My mostly recycled wood chicken coop

[jennfurtrombly]

I am a newbie at chicken-keeping. My original coop was a store bought one we received as a gift which is great for a grow-out coop/pen now. After that we closed in a very small lean-to, but eventually our flock grew (duh) and so we built our big coop. It's about 8ft by 4 ft and is made from recycled pallets, recycled and scrap 4x4 and 2x4s and recycled fencing, as well as some new plywood and metal roofing. Inside we use sand (so easy to clean and I keep a scoop and scraper hanging on the inside wall). Right now it's home to 14 chickens but only 3 were laying when I built it so I need to add a few more next boxes as now I have 5 laying and more starting soon!

 

[RJSorensen]

You have yourself a fine looking coop there. And to do so without a great cash outlay is always appreciated. You might consider lowering the nesting box and or putting a slanted roof over it to keep them from roosting there, unless it is as you wished. Your build looks quite nice to my eye. You can often tell when someone has their heart in it. I would seem you do.

Best to you and your new digs,

RJ

 

[jennfurtrombly]

You have yourself a fine looking coop there. And to do so without a great cash outlay is always appreciated. You might consider lowering the nesting box and or putting a slanted roof over it to keep them from roosting there, unless it is as you wished. Your build looks quite nice to my eye. You can often tell when someone has their heart in it. I would seem you do.

Best to you and your new digs,

RJ

I am going to raise them a bit and add 2 more underneath, and then probably just put a board up so they can't sit on top. Right now that's where my 4 australorps roost and I don't really mind. I just scrape the poop off.

And thank you for your kind words. My heart is definitely in it.

 

[RJSorensen]

Good morning, and I see somewhat often on BYC that folks seem to pick out the flaws in others coops. If you did not know it would be one thing, but as I surmised, it is as you wished. And that is just fine, I have places as well that I just brush off, much the same as you.

Well time for me to get out and chore about the place, oh, by the way your birds look quite nice.

Welcome to BYC as well.

RJ

 

[JanetS]

Very nice. Your chickens look very happy!

 

[suyoder]

Oh fun fun fun. Our coops are also made out of free/recycled lumber! We got ahold of some free 2" x 4" rough sawn pine boards, and we used that a LOT on our coops. The only things we had to buy was the shingles and screws to hold it together.. and of course the hinges and stuff. Isn't it such a GOOD feeling to know that you are saving money AND doing something you enjoy? Chickens are a new thing for us too, but we already think it's one of the best useful hobbies you can get into. Thanks for sharing pics of your birds and coop!