TWEAK MY COOP~Tweaks on the Cheap

[knjinnm]

I do not see a link to "My Coop",is it gone?
BTW, how many birds are in your coop? From the pics it looks like a lot.

 

[DianaMallory]

I do not see a link to "My Coop",is it gone?
BTW, how many birds are in your coop? From the pics it looks like a lot.

If this is directed at me I have 14 in that coop. It is an 8' X 8' coop and the run I would have to measure since we just added on to it. And here is an updated pic showing the slope that the coop is built on, and I am done for now except for some more decorating.





And yes it was a job getting the materials down this hill. It would not have taken so long if it was on flat ground. The coop is level the run is not. But that completes my upgrade, no more sore bum for me!

 

[aart]

And yes it was a job getting the materials down this hill. It would not have taken so long if it was on flat ground. The coop is level the run is not. But that completes my upgrade, no more sore bum for me!

Was just going to ask for a pic from this angle.....lay of the land much clearer now, tho it still makes me a little dizzy.
Heck of a build on that slope, kudos!
Can the birds get under the coop?
You get much snow down there?

 

[knjinnm]

love your coop and greenhouse. I wish we had a little more room so I could do something similar but no such luck! One day though!

Sorry, my comment should have been directed to SHERRING7712

 

[RezChamp]

I always keep some on hand for multiple reasons.......mine are just plain white plastic sacks....tack up over ventilation places so the wind doesn't blow directly inside, tack over the dog house entrance to keep out the rain, cut them up one side and use on small hoops for winter greens crops, put them down under a watering bowl/tub to prevent the ground from getting churned and muddy there, line nest boxes to make for easy clean outs, place over 5 gal. buckets that do not have a lid...they fit right over, hang on the side of the coop/shed/barn to hold baling twine until you need it, use as a killing cone, use for transporting birds, for trash bags for kitchen trash cans, for placing under an oil pan in case you spill as you are draining or moving it from underneath the mower or car, to hold kindling wood, tack on the wall beside the nest boxes so you can store flakes of hay in them~ cut a hole in one corner for easy dispensing of the hay for refreshing nest boxes, and last, but not least, for holding other feed bags until you need them. 

Soooooo very versatile
...hauling soil, refill at elevator(grain mill), shoe covers, door mats(as is and /or cut into strips and rolled and/or braided), cut at a short angle across the open end and tie upper corner then loop the rope and hang from rafters from nails on rafters.....the list rivals pallets
Besides being a "birdman" I am also a "dog man". When I go on longer trips by dog team(sled) I use the woven farm feed bags for the dog food because the paper dog food bags rip easy. Perfect size to put a 40-50 lb stash of dog food and way cheaper than buying the ones from the mushing store/s.
They are also excellent for muzzle feed bags for horses, cut ahold big enough for the head and shove a turkey or a goose in the top end and tie it behind their rump after their head comes out the wee hole you cut and voila, a relatively safe and cheap way to transport birds from ??? To ???.
I have used them as coffins for deceased pets, pest proofing for hanging cuts of game on trees(again cheaper and more effective)till I am ready to go home, long and short storage for wild and domestic veggies, herbal meds and other harvest goods.
I've also used them to make working collars for dogharness. Kind of like the ones my grandfather made out of leather which were not unlike horse collars.
At this point I feel I must rescind my previous statement and correct it with "....even more versatile than pallets."

 

[RezChamp]

If this is directed at me I have 14 in that coop. It is an 8' X 8' coop and the run I would have to measure since we just added on to it. And here is an updated pic showing the slope that the coop is built on, and I am done for now except for some more decorating. And yes it was a job getting the materials down this hill. It would not have taken so long if it was on flat ground. The coop is level the run is not. But that completes my upgrade, no more sore bum for me!

In my neck of the woods we have a saying. "Ahah. You must be part Injun too. Because I see you have a lot of injunuity." Another one is "Can't stick a neechee." Neechee is a shortened/slang version of niwiciwam which translates to "my brother". We can say that to each other because we are what most people refer to as "native" or "Indian". I posted this because of the pix you posted showing your coop and run reminds me of some of the "hurdles" encountered around here(home). I like the design of your coop.

