Topic of the Week - Recycling (In) The Coop

[Lazy Farmer]

Don't throw away your old buckets! I will take them off you hands and keep them out of our landfill.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

ALL REUSE. Except wire/nails/screws.

Wood from an old green house, torn down, cleaned and used to make the newer structure.

Fence boards reused as the siding at the gables above the framing.

Milk crates reused as egg baskets with reuse wood racks.

Spool from pasture hot wire turned into a crank for the reused metal drop door.

Reuse light fixtures from a remodeled house.

Feeders from reuse buckets.

Mega perches made from reuse lumber.

edited for grammar

 

[3riverschick]

I have been thinking about a new setup . it occurred to me why build a coop at all? why not take a dog house or Playhouse and set it inside a secure run? Spend the money securing the Run and roof. then just put the house inside.
Best,
Karen

 

[eatwhatyougrow]

My main coop is half of a shed that was here when I moved in it is 8x10 of the 16x10 structure the window became the door into the run which is an old chain link dog kennel I got for 25$. The wall I built to divide the shed was built from free pallets, I built the nest boxes into that wall...I will have to get some pictures next time I am out there. I think all told I am like less than 75$ into my main coop.

 

[JurassicBawk]

My dad built my chicken house out of scraps from the neighborhood construction where my sister's new house was being built. The only thing that wasn't scrap or repurposed was the window, which he bought new, and the paint was a $5 "oops color" from Lowes. Everything else was free or from his piles of "I'll reuse this somehow" stuff. The roof was leftover plywood and roofing shingles from my house that were installed after he delivered it, and the separate base/stand was old fencing scraps. These are progress shots while he was still building, but I'll try to add a pic of it in the coop later.

 

[RUNuts]

@JurassicBawk like the AC vents for vents. I'd guess they are raccoon proof?

 

[JurassicBawk]

I'm not sure about raccoon proof, since that is fully inside the coop, but you could probably make them lock somehow to make them even safer if raccoons have access. My coop is a 10x10 chainlink dog lot covered in hardwire mesh, inside my backyard with large dogs acting as chicken security. They do work really well for summer/winter though, since I can open/close them as needed for airflow and they never are 100% closed up so moisture can still vent out.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I'm not sure about raccoon proof, since that is fully inside the coop, but you could probably make them lock somehow to make them even safer if raccoons have access. My coop is a 10x10 chainlink dog lot covered in hardwire mesh, inside my backyard with large dogs acting as chicken security. They do work really well for summer/winter though, since I can open/close them as needed for airflow and they never are 100% closed up so moisture can still vent out.

You could attach hw cloth to the inside of the coop where the vent is with nuts and bolts. Then, it would be secure enough. But, maybe you have already done that?

 

[JurassicBawk]

You could attach hw cloth to the inside of the coop where the vent is with nuts and bolts. Then, it would be secure enough. But, maybe you have already done that?

I was just replying to RUNuts since they asked about raccoon and it's not an issue for me, but my dad did install hardwire cloth inside the window (instead of the regular screen) to keep it more predator proof, so that is a very good suggestion.

 

[Dharmachick]

I converted my old vinyl shed into a coop with branches and an old ladder for roosts, I made a coop out of a shipping box, I made another out of road signs that I got off craigslist. The construction ones that say, "road closed, detour, etc... I have a 4 x 4 x 8 shipping crate on my carport ready for another coop when I find a design I like, and I just got a Fisher Price playhouse on craigslist that had been converted, I cleaned it with my power washer and now I have to paint it and put in a roost. I love repurposing. Besides that, I'm poor, lol.