Help with how to turn this into a normal coop?

[NovaAman]

Plexi window on the side there

This whole thing only cost me just under 200 to build I got all the wood from lowes, and they even cut most of it to the sizes that i needed for nothing. It does have a slanted roof, and venting along the back. Inside has 4 perches and inside nest box that i can take out for cleaning. there is a hole on the floor for them to go into the under run, and a door on the underrun that opens too. It took me 3 days to build, and I have never built anything. I built it myself after work. If you have your bf to help you it'll probably be faster. Its just an 8x4x4 box basically with a 2.5 foot high under run.

 

[elmo]

Number 1: get rid of chicken wire. Yikes! They should call that stuff Chicken Death Wire. Welded wire (sometimes called hardware cloth) is much stronger.

 

[NovaAman]

So true on the chicken death wire.

 

[ginger c.]

we used wood pallets to build our coop, they're free and easy to come by. we built a lean to shed style coop, oh and we have NO building skills at all. ours is 4x8 and raised off the ground about a foot. good luck!

 

[remuda1]

Don't forget to check out craigsList for a shed, you can save a ton of money that way. There are always some sheds under the farm and garden section. I got a 12x20 fully lofted barn in excellent condition for 2,000.00. I use part of it for my large coop and store all of our livestock feed in the rest of it. It's got double doors in the front, along with two windows and was already fully wired for electricity when I bought it. Here's the best pic I can post right now. I look at CL before I make any farm and ranch purchases

 

[chickens? not yet]

Quote:
This is sooo great!! Love it!!

 

[smkchick]

I bought a prefab coop for about $350 and then spent about another $100 expanding it because it turned out to be way too small. We used the original coop, raised it up with a big run underneath, added a nesting box to the side and a tall covered run for perches.

I say start with what you have. We used 2x4s to build a 2ft h x 10ft w x 2ft d enclosed run (with 1/2" hardward mesh all around) and nailed the original coop to the top of it. We put in a couple of ladders to get the girls up to the higher level, with a little shelf/landing. That was good for about a week, then I decided I wanted it bigger still. So we "dormered" out the side by making a nesting box. And went up on the other side of the run to make a tall open area for perches and a swing. It's now all covered and enclosed in mesh. I let my girls free range all day, but I wanted them to have a place for bad weather.

Here's a picture of the original coop:

And what it looks like now:

 

[Wyogirl]

Quote:

WOW Love it!
Ayda