 

[countryladyNH]

Hi! We live in NEW HAMPSHIRE~
We are historical reenactors living in a little 240 yr. old house that has been a DIY labor of love to restore for over 17 years. We JUST got chickens for the first time last April---4 English buff orpingtons, and put up a coop. Always on a tight budget, we do pretty much everything ourselves and have a lot of fun working on our various projects! We had just finished building our own fence of trees we cut down, and had 'tricked out' our purchased coop (from Coops for a Cause, where a portion goes to charity) with period-style hardware (from our attic stash), 'leaded' windows we did ourselves, and a few other things such as swing-out branch perches we designed and built from branches. Now the coop area blends in nicely with our old New Hampshire house.
My husband thought our fence was reminiscent of the stockade fences at Plimoth Plantation or Jamestown, etc., We had a salvaged-for-free piece of highly-weathered 18thc. board, and a 17thc. 'Brit' flag---since we do that type of reenacting. Hubby has a degree in illustration and design, and is creative and quirky. He said the fence reminded him of an "old fort"...SO...what did we do???
Well, created one, of course!
We made our flag pole from a tree we cut down, and hubby hand-painted 'FORT ORPINGTON' in a 17thc. font on the old board, which we affixed to the fence around our coop and run! We think it looks just grand with our 18th century home and fits with the old-time lifestyle we live---(Yes, that is us in the avatar photo, and below in this post!)

I leaded the coop windows and Adam trimmed~

Although our coop has a nice window screen, we were afraid it might not be 'predator-proof' enough...
Adam designed and made this interior screen that fits behind the regular window screen and slides from side to side, out of leftover, durable hardware cloth and only scraps and stuff we had in the shed, and hand made the wooden turnbuckles that keep it in place.


I put all the hardware on the coop myself. Hubby helped with the leaded window...

The coop/run area just up against the old post and beam woodshed.

...The little night light inside the coop that lures our girls in every evening.

Inside of the run, Adam designed the neatest swing-out perch and made it from a maple branch...

Because it is low for us and we'd have to duck down every time we were cleaning the run, he came up with an ingenious way to latch it into place on one end, and he has an iron 'butterfly' hinge on the other end...
For cleaning the run we unlatch and swing the perch over to the opposite side wall where it sits on it's own bracket. We just swing it back and latch it into place when we're through! Brackets are wood scraps we had in the shed.
I clean the coop every morning. I have an old 5 gal. plastic bucket I have probably had for 10 year. I painted COOP CLEAN UP on it with black paint and I keep litter, scoop, rubber gloves, mini rake and poultry protector spray in it, in the woodshed. All I have to do is get the bucket out each AM and do my thing in the coop/run which is right next to the old woodshed.




HOLY COW....IT WAS A MESS AND A MUD PIT WHEN WE FIRST STARTED OUR COOP AREA....Here a neighbor boy helps hubby~






Adam painted the sign in 17thc. script by hand on an 18th CENTURY, WEATHERED BOARD WE HAD SALVAGED FOR FREE.


We 2 cut down all the trees and built the entire fence and gate...
We fenced the coop area on 3 sides, and the forth, at the front is an old stone wall.


IN PROGRESS, BACK IN APRIL~




Finished fencing/gate.






We just found this small lantern on sale. We added a solar LED light inside of it and hung it on the outside of our chicken coop with a rosehead nail, and left it to rust, and shed some nice subtle light through it's piercings at night...








We also built this fence with trees we cut from our own property. We then created the 'mini meadow' in front sideyard for our 4 buff orpington girls by flinging native wildflower seeds we collected and letting the grass grow long...It's really looking MUCH better now~








Here we are in some of our reenactment 'kit'. You can 'visit' us at our website
www.thecountryladyantiques.com
(Our 18thc. house was a many year period restoration completely done 'on the cheap' by us.)

 

[RezChamp]

Geez!!!! My wife got a peek at this thread.
Darn it guys.....now I gotta start twerking....again
LOL. Some nice info and pix here.

Kudos to all that recycle/reuse/repurpose building materials.
I work at a landfill site and recyclables sorting depot. It is quite apparent that far too many humans have more money than brains and "regard for the earth" and its resources.
My most recent haul got me 4 pre hung doors with screen doors, 6 triple pane windows, 4 of which are 1/2 slider, & 2 are 6x8picture windows. I also got 4 24Hx36L triple pane basement windows(no screens) & tons of doorknobs and hinges. My biggest score was about 250 linear feet each of 2X10's and 2X6's, 800 linear feet of 2X4's, some of which are 20footers(with but 8 nails in them) and enough 1/2" marine grade plywood to sheath a 20X20 structure, roof and all. Bonus is enough metal siding and roofing to re-do all my coops/lofts roofs. I think all I need to actually buy is about maybe 10lbs of different sized nails and screws.because I also scored some strips and rolls of nails and screws that are used in nail guns and screw guns. Now would'nt it be awesome if some one tossed 1 each of them guns out...........
Again. Kudos to all that recycle/reuse/repurpose...

 

[countryladyNH]

Thanks so much!!!!

 

[countryladyNH]

RezChamp,
LOL, "twerking" or TWEAKING????!!!!