Repurposing ideas and reources- share yours!

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

I am busily building a new coop and run out of scrap materials. Instrumental in my plan is the frame of a portable garage (given to me by the neighbor after sun damage ruined the cover and wind bent a few poles) which will be a nice 10x20' run once I chicken wire it. Before I aquired said garage frame, I was seeking ant sort of canopy, garage, or greenhouse frame and had also considered using an old swingset to make an A frame run. All of them would work just fine.
This saves lots of money on posts, lots of time squaring, cutting, and measuring, and it is super easy to put together and light enough that 2 of us assembled it easily, despite it having 8 legs. I was also able to put the chicken wire on the roof before adding the legs, which saved me some ladder work. It was much more pleasant than a 2x4 frame. I plan to post pics of the work in progress, as well as a running list of what expenses I had (and how much I estimate I saved by recycling!).
I also have a coop that used to be an old tin shed and its attached run was a dog kennel. Both my newer pens have screen door frames with fencing wire as their doors. My greenhouse is also made with the frame of a portable garage and a screen door. And when I was raising chicks in the greenhouse I used my compost bin as the brooder box because the little door at the bottom was perfect for chicks, the height worked well for the heat lamp, and the size was just right for 25 peeps.
I cannot recommend freecycle enough. Seriously everyone should freecycle. I got all the chicken wire I could need for free. And the door to my woodshop. And dozens of other things too! It is the best resource I have for saving money on building projects.

Anyone else have inventive repurposing ideas to share?
I love sharing my ideas to help out people who want to save money. We all know how much a brand new coop can cost... lets try to inspire people!

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

Nobody yet? Maybe I can get pics to draw people in after work today.
Well I just have to add that I got 2 doors (one of them was just about the perfect size for the already framed in coop door- which is amazing since it is an odd size at 5' x 2 1/2' ), a piece of (plastic) stained glass, some nice useable chunks of plywood, masonite, and paneling from freecycle yesterday. I am really considering installing the stained glass and panelling and going with a retro motif for my coop.

Its official. Aside from one package of washers, my entire coop and run will be built from used/leftover and otherwise free materials. Total coop cost: less than $5.

 

[gmendoza]

Our Main chicken coop:

Its made from reclaimed pine pallets.the roof is used vinyl billboard.cost to build = 50.00 its 12'x20'x7'high at the peak.

This currently houses:
2 Bourbon bronze turkeys
1Guinea Hen
1 Bob bird roo
1 Bob bird hen
3 Coturnix hens
2 Cornish X
4 Bantams (2 oeg,1 bbroeg,1 phoenix)
30 Chickens

Here is our duck coop:

its currently houses 3 muscovy ducks

 

[chicken_noob]

Not as large of a scale.as you have, but I have used the wood railing from a mobile home display, most of the time you can get them for free if you just haul them away. I then will cut or unscrew and have a lot of treated 2x2's that I have used to make the frame for a brooder..even slots that hold the front wheels of the kids bikes in the garage.

 

[alaina]

really nice looking coops, I never thought of using pallets like that, I use them under my hay bales in the barn, since my barn has drainage problems. I am using an old dog kennel to house my chickens, it has 4 separate areas which I can close off if needed. Good ideas!!!

 

[kuntrygirl]

There are a lot of coops on BYC that were made from pallets, recycled items and scrap materials. BYC has a lot of people who love to recycle.

I NEVER buy free material. I REFUSE to spend a lot of money on things that I can get for free. Here are a few things that we built from FREE items that I received from Craigislist, freecycle and free things that friends and co-workers have given me.


This is an aviary for my peafowl that was built using pallets.

Other things made from pallets and recycled wood.

Guinea Pen made from pallets and recycled dog kennel.

Chicken stalls where chickens roost at night.

Raised brooders

Portable roosts that can me moved to wherever I need them:

Picnic benches that can be convereted to picnic tables:

Portable nesting boxes. Can be moved where I need them.

Portable Feeders:

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
I LOVE your set up!!!

Good job!

 

[gmendoza]

Quote:
I LOVE your set up!!!

Good job!

You make me so darn jealous!!

I love your setup.I wish I had property like that.

 

[fiddlebanshee]

I plan on using old kitchen cabinets (the kind you hang above your counter) for nest boxes with the doors removed. I set them on top of cement blocks. The are the basis for a poopboard and the roosts . I will make holes in the wall of the coop and the back of the cabinets so that I can access the eggs from the outside.

The cabinets cost about $10 at Restore. They were rather beat up but structurally sound so I got a good deal.

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

I'd say turn you cupboards backwards and use the cabinet doors to remove eggs from the outside. All they need is a latch to keep critters out and you're set. I was looking for cabinet doors for my nest boxes, but since I didn't find any, the free plywood will have to do!