new $100 chicken coop

Patapsco Mike

Hatching
8 Years
Aug 15, 2011
7
0
7
I am new to raising chickens, but I figured I'd learned enough online here to give it a shot. My challenge was to build the whole coop for $100. This had to include the $85 door motor... I did it thanks to the fact that I've accumulated lots of scrap wood pieces over the years. Took me three weeks for my boys and I to make this in our spare time.

We started with a used, home made rectangular storage box from the garage. At 3' x 4' it's just about right for the 3 hens I wanted. My boys helped me attach $12 worth of pressure treated 2x4's to it.
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We had saved some tar paper and shingles from a roofing job last winter, and we banged them onto some old recycled plywood.
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I progged around my garage for every scrap piece of plywood I could find for the sides and bottom, and used a salvaged (from a subway car discard) piece of plexiglas sliding in some cobbled together slots for the vertically sliding door.

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To which I rigged the DC20 door motor.
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I spaced everything so that this old $5 garage sale glass door slips into the front.
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I attached an old wooden box used to ship herbicides for the nest box in the front, put a piece of wood next to it- both on hinges- and we declared success!

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Painted the whole thing white to match the garage- not too shabby. My wife painted some vines on the side to make it look a little nicer.
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With the door and nest box swung open for easy cleaning or egg removal. The glass comes out with 4 screws so I can totally open it up in about a minute if I need to.
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The ladies like it. We put them in the first night, and since then they march right in every night on their own.
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The coop opens into a several hundred square foot run. There is a lot of vertical cover in it, the coop is elevated so they can get under it, and with it being up against my garage I am not too worried about predators during the day. The coop is pretty tight, nothing is getting in there at night. What a fun family project this has been so far. Should see our first eggs in October sometime from the two black australorps. The buff orpington should start laying in November.


And my boys have really fallen for the ladies! Pictured are Spicy and Original (aka Shadow). Crispy is more shy...
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from California

Now that's the way to get started on this site!!!!!!!!!!!

Great job and cute kids!

Welcome to the funny farm
 
Excellent work, looks great and seems really functional. Nice design and great job on keeping it on the cheap-low! And cute kids BTW!
 

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