Straw bale coop anyone?

[herbandteas]

I was wondering if any one has built or seen one? My idea was that the inside would be straw bales with chicken wire around them with the outside in plywood with a pallet as the floor.

 

[Beekissed]

I had the same idea years ago! One could even have some heavy tarping for the outside and cover this with chicken wire to keep it close to the bales and keep the wind from blowing it. Great insulation, cheap building materials, sturdy if impaled on some rebar, like in strawbale house building. Easy to tear down and reuse materials if you no longer wish to have it. Roosts and nesting boxes could be incorporated right into framework, if necessary.

The ultimate would be a strawbale/cob coop. I saw one of these built into a hillside and the nests were built right into the walls with cob. Cute, cute, cute.

Excellent idea! Warm in the winter, cool in the summer. Won't harbor rodents, as there are no open spaces for which to crawl and the hay is packed too tightly to allow it. This tight packing also makes them more flame retardant than one would guess.

Please post pics on this thread if you build it, I would love to see it!

 

[d.k]

* Sorry, got a dbl-post on edit mode!

 

[d.k]

* That's what I hope to have someday-- but with a sand floor. Would like a strawbale house, too. Already drew a floorplan for that.

 

[coffeemama]

I have also had the same idea, though I would stucco the outside

 

[Chicabee19]

this sounds like an excellent idea! Pics would be great.

 

[ILoveJoe]

Are there wolves where you live? You know they are notorious for "Huffing and Puffing"!

 

[walkswithdog]

Ha! You rock! I was considering strawbales for our Turkey hut! Easy to recycle, cheap, really insulated and at the price I can make one in both places I'd like them!

 

[sunshinegirl]

I seriously considered this, and probably would have tried it if I didn't end up getting my horse trailer coop for free (minus some labor and a few bucks for paint). Here's a link that shows how to build a basic straw bale chicken coop:

http://www.smallfarmtoday.com/article/StrawBaleChickenHouse.asp

I would think that if you were able to coat the outside with some kind of stucco or cover it with some kind of siding to protect it from the elements it would last for a long time. Let us know how it turns out if you decide to do it!

 

[Chicabee19]

It doesn't look like the article provides for protection of the bales. Let's say you build it just like the article shows, without stucco or other protection on the bales...

what happens when the outside gets rained on?