Topic of the Week - Recycling (In) The Coop

[3KillerBs]

I built one of our coops using reclaimed pallet wood, an old window, and cupboard doors someone was tossing out. I did have to buy the metal roofing but the whole thing only cost about $50 and I was able to make it with very minimal skills and my two young kids helping. I lined the inside with feed bags to make clean out easier and let my kiddos paint it with cheap "oops" paint.
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Wonderful how a coat of paint brings everything together.

 

[TropicalBabies]

My chickens summer palace (not in use for another week)
An old, out of commission Hawaiian style horse trailer. Reused roofing material scrounge from one sons house. Untreated 2x4s ripped in half for minor framing. Leftover chicken wire and 1/2" welded wire, cut feed bags.

roosts from the forest and 2x4 drops.

mini coop mostly from left over materials from our cottage home build. Roofing tin from other sons yard lol. Nesting materials are shredded paper and cut pasture grass.

T post off of Craigslist.

Gate is a reclaimed door

 

[Kel2u]

First time chicken owners and we repurposed our granddaughters old playhouse and used construction materials for our chicken coop and run. The roof and and lower panels are metal roofing material that were headed for the dump. The structure was built from extra/previously used lumber, and the only parts that are new are the 4x4 posts and the wire. Even the front door to the run was repurposed! We had fun designing and building the new home for our 6 chickens, even though we had to remodel the inside of the coop after reading great info here on Back Yard Chickens regarding perches and nesting boxes! Coop/house is 28 sq. ft. with 4 nesting boxes and 16 linear feet of perches, and the run is 216 sq. ft.

 

[My Bagurks]

This is still in progress. But I haven’t put a cent into anything. The body of the coop is a large engine crate from work. The tin is leftover from a friends pole building. I found the cinder blocks under kudzu in the back yard. I am going to be supporting the run roof with the lengths of all-thread that were in the scrap dumpster at work. I may repurpose an old dog run chain link fence, but kudzu has claimed it.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

their signs for some good.

The better use might be a poop board

 

[Pennychickens1]

Thanks! I'm quite happy with how it turned out too. It's often my hiding place when I just need to get away from the kids for a little bit.

Been there chickens bring me peace.

 

[SeaCity]

When we moved to our acreage in the spring there was a gross, old metal shed on the property already. I wasn't a fan of using it for the chickens, originally. But then we looked at the price of building materials... And the rest is history!

My husband painted it, framed half of it for windows (which I picked up for free, along with a free sliding patio door). For the run we used some existing fence boards that were near the shed and some trees that were in a fairly straight line across from the fencing. We put hardware cloth and thick gauge chicken wire/mesh fence up on the existing fence and trees. For the nesting box we used an old IKEA shelf we had kicking around and some fallen trees/branches for the roosting bars.
For bedding I use a lot of hay that was cut from our property and leaves from our trees. I would prefer straw/wood shavings... But free is free. I also have a pile of well broken down mulch that someone gave me and I throw in the run every week or two just to give some fresh dirt. I've used scrap wood for everything I've built... My husband always seems to get the new wood and I take his scraps when he's out of town to add things like a second divided area for the chicks or little log roosting bars in the run. And just recently my mom gave us a nice pile of OSB and other boards that are all coated with an insulated and fire retardant coating. The insulation is actually quite thick. So we're going to built a better dog house out of some of it and take whatever is left and line the walls of the coop with it. The metal is definitely getting frosty the past week or so! I'm sure the chickens will appreciate some separation from that.

And that is my recycled coop. It still cost way more than we planned just with wood for framing, paint, hardware and fencing materials... But I can't even imagine how much it would have been if we built a coop the same size with brand new materials!

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Beautiful!

 

[NerdyBird]

A labor of love for my oldest niece on her 7th birthday. I recycled an old dog house that was going to be thrown away. I recycled plywood scraps and wire scraps for the doors and flower boxes. All in all, I spent around $100 for hardware, paint, sealant for the exterior roof, LED Christmas lights for the interior, flowers and fabric scraps for the curtains.

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

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!

This is ALL so ingeniously cool!

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

A labor of love for my oldest niece on her 7th birthday. I recycled an old dog house that was going to be thrown away. I recycled plywood scraps and wire scraps for the doors and flower boxes. All in all, I spent around $100 for hardware, paint, sealant for the exterior roof, LED Christmas lights for the interior, flowers and fabric scraps for the curtains.

This is too stinkin' cute. Makes me wanna go out scavenging for materials. We will be needing a coop very soon. We're two weeks in with our girls.