ideas for economical coop...

[hoosierhen]

What type of climate do you live in? Your coop mainly should be dry and draft free, have good air circulation, and protect your flock from predators. Do you live in town or in the country? If I were starting from scratch, I would build my coop from cattle panels as support, and straw bales. They are not beautiful, but highly functional, and a good value.

 

[smom1976]

I absolutly love these suggestions.. I think that every picutre that is original has its own beauty and it takes even more creativity to do a chichen coop with what you have....

we have decided to change our plan just a little...

We have a 3.5 foot space between (kinda like a hallway) between our shed and our fence.. we decided to put a run on the far side of the shed with a coop that slips behind the shed.. and I have been hanging on to a ranch opening..

(the kind that you see going onto a ranch the ones that you drive through with the big logs, well we have a miniture one made out of landscape timbers... we had a big ranch style VBS and I got it after it was done)

but.. we will put the ranch opening even with the shed and then fence down the side to the wood fence and then the coop will be behind the shed.. it will end up being 15 x 8 not counting the coop.. the coop will be long and skinny I was thinking 8 feet long by the 3.5 feet.. and however tall not sure yet. But I have all the posts and I will have to figure out what kind of gate to do with the cross beam ..
But I did see the kind of fence that I do have plenty of.. it is the field fencing.. with 2x4 openings... how old do the chicks have to be .. but then I am worried about a top??? to avoid the bigger birds .. (we already lost a chick when I let them out in a plywood playpen for 2 hours) I need more ideas.

keep em comming..

 

[smom1976]

Quote:
what do you mean cattle pannels and straw.. would the straw be the walls?

 

[hoosierhen]

Go up to search, type in temporary hay bale coop. The author is Tweety. Then scroll down and click on the post by mac in abilene. This is the hay bale coop I would build.

 

[smom1976]

Quote:
we live in good ole Pensacola FL hurricaine alley.. I suppose I better make it strong LOL

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Except for the cost of screws, roofing, paint and a little bit of wire, mine is all scrap. Paint is the $5 reject at Lowe's!

The attached dog run here was free too on Free-cycle! (that's my beloved Tessie "The Headless Chicken")

This one, now motified into a quail house, is made entirely out of an old deck that I got off of Free-Cycle and scraps of tin from the other one.

I think I paid about $200 for both coops

 

[pvc coop]

I made myine out of PVC. I would post pictures, but don't see how on this reply.

 

[SoccerMomof7]

These are great ideas, I am going to have to steal a few. With 7 kids everything is on a budget!

 

[Nupine]

We are the oddballs. Our coop was pretty expensive. 8x18 feet, wood sides, poultry hexagon wire netting in between the pens, and nice wire in the front. It is divided into 4 pens fro breeding. Costs so far [not quite finished]:
$150 for roof [True Value expensive stuff, my dad was going to spend $300 for the red stuff, but that is crazy.]
$80 for wire
$150 for wood

 

[SoccerMomof7]

Well I lucked out, my actual coop was my husbands very nice wood shed that I took over, but now I have having do cut down trees and pull stumps to move it out of my backyard so my kids don't have to share their room with the chickens, they are getting a new home in between my husbands shop and garage. It's a 50ft square so they will have penty of area its just getting it fenced and ready when I can get help to move the shed. I have never tried to put a shed on pipes and move it so this will be interesting.