Making an outlet box using a heavy duty extension cord

[Dar]

It was me.....

I have my coop (..or should say HAD my coop) hooked up to hydro this way.

I do want to point out that hubby IS a licensed electrician!

We did this for one season because we knew the house was going to have a new electrical panel installed in the spring. It was just a temporary measure and it worked great .

On the outside the coop WAS plugged into a GFI and we used commercial grade wire. (he is not home to ask right now exactly what gauge/grade was used)

Please DO NOT do this if you do not have qualified advice from a professional ...

eta: It was not PVC... It was electrical conduit... apparently there is a difference between plain ole pvc and pvc conduit

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
L&LOL Ain't it the truth! Trust me when I say that I did nothing with electricity for my barn pens or my two coops. A certified electrician did EVERYTHING.
Me?
I don't like to have to open the switch box in the garage, let alone do anything with it.
I'M SCARED TO DEATH OF ELECTRICITY; guess that's why I'm still alive.

 

[Hillsvale]

Quote:
Exactly right.....

electricity is DANGEROUS.... if you are unsure how to do this please hire an electrician, better than burning something down!

When I bought this house last year there was an exterior garage which had the wire run underground from my attached garage (where the main panel is).... I connected the main panel in the attached garage to the exterior garage using a pony panel, ran wiring underground in well pipe from the exterior garage to the coop. Put a light outside, one inside (on a timer to temp the birds in at dark and keep egg production up), an interior outlet and and a gifi outlet outside (for the electric fence which hasn't been completed by my Simon.. hint hint). Plus now I have security lights at te sd and back of te garage (for the livestock) and electricity in the garage for all my tools and projects so I don't need to use my inteior workshop (dust!!)

If you are going to the trouble of putting a well pipe etc underground.... you might as well do it properly!

you'll be glad you did, honest.

Shelley

 

[kickinchicken]

OK, um....maybe I will just use a plain old heavy duty extension cord and use it as it is...I don't want to kill myself or burn down the hen house.

I will save up and have an electrician do it right in the Spring. I think if I do all the grunt work and just make it so all the pro has to do it attach to the circuit breaker box and then to the hen house, I can save a bit of money.

I think better to be safe than sorry when it comes to electricity. I "could" possibly figure out how to do it myself, but in this case, it might be money well spent to go with a pro!

 

[Hillsvale]

Many electricians will rn the coop wires (or house) and do the hookups if you have the boxes installed and the hole dug with the main wiring pulled through! They would generally charge you time and travel, money well spent if you are unsure

 

[darkmatter]

Quote:
Just to be contrary here, why run electricity to the Coop? See my BYC page for Coop pics. My coop is over 15 years now here in the Midwest which can have very long deep cold spells. I've never even thought of running water or electricity to the coop, just the way I grew up. None of my relatives, grandparents etc. ever did anything like that----Heck, my grandmother never had running water to the house even. (well and bucket) A well built Coop doesn't need electricity, a flashlight helps you if you need to tend chores in the dark.

 

[Dar]

Quote:
Just to be contrary here, why run electricity to the Coop? See my BYC page for Coop pics. My coop is over 15 years now here in the Midwest which can have very long deep cold spells. I've never even thought of running water or electricity to the coop, just the way I grew up. None of my relatives, grandparents etc. ever did anything like that----Heck, my grandmother never had running water to the house even. (well and bucket) A well built Coop doesn't need electricity, a flashlight helps you if you need to tend chores in the dark.

Cause they can and want to!

I don't like doing my chores with a light strapped to my head. And my heated water dish needs hydro. I don't know where you are in the mid west but here in canada the water can freeze within hours and I have a day job and can't be running water to the coop 5X a day with water

 

[Orchid]

Quote:
Just to be contrary here, why run electricity to the Coop? See my BYC page for Coop pics. My coop is over 15 years now here in the Midwest which can have very long deep cold spells. I've never even thought of running water or electricity to the coop, just the way I grew up. None of my relatives, grandparents etc. ever did anything like that----Heck, my grandmother never had running water to the house even. (well and bucket) A well built Coop doesn't need electricity, a flashlight helps you if you need to tend chores in the dark.

If you're like me and do all your chores (morning and evening) in the dark for two or more months of the year, using a flashlight or headlamp gets old in one heck of a hurry. Picking horse poo for an hour by headlamp is a special treat.

Not to mention changing batteries constantly.

If I didn't have a job outside of home and could do chores in daylight, it wouldn't be such a big deal, but since I do - I sure love my electricity.

 

[kickinchicken]

I want and need electricity for the light and heat lamp. My coop is water tight and insulated but I have one Sultan that isn't cold hardy and I also have cochins who have those nice big combs that like to get frost bite from time to time. I like to go out there at roost time and have chicken cuddle time and socialize them each night. Tough to do in the dark when it gets dark at 6pm in Rhode island.