Show me UGLY coops- where my peeps at?

[animalyodelers]

I measured almost nothing,just eyeballed heights from what I had. Cut very little. That which was cut, never cut straight because using husbands old jigsaw which is so not the right tool to use! And it all leans slightly over to the one side. And of course the tarp to keep the rain out because I ran out of wood and roofing.

I did the same! My measuring was just laying pieces of wood side by side. All I have is an old hand saw. My dad would not loan me his power saw because I could cut my hand off. I'm 36. I wouldn't buy one because I'm too cheap.

 

[animalyodelers]

Mroo - I wanna see that when it's finished!

Wow, wish I'd thought of that for HulaHoops, rather than tossing them once "destroyed" in pony training... Even saw a "play-pen" for chicks with HC w/ hoops top & bottom for stabilization, so cool.

well, some say ugly, some say functional, some say "Uhhhh - "non-printable"?, I say - it's what works for now...

What I started with (& didn't use the 2 uncovered pens from Jan 2015 - May 2018 due to unroofed & not sure how to build a roof by myself)... O, reading the text on the pic - I must have already figured out that I could do that - it just took me 3.5 yrs to do so.

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The chicken pen in the 2nd pic, w/ the broken board? It now has no wired roof and the board is still there. But that light is now covered in poo (well I hosed it off yesterday, LOL), since I have 11 birds that climb/fly up and roost on that corner of the run. They might just go into shock when I finally get the roof on that pen and they can't get up that high anymore, LOL. The two sheets of wood against the fence - on the ground right now - too rotten/rotted to put back up...they are working to make nice ground though will have to take a magnet or sifter out to get the hardware off the one sheet.

Then what I had before Hurricane Florence came thru and what I had after...

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What I used this summer to raise almost 100 chicks in our front yard (parts of the yard look great) - have processed some of those and lost some after Hurricane Michael went thru (didn't lose any during/after Florence, go figure)... Part of the problem was overcrowding in more secure areas (nuff said bout my learning experience). Tonight we are having our first freeze here in the sandhills of NC.

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So, wire has been repurposed a couple of times for different size pens (not permanently attached to anything). Sheets were free - either rocks or soda bottle tops used w/ haystring to tie them down. "White lining" at bottom of pens - feed bags opened out and cut into 4 sections, joined end to end then stitched onto the fencing - it worked to keep the chicks in until they grew enough they couldn't get out.. Then? They just flew up, perched, flew down - tho not everyday and not always the same ones...

Those pens are taken apart now, rolled up & strapped down before the two hurricanes swept thru. The woven haystring covering the rabbit cages - worked great. The 3 cages are all stored in the shed on the other side of the large/tall chicken coop/run for now (lost 2 sheets of tin from the roof during Hurricane Florence - haven't replaced those yet). The cloth sheets all went into compost - brittle, torn up and moldy. But they worked when I needed them to cover pens to keep birds in... Have several bags full of sheets/table cloths that weren't used by our vet clinic (donations). Will use them as I get some other pens done w/ wire fencing on wooden framing. Was supposed to work on that today, but didn't get to it...

I spent several hours on Friday clearing up one corner of our yard - creating several bags (reusing 50 lb feed bags) of sticks from pruned weedy fronds & a tree, a large pile of sticks and 2 bags of usable yard waste for the chicken coops/runs. All that takes is time and sometimes I feel so ...

OMG, you have been through so much!! Looks like you've done an amazing job getting through it all. I can't imagine living with hurricane threats. Of course here there's not much extreme weather but they tell us one day we'll all fall into the Pacific Ocean. So life's a trade off I suppose.

 

[animalyodelers]

Here’s mine. It is the result of my Dad and my husband getting carried away with their bad selves... it’s ugly but functional. Holds 7 birdies. It’s now painted white but I’m thinking maybe to go magenta like that other one I saw ( giggle)

This is so cute! Reminds me of the A frame cabin at camp when I was a kid.

 

[animalyodelers]

Who needs pretty, my girls are happy with functional! MY kids and spouse built our coop in a weekend and it takes 4 people to move it around ( we finally settled on it's forever home) and it is enclosed from the weather and easy to clean. In the winter my girls live in luxury as their coop is surrounded on 3 sides by 8" foam panels wrapped in plastic bags from our wood pellets pallets! They also have a heat lamp under their house that adds heat to the floor bu they cannot get to it. We live in Wyoming so it is cold during the winter. Not a great picture but gets the job done.

Looks functional and not ugly at all. It sounds warmer than my house!! Lol

 

[animalyodelers]

This is my first coop I’ve ever built. Now its going to be repurposed to a chicken brothel in first picture. Picture 2 and 3 are of my second coop I’ve built for my 25 ladies! Well I have 11 men as well. Lol. Lost out in the chicken lottery.
Looking forward to seeing posts.

They both look amazing! The second one is nicer than the house I grew up in.

 

[animalyodelers]

Ok. Mine is ugly because it was trying to be one of those cute, trendy ones - LOL! I built it all by my lonesome out of recycled wood (recycled siding and a fence my mom's neighbor drove through). NOTHING was square, and every piece was cracked or warped. Never built anything before, really, and I only had a small miter saw and a table saw that wasn't in full working condition. The only thing I bought was the hardware cloth and the oops paint from Home Depot. And the roof. But when I attached it, I missed some of the pinions, and you can see them from inside the coop. It's hilarious, really. I was so mad at myself when I finished the thing, but my chooks don't care. I'm the only one who does.

But enough excuses. Here's my trying-to-be-cute-ugly coop:

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Everything is crooked - except the roof, of all things - which looks crooked in this pic because everything else is crooked. I need to get updated pics (my run isn't pictured), but I don't get home until after dark since the time change. I will try this weekend.

I will say that I love my door, though...

This is actually really cute. I'm not sure why but it reminds me of Alice in Wonderland!

 

[animalyodelers]

I ran into the same problem and have had a lot of luck with self tapping screws with a washer around them holding down chicken wire

Good tip! I started with that, then ran out of self tapping screws and started using random screws from the bottom of my tool box. Then I ran out of washers and used washer head screws. Then I went to the hardware store and got the wrong size... I coupd go on forever with all the mistakes I made because I'm cheap and lazy! Lol

 

[animalyodelers]

Really awesome thread, here.

Can I get an amen?

 

[animalyodelers]

Ok a couple pages back I said I was going to plan my nesting boxes better than the coop. Spoiler alert, I didn't. The nesting suite still needs the roof and hinges on the doors used to collect.

And I need to make a real roof for the run! And I want the coop taller. Maybe I will use all that wood after all...

 

[Aunt Angus]

Good tip! I started with that, then ran out of self tapping screws and started using random screws from the bottom of my tool box. Then I ran out of washers and used washer head screws. Then I went to the hardware store and got the wrong size... I coupd go on forever with all the mistakes I made because I'm cheap and lazy! Lol

This is so me. Did I write this? Are we the same person? LOL!