Temporary hay bale coop?

[Tweety]

We have ten 7 week old hens that have just moved outdoors and are in need of a coop. The problem is, my husband won't have time to build the perfect coop he has in mind until next spring. Right now the chicks are in a 8x12x6 foot run covered with plywood. We put their 4x6x2 foot chicken tractor inside. We're trying to decide how to keep them warm this winter (20's-30's with 1-2 feet of snow). One thought I had was to pile bales of hay around the tractor and cover the whole thing with a tarp. Stupid idea or doable? Any other ideas for a temporary coop?

 

[eggcetra_farms]

That sounds like it would work. I've heard of people making hay bale houses, so why not?

 

[ArkyBird]

I have seen a hay bale hen house as long as you can keep the predators out. It will be temporary but should last through springs if the chicks don't pull out all the straw and play with it.

 

[Katy]

I made a bale house for my call ducks the first winter I had them. It worked out well for them. I live where we have minus windchills quite frequently in the winter.

 

[greyfields]

Hay bales will work fine. Straw bales would work better. Lay some stock panels across the top of the bales for the "roof" then cover with tarps. Wrape the tarps around and under the bales. I've even seen people frame doors into bale houses.

 

[suburbanhomesteader]

Tweety-
It took me a while, but I finally found the website which addresses this exact issue:

http://hollygraphicart.com/misc/haybalecoop.html

There are other cool websites which are REAL straw bale chicken coops-I think I'll be surfing this weekend!

Good luck!

Who knew that getting chickens would turn me into a "tarpenter"?

 

[Mac in Wisco]

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

 

[Tweety]

Thanks for the great links. I guess it's not such a bad idea. I think the important thing is to cover the bales with wood &/or tarps to keep them dry & free from mold, etc.

 

[Wooden_Pony]

Quote:
To bad you could not find someone getting their house stuccoed.

They always have leftovers, you could stucco the straw bales!

That would keep it dry and mold free.

 

[King Tubby]

I'm thinking of doing straw bale as well. My chickens are in a large run that is surrounded by chain link, wood and bamboo fencing. I want to put hay bales on the inside of the run on the chain ink and bamboo fences.

Will a predator dig under an 18" wide straw bale?