Topic of the Week - Recycling (In) The Coop

[JurassicBawk]

I'm just trying to figure out why everyone is so concerned about my particular coop and raccoons for some reason. I was showing my recycled coop, someone asked if the vents were raccoon proof, I said that I wasn't worried about it myself because of my setup, but of course you could reinforce if need be if you used them. Or make different vents. Heck, I'm not selling the house plans or claiming anything, was just sharing pics of my particular set-up. You all do your vents any way you want.

When I say hardwire mesh, apparently the rest of the country calls it hardware cloth. This is a link. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...b6a-55c9-bcb0-308478c17a7a&pf_rd_i=2231042011

 

[Blue Eager]

Weasel, mink, ermine, fisher won't even be slowed down unless you overlay it with something of smaller mesh.

I'm from the Rio Grande Valley in NM. None of those varmints here.

 

[kwhites634]

I'm from the Rio Grande Valley in NM. None of those varmints here.

I hope you're right

 

[Blue Eager]

I hope you're right

I wouldn't have said it unless I knew I was right kwhites634. On the other hand we do have skunks & their known to thread the needle. Lath wire should suffice for them.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

My coop was here when I got here so I didn’t build it. But it didn’t have protection from flying predators.

I used carport frames and netting to give them daytime protection. The frames are also easily moved to greener areas. Not completely predator proof but the best I could do. Everyone is counted and coop checked before bedtime lock down.

The nest box supports are old pallet wood taken apart and remade into hanging supports for tote nest boxes. I can easily remove the totes for cleaning. There is also a pallet ladder for them to use.

My bucket feeder is a home depot bucket with Gatorade bottles in the bottom. A section of the bottles is cut out so the food can get under the bottles. The bottles are cut off above the cinched section and that is used to keep the bottles in place. No glue.

I also have a milk jug feeder. My boys seem to like it better because they don’t have to stick their head a hole like the bucket. They have a tendency to bill food out a bit but not bad.

Dollar store drawer organizers are used for small feeding stations. One is screwed to the wall and a second is set inside. That way I can easily clean the cup with food in.

I used a baby coral like this with a tarp in the bottom and folded up the sides for an indoor brooder.
I have plastic coffee container scoops and branches as roosts and ramps.

 

[SueT]

I put together this small weather resistant hanging feeder from a chick feeder base, a plastic peanut butter jar, and an old plant saucer. I hang it in the back of the run and feed has stayed completely dry thru several windy rain storms.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

My coop is mostly built from wood we had around the house. We had recently replaced my kid's beds and the structural wood is from those frames, and we bought the boards for the exterior. The coop is built inside a half roofed dog run. The roofed portion is over a concrete pad, so really all I had to do was build up the uncovered portion to make it at least wire covered. I use covered cat boxes for our nest boxes, besides the one that's up on the coop. My hamburg used to use it, now nobody does.
I'm currently in the middle of expanding my run area by repurposing a 12' diameter trampoline. I've glued the frame together and started painting it. Then I added 2", 4' sections of PVC. I'm going to add 'T' junctures to re-enforce the thing with crossbars and then add some more PVC to raise it up high enough to walk into.
Here's the original dog run

 

[tigger19687]

Here is my coop build, not a used Shed, but on sale and just about everything in it is recycled from the house, Free off CL or very little $. EXCEPT the ADOR1 auto door.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-resin-plastic-coop-construction-thread.1198632/

 

[yoopersjd]

I use old cat litter buckets cut in half for nesting boxes and fill with hay for bedding.

 

[Phaedra Winters]

This is our Recycled Coop! The siding and most of the wood was salvaged from dumpsters where a new subdivision was being built. We did have to buy two of the 2x4's. The door was an old interior door whose bottom had been destroyed by dogs, our neighbors were tossing it and I loved the design on the top. The window was free off craigslist. Paint was from the household hazardous waste place. They give it away free.

The flooring was an excess roll from the old floor at my parents house. We caulked the edges with leftover caulk from a house project.

The roosting bar was a branch we cut off a tree in our yard. The pop door was scrap wood, worked with an old telephone cord for rope and a pulley. A bent wire hooked to the fence to keep it up. The deep litter bedding was leaf litter (free from yards), shredded paper (from a local business), and straw (purchased). We also used cypress needles and pine needles as available from public parks for the coop (cypress) and run (pine needles). Cypress was by far my favorite and smelled like HEAVEN.

Nesting boxes used plastic bins for easy cleaning, but eventually we took them out, and it was just one large box, which the hens actually loved. Lid was made with scrap plywood we had laying around.

Feeder was made with a frosting bucket from the local bakery and a PVC section left in our garage by the previous owners (lucky!)

Waterer was made out of a kitty litter bottle and nipples I bought online. I later switched it to food grade pastics.

Free tire we painted and filled with dirt & wood ash for a dust bathing area. Our hens liked to stand on it, but didn't care to bathe in it.

Anyway, that's our coop and I loved it!

That is amazing and I love your coop wowza!