Things you've learned while building your coop...

[deanna&rich]

Start collecting your FREE building materials now, and never stop !!! By the time you get to the next project, you'll have a pile of likely stuff, and it's fun to design based on whatcha got for free.

Kitchen cabinets being torn out of remodeled homes are great. Lots of folks have scrap linoleum after redoing their bath, windows are pretty easy to come by, used pallets can be turned into excellent composting bins for all that litter. Even chainlink can be found, when people buy a new house but don't want the old dog run.

Oh, and don't forget to "pay it forward" by donating or giving stuff that you don't need.
Have fun!!!

 

[KMHunter]

Love this thread! Great advice for my next one! I just got done building the first.

I also noticed a lot of little moving chickens and smilies on some peoples posts. How do you get those? Very cute!

 

[2txmedics]

One coop is NEVER enough!!!

And yes, collect "anything" you can think of, "always" look on Craigslist under:

Baby and Kids...for play houses
General for left over anything the might place under a different title
Farm and Garden
Materials
Housholds...shelves make nice nest boxes if turned on there sides

~~~FREE~~~

when you look for items try an open search and then try with words like:
Sheds
storage
containers
fence
privacy fence
chain link
Play house
dog houses
Dog kennels

IT ALL DEPENDS ON HOW "THEY" WHO POST THE ADS WORD IT...and remember.....

ONE COOP IS NEVER ENOUGH....

BUILD AND "THEY" WILL COME!!

 

[Tonopah Pati]

I just found this post. I love it. Being poor sure stirs my Junk Yard person. I love to gather scrap, left over, or what ever I can find. It is amazing what folks will throw and give away. When you use the stuff to make something, I think you get a thrill or a good feeling. Makeing something out of nothing. What a feat!

 

[Hen_House_Rocks!]

Wear gloves while working with hardware cloth. Ouch!

 

[grandmaof5]

Quote:
When you click on the 'Post reply' button and see the box you are writing in, look over to the right..You will see Smilies [show] [hide] Click on [show]...there you go!

 

[mags2009]

One thing that we are REALLY glad we did was to put vinyl flooring in, and also 4 inch vinyl base. It really makes clean-up easy! Also, we divided our coop. Part coop for the chickens, and part for us, garden tools are on hooks on wall, big metal trash bins for feed and shavings are great. Also, a hook for the egg basket!!! Make sure you have a place for a broom and dust pan also!

 

[Kismet]

I am in the process of building my second coop and I am taking all these suggestions to heart. So far, no major errors. I have a question about the vinyl flooring. How did you apply it? Did you use adhesive over the whole floor or just on the edges, or did you tack it down. I'm also planning to put it on th walls and ceiling (I got some cheap at at Job Lot) for easy cleaning. For the ceiling and walls I was thinking about using roofing nails that have a larger rubber gasket around them so the vinyl doesn't rip through. Do you think that would work? Thanks everyone for your ideas!

 

[gsim]

Make two troughs, one for water, one for feed. Use PVC home guttering, with end caps glued into place. Mount where top of troughs is 8" above floor. Use 2x4 on edge and place in rear half of feeder trough so that only a narrow area in front is available for grain. Only fill to 1/2 toprevent waste/spillage. Use linoleum or vinyl siding mounted to wall above troughs and put a 2x2 a few inches above troughs to cause the linoleum or siding to angle out to where it covers 1/2 of the 4" depth of troughs. That way they cannot jump up and roost on edges of troughs and poop in them. Make a small frame with a small strip of firring in front of it to form a very shallow channel to set the troughs in. Set two screws for each trough in wall stud above troughs to keep them from tipping outwards. Done right, troughs should be easilly lifted to remove for cleaning. (I only need to clean my water trough once a week and grain trough has never been moved) No spillage and no water on floor, EVER. I love mine and would do it no other way. I do have water outside too, but NEVER food.

 

[pamiejune]

Hey gsim - could it be possible to post a pic of these troughs you're talking about? I kinda get the idea, but a pic is better than a thousand words!

Thanks!

Pam