Let me preface this by saying I have zero construction experience. So please be gentle.
A bit of background on how I got into chickens to begin with. About a decade ago, a friend (who lives in the suburbs) started incubating eggs for her aunt (who lives on a farm). It was a neat experience to watch and the chickies sure were cute! Eventually she started a small backyard flock of her own and I got to observe how that went. Fast forward a bunch of years, and I moved out to a rural community with space for my own backyard flock. The timing wasn't quite right then, but this year the stars have aligned and I'm getting my first laying ladies this fall!
I have actually been perusing coop plans for quite few years off and on, and I finally found one that is pretty perfect for my needs. I'll post the link to it later for anyone interested. *here is the coop I am designing mine off of
Pallet coop*
Because I'm on a tight budget, I knew pallets and other reclaimed materials would be the way to go. I've been fortunate to have sourced almost all of my material for free so far. The coop is still a work in progress and I'll continue to update as I go.
My yard is not fenced in, and I only have 1/4 total, so free ranging is out of the question. And since I can't be home during the day, having a predator proof coop and run is of utmost importance. The coop is situated beside a copse of trees that provides a wind break against the prevailing winds, and drainage is away from the coop and run on two sides.
I went back and forth on how big I should make the coop, since I am limited to 5 hens, but ultimately decided that more space is better (especially in the winter when we can get stupid ridiculous amounts of snow). So we started off with a base of 4 pallets, approximately 8x7 feet square.
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My assistant securing the pallets together
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For the benefit of my back, I wanted a walk in coop. But I also wanted it slightly off the ground to protect from rot, since we do have fairly damp soil. I scored some free bricks. Unfortunately this was *after* securing the base together, so we had to move the base, lay out the bricks, and then move the base back on top of the bricks. Pallets, by the way, can be heavy. 4 of them together are really, really heavy. 1 star, don't recommend.
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Dad brought up the trailer with some more pallets, some purchased lumber and a hammer drill.
but I'm keeping the vision in mind. It will be great! It's been decided we will paint it red with white trim (since those are the colours that barn paint comes in).
