Outdoor Brooder from old tables

[bobbieschicks]

I first built a wire brooder that went inside the main coop. I used an upside down table I had built that we no longer needed and added some wood with wire. When that took up too much floor space I decided I wanted to move it outside but it would need to be weather proofed.

So I moved it outside and started to shore it up with stuff laying around the property. I started with a base that was a coffee table and put some wooden feet on the bottom. With creative use of available supplies I built the new brooder currently housing 4 one week old White Leghorn pullets and their Meyers Meal Maker buddy with the 10" square electric hen.

The entire chicken compound is a 5x10 main coop, a 3x4 Silkie coop, and the 4x2 brooder.

 

[Lauren Kim]

Nice! Your chicks must be very comfortable.

 

[N F C]

Cool! I really like how you used an old table for your brooder, very inventive.

 

[bobbieschicks]

My husband wasn't keen on letting me build a separate Silkie coop or the outside brooder. I think he was remembering how expensive the original coop was for us to build and so I had to keep costs minimal. Of course that allowed me to spend the money on shipped chicks that I wanted to order.

The use of tables idea was one I found somewhere on the web. A person suggested to someone else to just use a table flipped upside down and put wire on it. I couldn't find any pictures so I had to improvise a lot of the building process. Then when I wanted it to be weather proof I had to figure out how to keep the elements off the babies and still not spend any money doing it. The total costs for the Silkie coop was $86 (hinges and gallon of white paint) and the brooder was $49 (hinges). I don't know if I could have saved on the hinges because I couldn't figure out an alternative to hinge use. I'm sure there is one using wood and screws - but my brain wasn't letting me go there. And I could have used another color and not purchased the white paint (I have several other colors of leftover paint), but then I wouldn't be as happy about the finished look.

Here are some pictures of the work in progress. I'm happy to add details if anyone is interested. And no the buildings aren't to "Code" but I'm pretty sure they will last us as long as we want to keep chickens.

 

[Sam and ELLA]

You have my mind racing right now!!!! Thanks for the information. I'm all about upcycling.

 

[bobbieschicks]

I'm happy I could help! I love upcycling stuff and am only held back by my dear husband who sometimes won't let go of the original item to make way for the new one. He so far likes the end products and I haven't used anything that was sentimental to him (I have been eyeing an old 4'x2' wooden table his mom passed down to us, but it's so flimsy that I doubt it would last a season outside).

I got on this kick because I was pricing out a new coop for the Silkies and the wood I'd need to purchase for a new build and there was no way I was going to spend another couple of hundred on lumber when we have so much wood and stuff around here underused already. I had hoped to use the wooden pallets I was using as compost bin walls, but one look at those after taking one apart and they were now really only good for burning in the burn barrel.

My newest thought is how to build a chicken moat with the products we already own or how to incorporate my chickens into the vegetable garden clean out/till up because that's another place where I need help but my helpers are too busy this time of year. It has to run from my current run to the vegetable garden but not interfere with mowing. lol.

 

[Sam and ELLA]

I'm happy I could help! I love upcycling stuff and am only held back by my dear husband who sometimes won't let go of the original item to make way for the new one. He so far likes the end products and I haven't used anything that was sentimental to him (I have been eyeing an old 4'x2' wooden table his mom passed down to us, but it's so flimsy that I doubt it would last a season outside).

I got on this kick because I was pricing out a new coop for the Silkies and the wood I'd need to purchase for a new build and there was no way I was going to spend another couple of hundred on lumber when we have so much wood and stuff around here underused already. I had hoped to use the wooden pallets I was using as compost bin walls, but one look at those after taking one apart and they were now really only good for burning in the burn barrel.

My newest thought is how to build a chicken moat with the products we already own or how to incorporate my chickens into the vegetable garden clean out/till up because that's another place where I need help but my helpers are too busy this time of year. It has to run from my current run to the vegetable garden but not interfere with mowing. lol.

I want to build an underground tunnel to connect to another coop I wanna build.

 

[bobbieschicks]

That would be cool. Although I wouldn't want to try and catch the chicken that didn't want to exit the tunnel. lol. Or worse yet the silkie that decided it makes the perfect place to sit on some eggs!

 

[Sam and ELLA]

That would be cool. Although I wouldn't want to try and catch the chicken that didn't want to exit the tunnel. lol. Or worse yet the silkie that decided it makes the perfect place to sit on some eggs!

Great points, I might have to scratch that idea. I thought water would be my biggest hurdle.

 

[bobbieschicks]

How long of a tunnel would it be? I wouldn't scrap it just yet, maybe there's still a way. If you don't have broody kind of girls you don't need to worry about nesting in it. And you can always bribe a chicken with dried mealworms or the such. If it's a really short tunnel and no one is driving over it you could use a sturdy Rubbermaid box with holes cut in each side.