relate. We JUST finished our little coop/run and now I am completely obsessed with building a larger coop out of pallets/recycled materials. I figure if I can do it for cheap and mostly on my own, DH can't complain too much. And then I will have space for more chickens

 

[theoldchick]

I hear ya! My hubby and I don't have the best communications skills at times (even after 29 years), and all the pictures don't seem to help him, either!

He's like, "A chicken tractor? What? You move them around? Do what? Why would you put wheels on a coop? Does it have a gas engine? Diesel? You pull the thing? With what?"

Now, bear in mind he's from mountain folk where chickens roost in one coop. The hens lay eggs, the roosters get et, and the poop gets spread on the garden by the youngest walking member of the family who can hold a shovel with one hand.

 

[gryeyes]

Oh, Lordy, yes. And since I was building mine myself, no assistance from others, whatever I chose had to be simple. First came the so-called "tractor" which I call the A-Frame coop, because that thing will never, ever move from where I built it.

Then I bought a coop KIT, because I really worried about my new chicks learning how to go up the ramp from the secure pen under it into the "living quarters" section. I brought my first chicks out for day trips, and none of them figured out the ramp. So when they were ready to leave the brooder forever, I had someplace they'd be able to get into without an upstairs.

Putting that kit together, after building the heaviest danged A-Frame tractor from 2x4s, plywood, nails, hardware cloth, etc., gave me more confidence in building. Back to coop plans.

Found one, but being plans challenged, I had to make a cardboard, scale model first.

And it turned out lovely! You'll notice I even made CHANGES to the plans!

I'm awfully proud of it.

Just do it. After all, you may very well build another someday, with all the features you have realized you really want, after keeping chickens in it for a while.

Now I find myself looking at coops for sale on CraigsList, comparing them to mine, weighing the cost versus the cost of my own materials and how freakin' long it took for me to build mine, and almost wanting to buy one already made, but not a kit.