How to reinforce cheap coop

[WindingRoad]

These coops are not that bad we had our chickens in one for over a year it worked fine and we had at one time 9 in it. The run was crowded but we let them out to free range so it wasn’t to much of a big deal. They kept themselves spaced out nicely and there was never a problem. We also moved ours around so they had fresh grass in the run.

x2. Mine of course froze to the ground and when the ground thawed the run at the roof came away slightly from the coop. One morning when I went out I thought my chickens has turned into ducks. I just put a tarp over it. Once we moved it this summer, away from the house, it got straightened out. I warped it all around with clear tarp from Amazon.com. I've had more trouble from expensive feeders and waterers that I guess people are "lying about" That red and white feeder is a lie. My SLW love to roost on that pyramid top. And the feed don't feed once it half full. And the feed does get wet in a good old fashioned Maine rain storm. Also, we get some pretty good wind here spring, summer, fall and winter. Mine's never blown away not directed at you but another.

 

[MarylouBunny]

I bought a really cute coop but not quite safe enough so had a larger yard built....very strong. I have 3 hens. their Yard has 4 x4's on the corners, 18 " below the earth and not chicken wire but more secure wire going under the ground, because of critters that can burrow underground. It also has a door and a roof which is slanted a little bit so rain will drain off. Their yard is 10' x 10' and the cute coop sits within it.
Even though, I lock them into the coop every night and also securely lock their yard. I don't take any chances as we have like everyone rats, also r
Racoons, opossums and during the day, Hawks.
I let them free range in my 1/3rd acre yard every day, but keep an eye out for Hawks. I hung shiny ribbons all around the yard to deter Hawks. so far so good. The hens are now 1 1/2 years old and all is well.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Building my run right now. I'm already in about $2,000 for a 8' x 16' run. Used all new materials, because I figured that would make it last longer than old scrap wood. And the $2,000 does not include the roof! I don't know people can build cheap runs or coops. Does the old scrap wood last? Just the concrete blocks for the base were around $250 or so.

I bought my run for about $1000. Yikes. But my coop is holding up well. No leaks. No loss of structural integrity. No drafts. However, the climate where I live is much more forgiving than most.

 

[Lnelson2828]

We bought the same, piece of junk, coop from T.S. It’s very cute, but so poorly made. We decided to make a coop. We found a big pallet box, (got it from the city bus garage) and are in the process of converting it into our hen palace!

Good luck!

 

[FCABARLE]

Those TS coups are made of very soft lumber and they will fall apart in short order. Do yourself a favor and build yourself a structurally sound coup; use "on ground use" treated lumber, treated screws and hardware (brass, galvaized, stainless, etc). There are plenty of plans available on line and in book stores. Our TS coup lasted almost one season and then started falling apart, I attempted reinforcement but the screws would not bite into the soft wood, covered the thing with a tarp over the winter and the next season it was literally falling apart. I purchased the wood for the new coup from Home Depot, they have a cull cart where the wood has a 75% discount.

 

[ThoughtfulBiped]

Something that worked well for my first fully enclosed, walk-in chicken shelter was recycling the circular frame from a 12' trampoline. Also works well for greenhouse frame. Can usually find free used trampolines, the mat works well for shade cloth, too, can handle the sun and even has D-rings for tie down. Sturdy steel tubing can be broken down into halves or quarters, just covered most of it with heavy duty stucco "chicken" wire, runs around $150 at Home Depot for a 100' roll 3' wide (maybe more these days with the trade war). The rest I used corrugated steel roofing for a solid area for roosting/nesting and wind break, self tapping roofing screws attached it to the framing. Anyway, get creative, doesn't have to be expensive and it can still look nice with some creative problem solving. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Good luck!

 

[Judy Todd]

Hi! Just got our first chicks a few weeks ago and am desperately trying to figure out the coop situation. We bought an inexpensive coop from tractor supply (the “homestead”) and people said the bottom of the nesting boxes was flimsy particle board that wouldn’t last very long. Any ideas on how I can protect this or replace it so it doesn’t deteriorate quickly? Paint? Flashing? Another piece of wood on top? Also seems I need to get better hardware and replace. Any other suggestions? Thank you!!!

Agree with all comments , return that piece of #$#% and start from scratch. I built my coop, large enough for 17 chicks (Iknow have 21, oops) at 70 years old, me,not the chickens. I used old stanchuns(spl) for the supports on each side, added re-cycled 2 by 4s to get it high enough, only bought outdoor plywood, that had been on clearance at local hardware store for walls. Used tin roofing also re-cycled. Check out building sites, I got tons of good lumber for a condo building site. Do not know how much I spent, but it was not more then $250 and still had enough left over to build 5 nests and perches. If you know anyh contractors, ask them for rejects also.

 

[Thomas70]

You can get cheap materials on craigslist, sometimes free. Our Lowe's had cull lumber for half price. I bought a few pallets of that lumber and built 3 coops for under $200.
Get creative.

I don't know how you could have done it for $200 unless they are small and have no cage wire. I bought 25 2nd grade treated 2x4s, the roofing material, siding and the cage wire for $600. The cage wire alone cost over $100. I used deck screws and built a strong 6' x 8' coup. You need cage wire so the chickens can survive in hot weather. I have 17 silkies and the coop is big enough. I also have a 40' x 20' run and I covered it because of hawks. It is easy to build the run structure using 1" PVC pipe

.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Here's what I managed for about $250:

(It's not as lopsided as it looks in the pic, and this was taken before the run was attached). Recycled fencing, a few 2x4s and 2x3s, siding bought off Craigslist for $5/sheet, oops paint from Home Depot, and metal roofing panels.

I've since added external nesting boxes I made from pieces of an abandoned project I got for free off Craigslist.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Here are those nesting boxes: