help with ideas chick trying to build chick house! *Pics included*

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

So needless to say I have done everything backwards. Lesson learned! My hubby was due to come home from Iraq when my chicks would be around 3 or 4 mths old and silly me thought I could keep all 9 in the house till then. Well 4 days after bringing them home he tells me he will have to extend for an extra month maybe 2. So now I need to figure out a way to make temporary for these babies for a few months till he comes home and builds me the real coop and run. I do not think I am near as handy as some of the ladies on here that have built thier very on coops. So I ran across these, what I would call rabbit hutches 50 bucks for both with the waterers and feeders included. They both have electric outlets on them with light fixtures inside, previous owner raised quail for meat in them.
The small one demensions are 6 ft x 3 ft being 2 ft off the ground and the inside is about 2 1/2 tall

the big one denensions are 4 ft x 10 ft being 3 ft off the ground and the inside is about 2 1/2 tall

Both have wire on the bottom and that will have to change the small one the roof is nailed in and on the bigger on the roof is screwed in. I was planning on adding a small run and sanding and painting both. My thought process tells me that even after I get my big coop I will still be able to use these ones for ER and seperation. So I want to make them as pretty as possible so my hubby will not put on the burn pile after the big coop is done. Is there a way to either add to the bottom or top to make the inside maybe 4 ft. A way that a very novice female could do. I have my hubby's tools here and can most likely cut plwood or maybe get my uncle to help if too complicated but would like to do it without hindering everyone on the block to help out.
I will be running 14 guage electric fencing around the whole kit and kaboddle. With a baby monitor in the coop itself to hear any body stirring at night.
BTW I have 3 and 4 week old Silkies. Thank goodness they mature slowly!
Please help me and my babies!

 

[trilyn]

Omigosh, first thanks to your hubby for serving! God bless him! Secondly, great find, that will definitely make a nice temp coop. Hang on, there's some talented women on here, I just ain't one of them! lol

 

[greenpeeps]

You could do so much with those. A great coat of paint is a perfect start. If you can't build a run, cover the bottom with chicken wire and there ya go. You could even have the two coops seperated and have a court yard in the center. Just fill in the gaps with fencing, tada! So a baby monitor. I take it you have lots of preditors? Good Luck

Tell you DH, we said THANKS!

 

[Mrs. Green Thumbs]

Are you talking about raising the entire unit higher off the ground or the roof? If it's the roof how is it connected to the frame? If it's the entire unit Id say just jig saw off the leg's and screw on new ones... But then again I'm a jerry rig Diva lol.


Oh and BTW IMHO every time I build something and get to stand back and see what I made with my own two hands it does not matter what it looks like, what matter's is that I stuck through till the end and finished the project, that I created it, that I put my effort and hard work into something tangible and that my dear is empowering! I'm sure my neighbor's are tired of hearing "WOO GIRL POWER!" every time I finish a section of my coop.

Also your right on with the sanding and paint. Paint takes a lot of the "soar" out of and "eye soar".

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

I usually do well with him being gone we have been doing this for 8 years now so no biggie. But I did last week breakdown and cry wishing he were here to build my coop for me. I am used to doing things alone but not a chicken coop. Not so sure about all the predators but I do know something got most of my guinea fowl last year. I live in a pretty woody area in a very rural town, no walmart or mall here. I just was thinking a baby monitor would wake me if they went to stirring in the night. Great Idea with a little court yard. I can just see them out there haveing tea and cookies now. He seems to think I am going overboard I simply tell him "well this is what you get when you have a 30ish woman with no children!" Kinda hard to have kids when you only see your hubby 2 times a year. So now I have the chickens!
Keep the idea's coming the hutches will be here tomorrow! I need to mow the yard it almost a foot high with all the rain we have had.

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

Mrs Green Thumbs No not the unit it may be too high to begin with. I thought about sawing off some of the legs (on the big one) to make it shorter because I have silkies, that will never fly and may have a hard time getting in and out as it is. I was just wanting to make the acutal inside a bit more roomy! On the big one it would just take a drill bit and electric screwdriver to remove the roof as it is screwed in to the frame. The small is nailed in so the roof stays on it. The wire on both bottoms has fencing nails holding it in place to the frame which are 2 x 4. I do not care to jerry rig anything but would like it to look nice so both I and my husband will have more confidence in my abilities. This will be my first very own project. I hope I do not screw it up. Or should I hope I do screw it up................ with plywood? Whatever I just need to figure this out!

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

I am bumping myself hoping someone else will chime in with advice! I just want to somehow make the actual inside maybe 4 ft deep.

edited to include pics.

 

[Coop de Grille]

When I saw the title of your post I had visions of little chicks with hammers under their wings lol...chicks trying to build chick house!

Those look like they have a lot of possibilities! I dont know much about coops yet, I am still learning but I am sure you are going to have a lot of ideas for a great looking coop by the end of this thread.

 

[flatcreekfarm]

You have something to start with - yay! And they really look pretty good. At first I thought - hey, shouldn't be too hard to remove the roofs and brace up the upright framing & increase to 4 foot tall (just add 1 1/2 foot, right?), use some plywood to frame in the added height, then replace roofs. Then, oops, I read where the roof is not removable on the small one. So, I'm thinking... remove the roof that you can, make it a little taller, make opening between the two... join them together. Then you'll have a 'tall' area and a smaller 'short' area. Or as one person suggested, make a courtyard between

You are lucky to have something to start with! I had nothing, so had to start from scratch (but I am enjoying myself... Girl Power!!)

Last but certainly not least, many thanks to your hubby for serving our country.

Best wishes... you can do it! Keep us posted.

 

[DaveD]

Letisha,

1st - from what I've read, Silkies mostly don't roost, so you could leave it at that height, I'd think.

2nd, if you do want taller, hear is what I'd do:

Take the roof off of the bigger one (since it's screwed on)
Cut the legs off of the smaller one and remove the wire bottom - do not remove the bottom from the enclosed section
put 2 - 2x4's across the narrow dimension of the top of the big hutch, approximately centered and 6 feet apart
attach the small coop over that
put the roof back on the bottom coop
build a ramp from the bottom coop to the door going into the enclosed section of the top part for the nesting box
you will need to seal the edge between the bottom of the top section and the roof of the bottom section to keep water from running down the wall and into the bottom
Paint and no one will know it wasn't made that way

If you want to be really high-speed, line the top and bottom along the higher wall, then frame out a large door for yourself to make life good.

When your hubby gets home - he will be burning with a desire to try to make something better (That's how us guys are wired

) - But I think your girls will be happy

-David