Progress pic's of a upcycled coop and pen UPDATE! Coop is done!!!

[Mrs. Green Thumbs]

I started with this

And an idea... I knew I had the know how and ability to make something out of this old rabbit hutch... so I got to work on my plan's... (if your interested in how I drew on my pictures I just used paint and had a lot of time on my hands lol)

But there was a problem... my husband was laid off work and we had no way to buy supply's, I posted an ad on CL asking for donations and my local community answered!

So I got to work...

And in time the DH and I have made progress

The coop still need's some good solid wood to finish the laying boxes and back wall and a nice coat of paint to make it look snazzy and the pen still need's a proper door made for it but that's how far we have come so far.

 

[joletabey]

Cool!!!

 

[Chicken Chat]

That is a great start and is going to be a really nice coop. Good for your community for coming through for you. If you have a Lowes or a Home Depot in your area, I have heard that they throw out some perfectly usuable stuff. You could try there and maybe get lucky to find some usable wood to finish it.

 

[Mrs. Green Thumbs]

It's been about a month of work we have put in on this project. In the midst of birthday party's and every day life we were creating something new out of old materials. It's not perfection, still needs a few touches like the hoops added to the roof of the pen to give us some head room, a coat of paint on the interior, and a better back wall but for now... it's done and the girls spent their first night outside last night!!!!!!

Can you tell I was sick of working on that project? lol

So here's a shot of the ventilation that is positioned at the very top adjacent to the roof and our lighting fixture for the girls. the entire back wall will be removed and replaced with an actual piece of solid wood and external laying boxes as soon as I have the cash to afford some good pine.

The girls got to move in as soon as the paint dried real good. I also put in some roost's in the pen, at sunset the DH and I cuddled up on the bed by the window and watched the girls enjoy flying, jumping, and shoving each other off the top roost lol.

We need a new water and feed dispenser, and a metal trash bin to store the feed safely but the majority of the hard work is DONE!

oh and we need to figure out how to make a swinging door too... The improvised one we got going on is .... scary... Iv been poked, scratched, and scraped by that thing... not cool lol. Oh we also need to put rung's on the gang plank, and a "door stop" like piece of wood to keep the bedding in the coop.

Thanks to all of you that answered my questions and cheered us on. We had a few disagreement's over the building but in the end we came together and enjoyed the last building day and the feeling of accomplishment!

 

[Mrs. Green Thumbs]

P.S. what can I do to make it easier for them to get in and out?

 

[Kansaseq]

Nicely done. You could nail a few horizontal strips of wood or even small branches to the door to make rungs, like on a ladder, to make it easier for them to get in and out. Honestly, though, it's not that high, and they shouldn't have much trouble hopping in and out. My door is a couple feet off the ground, and my girls manage just fine with nothing.